The “brilliance” of the Wisconsin Senator cannot be overstated.

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In his last 4 “productive” years, Johnson initiated an investigation into Joe Biden’s connection to the Ukraine conspiracy. Lot’s of attention. Big headlines.

But Johnson found no evidence that Biden had participated in any wrongdoing.

Last November, Johnson, the Republican Chairman of Homeland Security, claimed that the 2020 presidential election had, “lax enforcement, denying effective bipartisan observation of the complete election process, and failure to be fully transparent or conduct reasonable audits [that] has led to heightened suspicion.”

But Johnson found no credible evidence to support his claims.

Johnson suggested that Nancy Pelosi was somehow to blame for the assault on the Capitol when he took to Fox News.

“Is this another diversionary operation? Is this meant to deflect away from potentially what the speaker knew and when she knew it? I don’t know, but I’m suspicious,” Johnson said.

While Johnson never directly states that Pelosi was involved, many continue to believe the suggestion.

In 2018, Johnson announced that “a whistleblower has told Congress about secret meetings between FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) officials who allegedly gathered to discuss ways to undermine President Trump following his victory in the 2016 election.”

Appearing on Fox News (Fox never met a Republican conspiracy theory it didn’t embrace), Johnson spoke of a “secret society — we have an informant talking about a group holding secret meetings off-site. We have to continue to dig into it,” he added. “This is not a distraction. This is biased, potentially corruption at the highest levels of the FBI.”

Johnson never uncovered any evidence of such a society or corruption, yet many continue to believe.

Sound familiar?

“I have here in my hand a list of 205 [State Department employees] that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping the policy of the State Department.”

Another Wisconsin Senator, Joseph McCarthy, never produced any evidence of a list of people involved. Still, many believed.

These are just two examples of the beyond shameless tactics used by some politicians to stir the pot of suspicion and fear. And yet, despite a lack of evidence, Johnson’s, McCarthy’s and Donald Trump’s wild accusations stick.

Why?

Because suspicion and fear sells more than truth.

Based on his record, we know Johnson’s good at suspicion and fear, but what else is he good at?

The Milwaukee Independent reported (Aug. 2020), “When Ron Johnson ran for the Senate, he pledged to put his fortune into a blind trust to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest. Johnson broke that promise — and has advanced numerous policies that have helped him grow his wealth by as much as 100% since taking office, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.”

Well, we know he’s good at breaking promises.

“Senator Johnson was sent to Washington to serve the public, but it’s clear that he’s been serving his own bank account,” said Kyle Herrig, Executive Director of the Congressional Integrity Project.

“A decade after failing on the promise that he would put his money in a blind trust, Senator Johnson is out of excuses. Johnson needs to stop running his office like a venture capital firm and put his money in a blind trust immediately,” added Herrig. “Johnson also owes it to the taxpayers to come clean on how much money he has made over the past ten years while collecting his $174,000 government salary. He can do so immediately by releasing his tax returns.”

We know he’s good at hypocrisy.

According to polling on Morning Consult, Johnson, “while reportedly admitting privately that Biden won – starts the 2022 cycle with one of the weakest approval ratings (61 percent) among GOP voters. He is also the most unpopular Republican among the broader electorate who is up for re-election next year.”

Due to Global Warming, Wisconsin’s current priority is “transitioning to 100 percent clean, renewable energy.”

Senator Johnson “rejects the scientific consensus on climate change, claiming that scientists who attribute global warming to human activity are ‘crazy’ and the theory is ‘lunacy.’ ”

We know he has an incredible understanding of science.

But given the Covid-19 crisis, surely Senator Johnson is out front getting Wisconsin all the vaccinations they need.

Headline, March 21, 2021, Yahoo News:

“GOP Sen. Ron Johnson complained about the failed drug hydroxychloroquine not getting FDA approval, and refused to say the Covid-19 vaccine is safe.”

Why isn’t Sen. Johnson attending to these and other issues in his home state?

Well, he’s just a little too busy appearing on Fox spouting conspiracy theories and explaining his comments about Black Lives Matter and Capitol insurrectionists.

Johnson’s skill set is focusing on drama, attention, headlines, more drama, and little action for the people of Wisconsin.

Is Senator Ron Johnson worse than Wisconsin’s other far-right Senator, Joe McCarthy?

You bet!

Now, we’ll see if voters in next year’s election agree.