Senator Johnson, What Were You Thinking?

Senator Johnson, what were you thinking? This isn’t an exclamation. I really want to know.

In one of the most recent iterations of tone-deaf statements made by politicians, Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said this on Joe Pag’s conservative radio talk show (emphasis mine):

“Even though those thousands of people that were marching to the Capitol were trying to pressure people like me to vote the way they wanted me to vote, I knew those were people that love this country, that truly respect law enforcement, would never do anything to break the law, and so I wasn’t concerned.”

“Now, had the tables been turned—Joe, this could get me in trouble—had the tables been turned, and President Trump won the election and those were tens of thousands of Black Lives Matter and Antifa protesters, I might have been a little concerned.”

It was both shocking and amazing to hear someone—an elected Senator, no less—say such a thing without realizing the impact of his words. This is the definition of institutional racism: thought patterns so embedded in society, some see nothing wrong in expressing them, let alone thinking them. Did you say them to gain political currency, or do you believe them? As Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. recently said, “Republicans and conservatives have used culture wars as a way of encouraging working-class voters to cast their ballots on the basis of social, religious, and racial issues rather than on economic questions.” Your comments, shocking as they are to me, are chum, thrown into political waters to rile up your Republican base. In the feeding frenzy, they ignore the economic precipice they live on and, worse, don’t even realize how unimportant their lives are to the GOP.

The Justice Department’s mounting evidence against those who stormed the Capitol doesn’t correlate with your sentiments. In response to criticism about your statement, you replied, “There were no racial undertones to my comments.” You’re right, Senator. These weren’t undertones; these were overt. Here are some facts that should interest you.

In an interview with 60 Minutes, federal prosecutor and former acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Michael R. Sherwin, said they were now in the process of prosecuting over 400 cases involving the January assault on the Capitol. “The bulk of those cases are federal criminal charges and significant felony charges: five, ten, twenty-year penalties…. Of those 400, we have over 100 who have been charged with assaulting federal officers and local police officers. Ten percent of the cases, I’ll call them more complex conspiracy cases—we do have evidence, it’s in the public record—where individual militia groups from different facets, Oath Keepers, Three Percenters, Proud Boys, did have a plan—we don’t know what the full plan is—to come to D.C., organize, breach the Capitol in some manner.” The investigation is only getting started.

Sherwin was an eyewitness to the insurrection. Dressed in his running clothes, he followed protesters from Donald Trump’s rally to the Capitol. “As the morning progressed, I noticed that some people were in tactical gear,” he said. “Those individuals, I noticed, left the speeches early. You could see it was getting more riled up. And it became more aggressive.” Prosecutors have charged many with obstruction of official government proceedings (the Electoral College count). Convictions could result in twenty-year felony sentences. The government has arrested two men for assaulting Capitol police officer Brian D. Sicknick, who later died of his injuries. If his autopsy shows their actions resulted in his death, they will be charged with murder.

Do you think, Senator, these people “truly respect law enforcement [and] would never do anything to break the law,” as you stated?

Covered live on TV, hundreds of thousands of Americans witnessed this breach. Rioters posted their own videos and photographs of their actions. Others proudly texted their involvement. The people you described as loving their country put members of Congress, the military, and police at risk. What’s so loving about that?

Politicians have been spinning their versions of events since the dawn of our country. During both the Reagan and George H. Bush administrations, Lee Atwater’s noxious tactics are the contemporary antecedent for the misleading hyperbole we experience today. Truth became malleable. Atwater’s support for making furloughed felon Willie Horton’s armed robbery and rape charges an issue during the 1988 presidential campaign against Democrat Michael Dukakis was instrumental in Bush overcoming a 17-point deficit to win the presidency. Atwater stated he would “strip the bark off the little bastard” and “make Willie Horton his running mate.” Trump’s “alternative facts” were the culmination of bending the truth for political gain. What’s fascinating is the traction these lies generate.

In 1987, the Federal Communications Commission rescinded the Fairness Doctrine, which required media outlets to present controversial issues fairly and balanced. “The Fairness Doctrine required that those who were talked about be given a chance to respond to the statements made by broadcasters.” The FCC believed this safeguard impinged on a person’s First Amendment rights, and they did away with it. Political discourse has digressed ever since.

“Cancel culture” has become our most recent ad hoc policing system to control the cacophony of voices and opinions on traditional and social media. But it’s often harsh and indiscriminate. A few months back, a Facebook friend wrote about some stress in their life, posting a sizeable animated emoji showing a round yellow face grinding its teeth. I responded to that emoji by saying, “relax” (I know firsthand the pain of bruxism—teeth-gnashing). A few minutes later, a well-known woman writer admonished me for telling any woman to relax. I only knew my friend via Facebook. And her handle was gender-neutral, so I didn’t realize she was a woman. I was going to clarify my response, but when I saw that 27 people had already liked her retort, I thought better of it. I felt ganged up upon and ridiculed unfairly. A simple question, “What did you mean?” would have cleared everything up quickly. Instead, I deleted my comment. But the feeling of being misunderstood without recourse stayed with me the rest of the day. Seeking context is a rare commodity. So that’s why I’m asking you, Senator, despite the facts, why did you say what you said?

Ultimately, it’s the responsibility of your Wisconsin constituents to judge your words and deeds. But that doesn’t mean the rest of us will stand by when you pass your judgments. They’re deadly.

And, yes, Senator Johnson, you are a racist.

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Taken on: March 22, 2021

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