Prev Next
Featured Quizzes
Politix Daily Headlines
Featured Debates
Issues

See all 17 issues

People
White House

See all people

CONDESCENSION

Senator: Americans are basically ignorant

Says voters 'don't understand the problems facing this nation'

Next>

by David Mark

Editor-in-Chief t

Image: AP

Senator Ron Johnson says President Barack Obama's reelection was decided by an uninformed electorate. The Wisconsin Republican attributed Obama's win in his state to an uninformed electorate who voted in the presidential race but not in this year's failed attempt to recall GOP Gov. Scott Walker, Huffington Post reports.

Like this article? B Vote Up
?

Is the senator right or wrong about this?

Comments (view in Forum)

  • martydotcom
    !
    Unless I missed something congress just hit an all time low in their approval ratings.
    We're supposed to take what this clown has to say seriously.
    Ron Johnson’s message to those stricken by cancer?“Your employer shouldn’t have to pay for your insurance – go ahead and die already!:
    Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) on Romney's tax returns:'the American people have enough information"
    JOHNSON: People will talk about unusually lethal weapons, that could be potentially a discussion you could have. But the fact of the matter is there are 30-round magazines that are just common. You simply can’t keep these weapons out of the hands of sick, demented individuals who want to do harm. And when you try to do it, you restrict our free
  • jessejaymes
    !
    He's not making an points with much of anyone except the redneck right with his comments about explaining something to someone who has been in office a whole longer than he has.
  • o
    Sonny
    !
    Politix can remove this if they want to...But basically this guy is an idiot and an asshole!. Just who is "he" to label a majority of the American Voter population "ignorant" just because we don't subscribe to his political views of how things should be run and what solutions we want in place...I'm willing to bet that he will live to regret that statement, next time he is up for re-election...I sincerely hope that the people of his state will not forget the way that this guy insulted them. And teach him and republicans like him a very valuable lesson.
  • Neo_NtheMatrix
    !
    He told the truth. I respect what he said. This is the problem in this country. Sen. Johnson is just attempting to address the real problems this country faces.
  • o
    Sonny
    !
    @Neo_NtheMatrix No, he gave his "opinion" that is not necessarily the same as "telling the truth". Its just his & your point of view...and nothing more than that.
  • Tralee
    !
    But the average voter is ignorant, and not in a demeaning way, they are ignorant like a 5 yr. old is ignorant of mathematics, spelling and basic history.
    __________
    ig·no·rant/ˈignərənt/
    Adjective:

    Lacking knowledge or awareness in general; uneducated or unsophisticated.
    Lacking knowledge, information, or awareness about something in particular: "ignorant of astronomy".
    __________

    That's all and the American public is woefully ignorant of economics. They don't understand that for every dollar they get in benefits and handouts from the government, someone else has to anti up that dollar out of their earnings taking one more dollar out of the economy as in purchasing goods and services. Thus, those sellers of goods and providers of services have to make do with less, leading to layoffs and low production or moving off shore in order to make a profit. For most, your very job depends on someone else spending money on a good or a service. The only ones who don't depend on the public purchasing something are government workers. THEY depend entirely on the taxes we pay for every thing the get. Gov. doesn't make a product. You can't just take and expect others to continue to provide. After all, where does the gov. get the money to pay for all these goodies? Right, someone other than you, so you have no reason to study where the money is going, it's not your tax money.
  • Post Removed by Moderators
  • u
    EMS_Servant
    !
    @Tralee I still am ignorant when it comes to many aspects of the political world. Some people don't like to talk about politics because they may not see that it effects them (I used to be that way). I still don't know all of what goes on in capital hill when they are in session and I suspect a great deal of America doesn't care, otherwise I think the people might have said something about the wages we pay these people as part of our concerns over the economy.

    I don't mean to be disrespectful to anyone and please don't take it as such but not many people pay attention to what is going on and most of these elections (not just presidential) people are either going off of the campaign promises/hype or they are just blindly choosing names.

