I'm starting to get the feeling that the two most vulnerable incumbent Republican senators next year really, really don't want to be reelected, because their actions are reminiscent of folks who have given up all hope. Or maybe the Iran deal has just unhinged them. First you had my own home state's sitting duck, Mark Kirk, completely losing his mind over the Iran deal and now, everyone's favorite Dairyland Dumbass, Ron Johnson, is getting in on the act at today's Iran hearings.
How bad, you ask? Let Steve Benen explain:
Johnson, who Republican also made chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, took the opportunity to lecture Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, an M.I.T. physicist, on “electro-magnetic pulse weapons.” Moniz, naturally, said he had no idea what Johnson was talking about, prompting the Wisconsin senator to say he’d forward the secretary some information.
Yes, apparently Johnson saw
Goldeneye last night and is worried the Iranians are going to do the same thing. But what do you expect from a man who
thought "The Lego Movie" was anti-business propaganda?
Vox's Max Fisher summed up Johnson's foolishness nicely:
A bit of context: Johnson is the senior senator from Wisconsin and a Republican. Ernest Moniz is the secretary of energy and one of the lead US negotiators on the Iran deal. Electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapons are a nonsense science fiction "threat" and a longtime point of obsession among certain conservatives, such as Newt Gingrich and Ron Johnson. Johnson's line of questioning, to a top-of-his-field nuclear physicist, is a little like asking Neil Armstrong if he thinks the moon landing might have been faked.
But that's not all Johnson did to embarrass himself, oh no. His outside supporters
are doing their part too:
A new ad touting Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson’s opposition to President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran features a photoshopped image of President Obama shaking hands with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, as well as a still from a propaganda video produced by ISIS.
Um,
what?
The ad’s background images include a shot from an ISIS-produced video, footage of a smoldering World Trade Center, and an image of the president shaking hands with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
Obama and Rouhani have never met, however. The photograph was created from a image of Obama meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan in 2011.
Well, that seems like something of an oopise. And when called on it, the makers of the video promptly played as dumb as the guy they're trying to support:
When asked for comment, Restoration PAC spokesman Dan Curry told BuzzFeed News, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re saying that’s a photoshop — can you explain what you’re talking about?”
When Curry was told that Obama and Rouhani have never met, Curry said he would “take a look at that.”
Translation: "Duh, this magical machine called a com-pu-tor? I no understand what it does. I only press the buttons."
Gee, Ron. With genius friends like this, no wonder you're getting clobbered in polling by your predecessor. By all means, keep it up. At least you'll provide us with much humor on the way out.