NEWS ISSUE OF THE MONTH
The Dangerous World of
Senator Ron Johnson BY PAUL MASTERSON
P
“
lastics”, a word of advice given to Benjamin Braddock, the character played by Dustin Hoffman in the classic 1967 film The Graduate. A decade later, Ronald Harold Johnson, with no experience, took that advice and married into the artificial world of plastics and polyester. With a simple “I do” he became a very rich man. In 2010, with no political experience, he was elected to the U.S. Senate representing Wisconsin. Encouraged to run by the Madison Tea Party-linked Americans for Prosperity (AFP) and riding on Koch brothers’ money as well as $9 million of his own, he ran on classic Republican credentials: opposing reproductive rights, denying climate science and against raising the minimum wage. He defeated incumbent Democratic Senator Russ Feingold. Having established himself as a model senator for the right, he won reelection
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in 2016, again against Russ Feingold, and again with millions of dollars of AFP and Koch financial support. Added to his pitch for reelection were his attacks on Obamacare and his support for blocking then-President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee.
RON’S MISSION TO MOSCOW Now a dutiful acolyte of Koch brothers’ interests, his ascent to power would be bolstered by the Republican presidential victory in 2016. While his bill sponsorships such as the Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act and Stop Illegal Reentry Act among many others would be nothing out of the ordinary for a servant of the right, his special moment came when he joined seven other Republicans on a junket to Moscow in early July 2018. On the Fourth, our nation’s highest holiday, delegation members would dine as guests of our world adversary.
Ostensibly, the purpose of this Kremlin pilgrimage was to raise a spectrum of foreign policy matters, including election meddling, with the Russian leadership. Denied an audience with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Republican supplicants were only allowed to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The delegation’s pre-departure tough talk melted into a meek conciliatory tone upon its return with Johnson claiming Russian election meddling was not a threat to our democracy and “blown way out of proportion.” But no wonder, less than a fortnight later, at the Helsinki summit, President Trump would disgrace and humiliate the nation in a kowtow to Vladimir Putin and, before the world press, absolve him of any guilt of election interference. "President Putin says it’s not Russia. I don't see any reason why it would be," Trump replied when asked.
Illustration by Shepherd Express staff.