    Last time my state elected a Governor most of my friends knew little about the candidates except for the campaign commercials and the mud slinging... yeah there are a lot of ignorant voters out there and I do think they should better educate themselves on who they are voting for

  • View all 32 replies >

  • o
    Sonny
    !
    Its a difference of political opinion---NOT the "truth"...So he has NO right to call anyone "ignorant"...and neither do you.
  • Post Removed by Moderators
  • Post Removed by Moderators

  • View all 9 replies >

  • u
    Realthinker
    !
    He can do that, if he takes money allocated to something else and reapplies it to defense spending. After all, the Democrats have no problem doing that in reverse, raiding the defense budget and applying those funds somewhere else..
  • Len_in_NY2
    !
    @Realthinker
    So he's just moving money around. He's not cutting any spending to close the budget, he's just "re-allocating" it. Sound familiar? Whoever does it, does nothing to help the deficit problem. And people wonder why I think that there is no difference between he and Obama.
  • LGRepublican
    !
    @Sonny So Senator Johnson calls some people ignorant and he's an a-hole (from a previous post) but it's OK for YOU to call someone ignorant? Well, opinions are like a-holes as they say and yours is just an opinion as well.....
  • o
    Sonny
    !
    @LGRepublican I only said he was "ignorant" for calling other people who don't share his beliefs "ignorant" in the first place...Anybody who thinks that ONLY their own opinion matters---can feel that way all day long.. Its only when they start calling other people ignorant because they disagree with them---then I have to point out their ignorance. Hope that helps clear things up for you.
  • o
    Sonny
    !
    @LGRepublican No you have it backwards..."HE" was the one who "dismissed" the opinion of others who did not agree with his assesment of the problem and/or his solutions thereof...If all he did was state his opinion I would have been fine with that...But "HE" was the one who said "Americans are basically Ignorant"...And it was an ignorant thing for someone (especially a Senator) to say.
  • o
    Sonny
    !
    What "lazy" is people who allow some "politician" to "think for them".. Just because this guy says something that sounds "good" to you...doesn't make it "right"...Is just his opinion...and a lot of other people don't agree with his opinion. You do, and thats fine...but others who don't are not "ignorant" they just have a different political view than you and this asshole senator.
  • o
    Sonny
    !
    @Zoe2012 No I'm sorry but you are the one calling people "lazy" and "thieves"...I don't presume to know who you are talking about. If you want to label a certain part of the American people with derogatory names and insults, then perhaps you should tell us all just exactly who you are referring to..I will not try to guess for you.
  • Tralee
    !
    Oh, he was definitely correct, I've been saying this for several years now. Too many have little to no real economic education and too little real knowledge of how the world works. How many times have I seen, especially from the left, that profit is a bad thing, that business should not make profit. It's sad to see such ignorance but I can only assume that this is the result of a public school education. They are indoctrinated with the left ideals, every one is equal, we all deserve the same things and no one is better than anyone else, this has led to the basic abolishing of a Class Valdictorian, no one is the top, the best. A silly argument since we are all offered equal opportunity, not equal outcome. So we graduate students barely able to read above an 8th grade level, unable to balance a check book and totally ignorant of just what makes a Democracy work. Heck I doubt they even know what a Democracy is. They believe government is the Big Daddy of all, the provider and don't have a clue what it takes for the government to provide for so many.
  • mimi57
    !
    Did you see the ad that was taken in Cleveland,Oh.? It went like this," We're here for Obama phones and money", the
    reporter asked her, where is Obama going to get the money? She responded with, "the government". Where is the
    government going to get the money, "from Obama, he has a whole lotta money"!!!...Really?!
  • Tralee
    !
    @DCJayB Yes they have, I have seen it on various websites, just because YOU haven't said it doesn't mean left leaning people, in their ignorance, have said it. I heard it on TV too, as various people were asked if business should make a profit, the majority, mostly college students and young adults, said in several different ways, that business should not have profit that they should use their money to pay their employees better. No lie, heard it with my on ears and have read it with my own eyes. Here's the most recent:

    "Author, investment guru, and radio show host Peter Schiff goes undercover at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte to gauge support for a fictional ban on corporate profits.

    Posing as an anti-business crusader, Peter Schiff found a number of DNC delegates and attendees who support explicitly outlawing profitability. We deliberately avoided speaking with the occupy protestors camping outside in tents to get a more "mainstream" Democratic perspective!"

    http://reason.com/blog/2012/09/06/peter-schif...
  • Tralee
    !
    @mimi57 I heard a group of women getting free housing or something like that in Chicago, they said the money was coming from Obama's stash.
  • DCJayB
    !
    @Tralee Heresay is fun and all, but I'm talking about Democratic lawmakers, not just random people. I don't attribute everything I hear someone who claims to be a Republican says to the general Republican party. If I did, I would probably never speak to any Republicans ever again.

