Why does the Left always seem so angry—and why do they think that rage gives them license to lash out at anyone who disagrees with them, often with shocking impunity? It was always puzzling, but it’s metastasized in the Age of Trump.
For decades working in the private sector, I had a hard-and-fast rule: no politics at work. Not because I couldn’t defend my views, and not because I feared disagreement—but because politics poisons productivity. Unless political commentary is literally your job, mixing politics and work is a recipe for dysfunction.
Which brings me to Wisconsin—and to a man named Chad Kodanko, the co-owner of a small local restaurant who also appears to be a textbook example of an angry leftist:
On Dec. 12, Husby’s Food & Spirits employee Robert Meredith says he left his Charlie Kirk sweatshirt on a hook at work.
“Somebody had told me, ‘Hey, where is your hoodie at?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know — probably at my house?’” Meredith said. “He said, ‘No, it’s probably not.’”
Meredith says he wasn’t provided many details, but was told Husby’s co-owner, Chad Kodanko, burned his Kirk sweatshirt.
“It was talking politics in a bar and led to that, which is never good,” said Meredith, who also says he was told there is a video of the incident, but he has not seen it.
Let’s do a little position-reversal thought experiment. Imagine this were a Republican business owner—or even a Republican co-owner. Now imagine an employee comes in not protesting, not grandstanding, not lecturing anyone—just wearing a Bernie Sanders hoodie. He doesn’t wear it on the clock. He hangs it on a hook and gets to work.
Now imagine that Republican owner takes that hoodie, drags it outside, and burns it in front of the staff.
The outcry would be instant and deafening. CNN panels. Corporate “values” statements. Calls for boycotts. Accusations of fascism, political violence, intimidation, and workplace abuse. The business would be destroyed within 48 hours.
However, that said, this time the ‘alleged’ shirt burner actually did get run over by the karma bus:
Meredith says politics isn’t a normal topic at Husby’s, but according to Paul Kwiatkowski, word of the incident spread quickly in Door County.
“We’re talking about a guy who was assassinated 16 weeks ago, and his shirt that is symbolic of him, being burned — and not to mention, it also had an American flag on it,” said Kwiatkowski, a Fish Creek resident.
Kwiatkowski wrote a letter to the Sister Bay Village Board, making sure it was aware of what happened, as Kodanko was a trustee. On Monday, the village announced Kodanko had resigned.
I’d wager good money that his resignation didn’t come from some sudden burst of self-awareness, but from fellow trustees who realized his continued presence had become politically radioactive. He wasn’t just a liability—he was poison. And once that reality set in, the decision was probably swift and unavoidable.
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But that wasn’t the only instance of karma:
Kodanko is part of an ownership group. We wanted to interview one of the other owners, but we were told no one was available. We were also told the owners were meeting Monday. They put a statement on social media.
Part of that statement says the other owners’, “priority is to make sure Husby’s remains a welcoming place.” They say Kodanko will be bought out of the ownership group, meetings were held with the affected employee and the rest of the staff, and training will be held to prevent a situation like this from happening again.
So yes, he also lost his stake in what was presumably a profitable business—and frankly, good. Actions have consequences. An update to the story notes that Robert Meredith has now put in his two weeks’ notice and will be leaving Husby’s as well, and it’s hard to fault him for that decision. We wish him every success in finding new employment. Walking away is a perfectly reasonable response to what was an unhinged act of arrogant presumption.
And to be clear, if the roles were reversed—as in the scenario above—the response would be just as appropriate. Standards shouldn’t depend on political affiliation.
According to the report, Meredith wasn’t wearing the hoodie in front of customers. He wore it to work, as anyone reasonably might in that part of the country, and then properly hung it up before starting his shift. He has a First Amendment right to wear a piece of outerwear expressing a political opinion. While an employer can insist that political apparel not be worn on the job, Meredith complied—he wasn’t wearing it while working.
What set Chad Kodanko off was not misconduct, disruption, or insubordination, but the mere existence of the hoodie itself. That garment represented nothing more than a young husband and father who believed in persuasion over violence—and who was assassinated for it. Kodanko was evidently so consumed by rage that he seized his employee’s private property and destroyed it, an act that reveals a level of anger and entitlement that’s hard to fathom—unless, of course, you’re dealing with a leftist who believes his outrage justifies anything.
Now Kodanko is paying the price. And that, plainly, is a good thing.
