‘Simply pathetic’

Still waiting for that first elected official to denounce the cop hate

The City of Madison, Dane County, and the State of Wisconsin are major funders of Outreach, the organization that caved to the International Socialist Organization and Freedom Inc. to ban police from Sunday’s Gay Pride Shame parade (08-19-18).

The Blaska Policy Werkes will endeavor to determine the exact amount of taxpayer dollars each governmental unit wastes to support bias, hatred, and division. In addition, these local businesses support Outreach.  They include Alliant Energy, American Family Insurance, Dane County Credit Union, Goodman’s Jewelers, Gordon Flesch, SSM Health St. Mary’s, UW Credit Union, and MG&E. 

We quote ismthus resident and Out gay man Greg Humphrey at Caffeinated Politics: 

It irritates me to read that taxpayers, through the city, county, and state, are major contributors to Outreach! And then OutReach turns on our local police and sheriff departments, along with UW-Madison officers.   Read who OutReach has for corporate sponsors, too.  This is YOUR money being used to allow OutReach to cozy up with the International Socialist Organization, who has as its mission, the undermining of faith in our local law enforcement. 

The Gay Shame parade went beyond the mere absence of police in the parade into outright, full-throated police bashing. Again, Greg Humphrey:

Today OutReach allowed anti-law enforcement banners and chants in the parade. And, they allowed on stage for their rally, T Banks who spewed all kinds of hateful rhetoric against law enforcement and many of their allies, including our fire department. T Banks is rude and far afield when it comes to understanding our history. OutReach has proven they will get on their knees for anyone. Simply Pathetic!

[ This T. Banks, btw, is described as a community organizer, mental wellness advocate, poet, and playwright … Black Trans, Queer person with a disability, T.  who  “believes the movement for Black Lives must be intersectional and deeply connected to the struggle to end Patriarchy, specifically as it manifest as violence against Black Trans folks.”]

Community Shame

Since last year’s parade, two “activists” hosted monthly forums hosted by OutReach. The International Socialist Organization crows about its success:

After last year’s Pride, [activist Shawna] Lutzow says the forum “was all about if cops should be allowed to march in Pride. …

The ongoing anti-racist work within the Madison queer community, the Black Lives Matter movement and the dominance of people seeking solidarity since Trump’s election all contributed to OutReach working on keeping a police contingent out of Pride.

Initially, OutReach compromised with police, planning on the contingent being limited to plainclothes cops, still carrying their sidearms, marching without squad cars. Knowing that this was not enough, activists — including Lutzow, … members of the International Socialist Organization and others — came together to discuss organizing an alternative “Community Pride.”

Our man Gary Kriewald was on the parade route Sunday:

Just got back from the Pride Parade. I couldn’t locate David Clarenbach. No one I spoke to even seemed aware that he was one of the official emcees. I’m wondering if maybe he decided to bow out quietly as a way of protesting the ban on cops.

However, I did have a swell time shouting epithets (e.g., “Your True Colors Are Hate”) at OutReach and a contingent carrying a banner that identified them as being behind the ban on cops. My first encounter with them was on State Street while they were waiting for the parade to start. The looks on their faces were priceless; it was clear that no one had EVER dared to call them haters or probably to call out their bigotry in any way. I then followed along the route and did the same thing two more times.

The final time was on the Square where there happened to be three cops guarding the intersection at W. Wash. After t finished shouting, I said to them, “You should have called in sick today instead of guarding a bunch of bigoted assholes.”

They just laughed and shook their heads. They were talking to two (young!) people decked out in rainbow garb, who, it turned out, were letting the cops know that they condemned the whole cop-hating theme. A small but encouraging sign.

The other encouraging sign was that a couple people in the crowd came up to me wanting to engage in a serious, civilized discussion of the issue. I’m not sure I changed anyone’s mind, but they both thanked me for sharing my views. My main regret is not locating anyone from the local media. All three channels, I’m sure, were covering the event. It was quite a spectacle to see all those “Love Is Love” banners at an event that excludes a group based on employment status. The hypocrisy was so thick you could cut it with a knife — in other words, tailor made for Madison.

A good many of the contingents were sponsored by local businesses, including American Family Insurance. I plan to write them tomorrow cancelling my policies and explaining that I’m not in the habit of patronizing businesses that engage in blatant displays of bigotry. Never realized that protesting could be so therapeutic!

An alternate universe

This is socialist dogma: “The Cops and the Klan go hand in hand.”

This is reality: “Madison police adopt policy on treatment of transgender, gender non-conforming people.”

Madison’s policy codifies practices such as using preferred pronouns and names, even if they are not legally recognized, to address an individual and when writing reports. It also defines terms such as cisgender, gender expression and identity, sexual orientation and sex assigned at birth.

Meanwhile, in socialist Venezuela, “Crisis escalates.”

Blaska’s Bottom Line: Gary Kriewald is right: Protesting IS therapeutic! Support the police one week from today, Monday, August 27, by attending the Madison Board of Education meeting. Starts at 6 p.m. at the MMSD administration building, 545 W. Dayton Street.