Wausau Pilot inquiry about CFA texts, and My Answer

 When the pictures in the previous post began circulating in the Village, a reporter form Wausau Pilot contacted me with questions and attached the Voter info sheet and the poster, but did not attach the picture of the woman holding the sign.

 I normally cooperate with reporters, but this one obviously had a bias that he was trying to justify. 

   Below are his questions and my reply. 

Mr. Jayshi,

  You claim to be a reporter, asking about words like "queerer", "browner", "witchier" and "transgender" as if they are something that I came up with, when you should know it is not true.  

  Since you read those words with quotation marks around them in the literature, you must have also seen that statement below it which says: "(see attached photo from the CFA website)".  I assume that you have seen the photo referred to there (see attached)  before you sent your carefully framed questions.  

  Aside from the fact that the photo quoted from, comes from Community For All's (CFA) Facebook page and not a website, it nonetheless was publicly posted by CFA, apparently as a favorable (in their view) representation of what the group stands for.   Given these circumstances, your questions seem to be prejudiced, condescending, and hypocritical, as I think you are asking the wrong person the questions.

     If you feel the words that you quote from the literature are "racist and vilifying of minority communities" as you say, then you should be asking Cindy Schaefer or whoever it is that runs the CFA Facebook page why they are posting images that depict not only the group's racism and vilifying of minority communities (by your standard), but that they are doing so with the expressed intent to proclaim it "louder & stronger & prouder". 

   The literature that you sent and are complaining about is only describing what CFA itself has posted, so why are you judging and accosting me about it?

   By the way - who do you think the "dinosaurs" are, that this group is hoping to "die out"?  Does this in any way represent a spirit of acceptance of others, diversity of ideas, tolerance of differences, or anything resembling a true community? I believe that conservative and traditional family values embrace these four concepts with a "live, and let live" philosophy, much more so than CFA's actions have ever demonstrated.

   CFA can post whatever they want to, but then they need to own it and explain it, and so do the candidates who support that group or accept support from the group. This is obviously what the literature is talking about.

   Your attempt to hang CFA's divisive, ugly attitudes on me or anyone else appears to be a classic example of the left-wing spin and biased reporting that so many people complain about. I do not respect that kind of "reporting", and I do not respect you for attempting it.

Ken Charneski

On Thu, Mar 21, 2024 at 1:04 PM Damakant Jayshi <damakant@wausaupilotandreview.com> wrote:

Good afternoon, Mr. Charneski.

My name is Damakant Jayshi, a reporter with Wausau Pilot & Review.

I am doing a story on a campaign material that some say was paid for by you. Did you pay for it (please see the two attached screenshots) and coordinate sending these two and another picture to voters in Kronenwetter?

The campaign material uses words like "queerer", "browner", "witchier" and "transgender". Are you aware that many see these terms as racist and vilifying minority communities. Do you endorse the use of these terms? 

Some elected officials in Kronenwetter have said it is "offensive rhetoric against constituents that may be of a different race or sexual orientation." Would you please comment on this?  

The material speaks of family values. Do you mean to say only white people have family values and that people with different sexual orientation and people from other races have no family values?

One of the three candidates in the campaign literature, Sean Dumais, was arrested for his alleged failure to pay child support and a “willful failure to make regular payments as ordered, and failure to seek work" (per the court). How does this square with family values?  

The campaign material says Aaron Myszka, Ryan Leff and Scott Dauel are newcomers to the Village. How or why being a newcomer is a problem? Do you endorse this kind of targeting of election rivals?

If you have any additional comments to make, I invite you to do so.

The deadline is 9 a.m. Friday, Match 22.

Best,

Damakant Jayshi

Reporter, Wausau Pilot & Review

500 N. Third St. Suite 208-8

Wausau, WI 54403