Hi folks,

Kirk Bangstad here from the Minocqua Brewing Company.

On last night’s “Up North Podcast;” Patti, Simon, Chris, and I talked about the Epstein Files, the impending vote on funding the Department of Homeland Security, how the ridiculous Republican congressional gerrymander lawsuit is being slow-walked by Wisconsin’s progressive Supreme Court, and my current campaign to raise funds for our "Amazon for Progressives.”

I came away from this podcast both depressed and uplifted. I was again reminded that our current ruling class is unable and/or unwilling to meet the moment needed to save American Democracy, but I was encouraged that more of us our coming to this conclusion and taking it upon ourselves to start organizing.

I’d encourage you to watch the whole episode, but if you don’t have the time, here are the clips I think are most important:

I asked Simon how this latest dump of Epstein files might help us save Democracy. While he agreed with the rest of the panel that the Epstein class will probably never be prosecuted, he felt that this ongoing saga might unify the working class by helping them realize that it’s truly us against the elites—who operate with impunity in America.

Next up, we talked about the impending vote to fund the Department of Homeland Security. Patti reminded the audience that what our Democratic senators are currently pushing for—ICE body cameras, codes of conduct, warrants for arrests—are already enshrined in America’s 4th amendment that protects us from unreasonable search and seizure. Instead of abolishing ICE and protecting us from what will surely be a militarized siege to take over the 2026 elections, our Democratic senators have given away their leverage and are setting up a situation where they will be able to save face while bending the knee once again.

Simon reminds us to keep calling our senators using the 5calls app and demand that they abolish ICE, not just play lip service to reigning them in.

Next on the list, it has becoming clear that the progressive majority on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court is slow-walking the congressional gerrymandering lawsuit in Wisconsin, which seeks to remedy the imbalance of congressional representation (6 Republicans vs. 2 Democrats) in our 50/50 swing state. To not make this right before the 2026 elections, when overturning the House majority could save American Democracy, is a miscarriage of justice. This is especially painful to watch when we progressives worked so hard to give Wisconsin’s Supreme Court a progressive majority over the last two election cycles.

Last but not least, I ended the show talking about our Kickstarter Campaign to fund the Minocqua Marketplace, our e-commerce site that brings progressive businesses and progressives together to boycott companies who have bent the knee to Trump.

We’ve raised over a third of our goal, $54K, in three days, but we’ll need a lot more help to hit $150K buy the end of February.

Please donate here if you can.

Thanks for watching, and thanks for sticking with the Minocqua Brewing Company.

Only together will we able to turn our country into a place that works FOR us instead of AGAINST us.

Kirk Bangstad

Owner, Minocqua Brewing Company/ Minocqua Marketplace Publisher, Minocqua Brewing Company Times Founder, Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC

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