Ron Johnson said something stupid again

Emphasis mine.

ThinkProgress: Though he insists he holds no personal ill-will towards gays and lesbians, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) sees no need for a law that would make it illegal for bosses to fire someone because of his or her sexual orientation.

In an interview with ThinkProgress at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s annual conference on Thursday, Johnson argued against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a bill in the Senate that would make it illegal to discriminate against LGBT individuals because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. “I don’t particularly like the federal government telling anybody to do anything,” Johnson said. When we asked if he held the same views about laws that protected women and minorities from discrimination, Johnson quickly ended the interview.

So it seems like Ron didn’t do a lot of thinking about the issue before shooting his mouth off about it. How unlike him!

For the record, Wisconsin passed the first non-discrimination law to protect sexual orientation in the nation, making it landmark legislation in the history of civil rights. And you know what’s really weird? Turns out it hasn’t been a problem at all.

Of course, it’s only been on the books for 30 years, so maybe it hasn’t had enough time to collapse civilization and destroy liberty yet.

[photo by Gage Skidmore]

Dumb Wisconsin Senator tells dumb lies

Truthdig:

Memo to congressional Republicans: You might want to stray from GOP talking points and stick to the facts when facing off against a Nobel Prize-winning economist unless you want to be called out for falsehoods.

Tea party-backed Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson learned that the hard way Sunday during a heated panel discussion on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” in which he was accused by New York Times columnist Paul Krugman of getting the facts wrong on Social Security.

The debate began when Johnson said Social Security was in danger of “going broke” unless action was taken. “When I hear people saying Social Security is solvent to the year 2035, it’s not,” Johnson said.

Krugman replied, “You said ‘let’s start with the facts,’ but we’ve just run aground right there. Your facts are false. The Social Security thing—Social Security, it has a dedicated revenue base, it has a trust fund based on that dedicated revenue base. You can’t change the rules midstream and say, ‘Oh well, suddenly the trust fund doesn’t count.’ ”

Johnson countered that “the trust fund is a fiction. It doesn’t … it has no value in the federal government.”

Maybe someday Ron Johnson will realize it’s his job to govern, not to sound like a talk radio bullshit artist on TV talking head programs. He seems to believe being a Senator is a shortcut to being a pundit, not an actual job with actual responsibilities. Whether he’s just stupid or lying or some combination of the two (this is where my money is), it’s clear that Ron Johnson is an embarrassment to his state.

[photo via Gage Skidmore]

Ron Johnson takes his political cues from another (in)famous Wisconsin senator

Steve Benen:

Remember former Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.)? Last May, the Republican raised eyebrows when he accused dozens of House Democrats of being secret members of the Communist Party. Asked for an explanation, West eventually argued that, in his mind, “Communism, Progressivism, Socialism, Marxism, or Statism” are all effectively the same thing.

He’s apparently not the only one who thinks this way.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) made no effort to hide the fact that he believes the Democratic agenda is radical, comparing members of the party to Socialists and Marxists over the weekend.

Johnson lamented President Barack Obama’s reelection with fellow Republicans in a speech on Saturday night in Johnson Creek, Wis., calling it a “body blow to freedom.” He then described what “people who like freedom” — people such as himself — were up against.

“We are up against a strategy that is taking place by liberals, progressives, Democrats, whatever they call themselves nowadays, Socialists, Marxists,” Johnson continued, according to the Daily Jefferson County Union.

Of course, Allen West is a former one-term congressman, known for his ridiculous rhetoric, now relegated to obscurity. Ron Johnson is the senior U.S. senator from the great state of Wisconsin. That he and West are sharing talking points and twisted worldviews is not at all reassuring.

That other Wisconsin senator referred to in the headline would be the late Joe McCarthy, in case you didn’t get the reference. Of course, there’s a big difference between Ron Johnson and Tailgunner Joe. McCarthy was a shameless demagogue and Johnson’s just an imbecile who doesn’t know what “socialist” or “Marxist” even means.

[photo via Gage Skidmore]

Stories to Watch: 4/12/12

Had a great sub today. I've got to look up a recipe for sourdough baguettes. Now here's the news...



***
Wisconsin Tea Party Sen. Ron Johnson believes he has the answer as to why he sucks so much -- his staff. He's firing almost all of them. It'll be interesting to see who he'll blame afterwards, when he discovers he still sucks.

"He’s an interesting case study of someone who has talked more than he has listened, lectured more than he has developed relationships with his colleagues, and now he’s having a tough time because of that behavior in advancing his policy goals," a senior GOP aide told Roll Call. "It’s kind of like watching a temper tantrum by a 2-year-old in the middle of the grocery store."

Yeah Ron, it's your staff's fault.



***
In unrelated "why things suck" news: Fox News seems to think journalism is illegal. Explains a lot.


Also explaining Fox's suckage: they take the things Mitt Romney says as Gospel.


Republicans can stop talking about how much they love small businesses now.


Newt's starting to get a little melty-downy.


ALEC may really be in trouble.


The White House earns no awards for political courage today.


Finally, Gabrielle Giffords -- the Arizona Democrat who stepped down to recover from a gunshot wound to the head -- may speak that the Democratic National Convention. The report also says she's planning a return to public service, although no word on when.

Related articles

• Ron Johnson Agrees Unsubsidized Care Grows Government (thinkprogress.org)
• Senator Ron Johnson's Idea For Women Who Need Contraceptives (dekerivers.wordpress.com)
• Does Mitt Romney stand with Scott Walker or Wisconsin women? (dailykos.com)
• Recall-Facing Wis. Gov. Walker Continues 'War on Women' With Flurry of Bills (commondreams.org)

News Roundup for 6/30/11

"It's almost impossible to break campaign finance laws you say?
Challenge accepted"

-Headline of the Day-
"Johnson $10M Payday Could Raise Red Flags For IRS."

When Ron Johnson spent $9 million to win Russ Feingold's senate seat, people saw it as evidence that wealthy frootloops could just buy senate seats with self-funded campaigns. Thank God that's not true. It turns out that Johnson's plastics company, Pacur, bought the seat for him. And Ron came out $1 million ahead after all the smoke had cleared.

According to the report, Ron "received a $10 million payment in deferred compensation from his former plastics company, Pacur, weeks after his $9 million self-financed 2010 campaign for Senate came to an end." Not surprisingly, this is bad. Even with the Citizens United ruling, corporations still can't give corporate money directly to political candidates.

So Johnson found a way to break an election law in an era when there are virtually no election laws.

What an innovator. (Talking Points Memo)


-Cartoon Time with Mark Fiore-
Hey kids, you know how your parents don't like those violent video games? Now you can tell them to shut up and that the Supreme Court agrees with you! Yay!


Click for animation

Remember kids, boobs = bad and 7.62mm minigun = good! (MarkFiore.com)


-Bonus HotD-
"Outside FEC, Stephen Colbert Says His 'Super PAC' Is No Joke."

Still, check out the video of his announcement for the yuks anyway. (Talking Points Memo, with video)