On UW Game Days, Boycott Badgerville

I heartily approve of the plan for groups to picket "Badgerville" before UW football's season opener. Badgerville (I'm not going to link it) is this promotional deal between Johnsonville Brats and UW Athletics that they're starting before Bucky's home games, and there are a couple of big reasons to boycott or picket it.

1. Johnsonville is a big-time WisGOP donator, whose CEO, Ralph Stayer, has given tens of thousands of dollars to Scott Walker and other vermin. The WisGOPs turned around by cutting UW-Madison funding by $94 million over the next 2 years, and the UW System by a total of $250 million. So maybe the Stayers and Johnsonville were duped, and changed their tune after they realized how badly the GOP was hurting unions and public education in Wisconsin? NO WAY. Ralph Stayer doubled down on his pro-Walker bet, giving $15,000 to Randy Hopper and $2,000 to Alberta Darling in March. And those numbers don't even include the money they funneled to WMC (Johnsonville has been on the WMC Board of Directors) or Club for Growth, or gave after May, as those reports have yet to come in.

So Johnsonville is pulling the remarkable hypocrisy of tying themselves to the UW-Madison football program and trying to profit off of Bucky's good name and reputation, while at the same time funding anti-UW and anti-Madison legislators that want to make the UW's academic programs second-rate. Why my alma mater is taking money from these scumbags is beyond me ( just like they have no business helping WTMJ because of their right-wing propganda), but I certainly don't need to make it seem OK by attending this disgusting commercial display on game day.

2. Even if you don't hate Johnsonville, why would you go to Badgerville when you can go to the new Union South instead? I've been to the new UNION South, and it puts the old one to shame. Nice restaurants, TV areas, and the best part on game day is this new outdoor plaza area that'll give plenty of room for the band, fans and beer. If you're not hitting the beer gardens and the bars, go to Union South instead of Badgerville, and tell others the same. Not only are you going to be at a better event, but you'll be giving your beer and brat money to a legitimate organization that takes no taxpayer dollars and financed their renovations through fees, donations, sales and other non-tax means. Compare that to Johnsonville, who uses your money from buying brats to pay off politicians into giving them tax breaks that YOU end up having to make up the difference for.

Put these two reasons together, and it is an absolute no-brainer. Let Badgerville go empty, and send the message around Wisconsin that we don't overlook corporate slimeballs, no matter how they try to fix up their image. We support Badgers, not weasels.