What You Should Know About Shawano

www.whatyoushouldknowaboutshawano.com

I’m Done Being Pushed Around

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Shawano Needs Another Newspaper

by Kal Gronvall

After the first flyer was distributed on September 16, 2006, Lorna Marquardt, the mayor of Shawano made statements about it on the radio the very next morning.  Her statement is as follows:

“…I am sick and tired of false accusations, intimidation attempts, and being harassed.”

That statement is only one day after the flyer was distributed.  And even these things went to the Common Council and they all condemned it.  Lorna could not take it a day or two without going wild and attacking every possible way with all her strength and with all her influence.  How does she feel about people that she and her associates have oppressed for 32 years?  Now if Lorna considers herself to be a good Christian, and claims to have read the Bible and upholds the teachings of the Lord, and if she feels that others around her are also human beings, then how does she understand the Ten Commandments when they say, “Love thy neighbor as thyself?”  It is obvious that she doesn’t consider other human beings from a different background that same way.  They must be sub-human beings without a heart or soul.  Of course, Church history tells the gruesome facts of how the Church killed and tortured other people from different backgrounds who didn’t conform to the dogmas of the Church.  If she were a good Christian, she would have felt the pains, sorrows, heartaches, prejudice, and discrimination of those she has oppressed.  But none of the signs of a Christian are in her.  “Love thy neighbor as thyself” is not there.

 

My experience with the local Shawano officials—that includes the mayor Lorna Marquardt and Mike Shuler, chairman of the town of Wescott— has not been very pleasant, but very painful, being associated with Dr. Roy and SIST.  I am a regular, white, middle-class American.  I grew up in this culture and I have studied and memorized by rights under the Constitution of the United States.  Because of my association with Dr. Roy I have felt and experienced the same prejudice and discrimination.  I have taken all these things long enough.  It is time for me to speak out against the evil actions of these so-called good Christians who are doing all these things to Dr. Roy and SIST in the name of God.

 

The Shawano Leader also, all these years has never written a single line of truth in favor of Dr. Roy or SIST within a 32 year time span.  Nothing but hatred, malice, prejudice, discrimination have been poured out in their articles about Dr. Roy and SIST.  But we as middle-class white Americans know the tactics.  We make everyone look so bad, so terrible, so evil, so unreasonable, so that whatever evil we are doing in return is justified.  In 32 years the Shawano Leader (nicknamed the “Evil Leader”) has never printed anything good about Dr. Roy or SIST.  My speaking out by distributing the first flyer has nothing to do with Dr. Roy or SIST. As a fact, Dr. Roy is the kind of man who believes if you are slapped on the left cheek, turn the right.  But I am the opposite - - just like you.  All these years I have been waiting for some good Christian to open their mouth and say something about all this injustice and discrimination, maybe a good clergyman or someone who has some type of regards for the teachings in the Bible.  Obviously, everybody is too scared to open their mouth and say things.  I choose to speak out.

 

In this country we know about freedom of speech and freedom of the press.  A good newspaper will favor justice and the rights of the minority. They will protect the oppressed, condemn injustice, promote the safety and security of the minority. The Evil Leader has none of these qualities. And after seeing the evil that publisher Rod Christensen, editor Kent Tempus, and reporter Tim Ryan have been doing for 32 years, I finally gave them the nickname the “Evil Leader.” I sincerely believe that Shawano needs another newspaper where people from different backgrounds, other than Lorna Marquardt, will feel safe and secure and able to carry on their day-to-day lives in comfort.  All this injustice, prejudice, and discrimination the Evil Leader has been covering up.  Many people I have met say that Shawano needs a civilized, justice-orientated newspaper, and I am in pursuit of that.

 

A proper public servant like the mayor should protect the rights and safety of the minority.  While I was distributing the first flyer I met a person who told me that before Lorna Marquardt was elected mayor, her main mission and campaign platform, if she were elected, would be to create endless problems for Dr. Roy and his organization, dry up their businesses and drive them out of town. She is keeping her promise.  She has never set her foot in the downtown store, the Spirit of the Northwoods.  That store is open from 9 am to 9 pm, seven days a week, but she has never mentioned that she was glad about that. She has never patronized any of SIST businesses, the gas stations, the restaurant, the Fudge House, the motels, or the downtown stores.  As a fact, a minister, who doesn’t want to be identified, said that she promotes boycotting and non-patronizing SIST businesses wherever she goes. And her actions very well tell the story.

 

For example, the park manager of Midwest Amusement Park invited Lorna to cut the blue ribbon at the Grand Opening of USA International Raceway at 12 noon on July 15, 2005. She never once indicated that she was not going to be there.  But when the day of the Grand Opening came, Lorna was nowhere to be seen. Neither Lorna nor her associates ever mentioned that she wouldn’t be there.  Everybody was waiting for her and looking for her up until 12 noon.  Beyond the last minute the track officials got a hold of the vice president of the World Karting Association (WKA), who happened to be attending the event, to cut the ribbon and open the ceremony. In subsequent races and all the events at USA International Raceway, she has never been seen. Her mission is to destroy SIST’s businesses, not to encourage them.  Her actions speak louder than her words.

 

I’m done being pushed around.  The SIST Board of Directors told me that I better not write these flyers - - that it might hurt the organization.  I didn’t listen.  On my own I decided I have to do it, and nobody will be able to shut me up.  Shawano needs a new newspaper and a new mayor.