Activists to unveil huge sh*t statue of Ron Johnson to raise climate change awareness, engage voters

Oh, what fun!

Now, these activists didn’t just wake up one day and say, “Hey, how about we find some cow manure and fashion it into a reasonable simulacrum of Ron Johnson?” There’s actually some context to this PR push. Last year, at a Republican Women of Greater Wisconsin Luncheon in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, Johnson was caught on camera dismissing the climate change crisis in the crudest of terms.

CNN:

Sen. Ron Johnson insisted again last week that he is not a climate change denier, but CNN’s KFile found video of him from just weeks earlier telling a Republican group that it is “bullsh*t.”

“I don’t know about you guys, but I think climate change is – as Lord Monckton said – bullsh*t,” the Wisconsin Republican said, without uttering the expletive but mouthing it, and referring to British conservative climate change denier Lord Christopher Monckton. “By the way, it is.”

Johnson, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, continued that “there are more and more scientists” writing books “just laying this to waste” and questioned why the US was focused on the climate crisis at all.

Johnson added, “What are we doing here? Well, we’re killing ourselves. It’s a self-inflicted wound.” Well, he’s right about that, but he appears to believe the “self-inflicted wound” stems from greening our economy for the future—and not from soiling the planet with more backward-looking energy policies.

RELATED: Ron Johnson touts endorsement from group led by white nationalist conspiracy theory peddler

Of course, if you’re tempted to disregard the dangers of climate change because Ron Johnson says you should—despite the overwhelming scientific consensus on the issue—you should get a gander at some of his past statements. 

For instance, he seemed to think climate change isn’t real because Greenland used to be green. Which it was. About half a million years ago. 

The New York Times:

During his first campaign, in 2010, Mr. Johnson declared that climate change was not man-made but instead caused by “sun spots” — and offered a false history of Greenland to make his case.

“You know, there’s a reason Greenland was called Greenland,” Mr. Johnson told WKOW-TV in Madison back then. “It was actually green at one point in time. And it’s been, you know, since, it’s a whole lot whiter now, so we’ve experienced climate change throughout geologic time.”

In the interview on Thursday, Mr. Johnson was still misinformed about the etymology of Greenland, which got its name from the explorer Erik the Red’s attempt to lure settlers to the ice-covered island.

As the linked Times story notes, Johnson has also spread copious manure on the subjects of COVID-19 vaccines, the Jan. 6 insurrection, and the 2020 election. So maybe it’s his bullshit detector that’s actually on the fritz.

RELATED: Ron Johnson wants to undermine Social Security, but he really wishes you’d stop mentioning that

Of course, with abortion rights, inflation, crime, and the looming specter of a 2024 run by Aldrich Aimless out there scaring suburban mothers, children, and their pets, RoJo’s remarks on the planet’s most urgent crisis may not seem top-of-mind for some people. But surveys show that it’s still a pressing issue for many voters.

In a La Follette Policy Poll published in January, 59% of Wisconsinites rated climate change as a problem, with a full 39% calling it “an extremely big problem.”

Meanwhile, Johnson’s opponent. Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, has put an emphasis on climate change during his campaign. In 2019, Gov. Tony Evers appointed Barnes to lead a state task force on the problem, and while many of his policy solutions have failed to stir the hearts of Wisconsin’s GOP-controlled legislature, he’s continued to be a vocal leader on the issue.

RELATED: Mandela Barnes wraps up huge week as all three major rivals bow out and endorse him

Wisconsin voters have a stark choice this November. They can back the guy who insists climate change isn’t a problem because Greenland was green hundreds of thousands of years ago, or they can refuse to send an insensate shit midden to Washington to hasten all our deaths. Again.

But even if you don’t live in the Badger State, you can still support climate change action by helping Daily Kos build a stronger Democratic majority in the Senate. And, of course, you can contribute directly to Barnes through that same link.

Because, frankly, we’ve all had enough of this shit, now haven’t we?

Ready to help get out the vote in Wisconsin? Click here for a sh*tload of opportunities!

Check out Aldous J. Pennyfarthing’s four-volume Trump-trashing compendium, including the finale, Goodbye, Asshat: 101 Farewell Letters to Donald Trump, at this link. Or, if you prefer a test drive, you can download the epilogue to Goodbye, Asshat for the low, low price of FREE.