  • View all 12 replies >

  • puppybrownie
    !
    He's right about half of Americans, and telling the truth to liberals is now "condescending."
    They'll get what they deserve, the rest of us, who have never depended on government, will do just fine.
  • LGRepublican
    !
    Ron Johnson is a successful business man and a fiscal conservative which is why we elected him. If you want a perfect example of ignorant, look no further than Jessie Jackson Jr. getting reelected despite being under investigation.....
  • MRMacrum
    !
    @LGRepublican - Yeah Ron is a class act alright. And real Intelligent too. Let's see. When he worked on the finance council of the Catholic Archdiocese in Wisconsin he actively opposed Wisconsin legislation that would have eliminated the time limit for future victims of child sex-abuse to bring lawsuits and would have allowed an additional three years for past victims to sue. Protecting the purse of Mother Church was a higher priority to him. He thinks climate change is hogwash. But he is a fiscal conservative and a successful businessman, the only two requirements to make it in the Republican Party now days.
  • MRMacrum
    !
    @LGRepublican - Never mind the labels for me. I vote across party lines. Or used to. I would love to do it again if the GOP would get its act together, What I would hope to see in someone I have elected to be my voice in the statehouse or in DC is intelligence and commitment to my states interests and NOT to an ideology or party. It's okay to have core beliefs, but when those beliefs translate into actions that are not representative of all the people in the area that sent them to represent them, I have a problem. Party loyalty should not come before the interests of the people. While the Democrats in their past have been just as bad as Republicans are now in forgetting who they really represent, it is the Republicans at this current time who are pushing the party first, country second agendas. And the influx of Tea Party inflexibility has only emphasized that.
  • DARSB
    !
    "Ignorant" is a bit rich coming from a man whose party has overseen thousands of public school teacher layoffs and whose "brain," Karl Rove, has just had his thin intellectual credibility shredded like klleenex at a snot party.
  • Rocker
    !
    LOL, I may be ignorant but I'm smart enough to know a grandiose, ingratiating ass when I read that. Some politicians open their mouths and remove the doubt. The only way it could get any worse is to throw 'rape' in there somewhere, for cryin' out loud.
  • u
    bembh
    !
    Mitt Romney dismisses 47% of the population, and he's followed by this senator who says that most Americans are ignorant. And the GOP wonders why they lose elections?
  • u
    bembh
    !
    @LGRepublican Nathan Jessup was a fictional character. But you probably watch Fox News and think that there's no difference between reality and fiction.
  • LGRepublican
    !
    @bembh Went right over your head didn't it? It was the POINT of the quote, not the character who quoted it. BTW, nice tired old rehash of "Fox News". Maybe your side should give it a rest and try something new for a change....
  • Yobyag
    !
    For the sake of the argument lets pretend he is correct. Who is to blame? The "ignorant" voters who "don't understand the problem" or the idiot politicians who are incapable of explain the problem or how (in detail) they will fix it? We are actually smarter then they give us credit for. We know BS when we here it.
  • u
    Wisdom73
    !
    He's right. And this could have come from either side of the political table and it still would be correct. People vote with blind emotion instead of facts and rationale thought. This is one of the human races biggest faults. When our emotions are high, we love to engage in knee-jerk reactions. Our media incites people on both sides of the politcal spectrum to the point that votes are cast out of pure anger and hatred for the opposing party member. Truth, facts, and clear descision making are all thrown out the window as we let our emotions run the show.
  • MRMacrum
    !
    @Neo_NtheMatrix "I agree with what you said mostly, except for it's not both sides. It's really just one side"

    And I assume you are referring to your side, yes?
  • Dan_Tien
    !
    @ya_right In two years, I expect that the Republicans and Democrats will still be in control of the country, arguing, both sides blocking any attempts to fix anything, while blaming the American public for all of the problems.
  • LGRepublican
    !
    I seem to remember that argument after the 2008 election. Until the 2010 election. It's a pendulum. I for one plan on voting for Senator Johnson in 4 years and so do many others.
  • u
    commonsense51
    !
    Yes, Obama supporters are ignorant. They either have no clue what trouble we are in with this 16 trillion debt or they just don't care and want free stuff from the tax payers. Still Obama is just talking about tax increases and never about spending cuts that MUST HAPPEN AND MUST BE LARGE! If he truly wants to get something done, he mush show the GOP that he is going to cut spending big time so that they will ok any tax increases or cutting tax loop holes.
  • u
    RobertJHarsh
    !
    Couldn't have said it better myself. Obama might be the first man in history to win re-election because of a bad economy. I honestly did not think he was going to get a second term. While the leftist media is writing stories about how much republicans hate gays and blacks, the conservatives are trying to figure out why the most qualified person to fix the problem lost the election and even if Bush II created this problem, Obama has done nothing to fix it. Prediction: I bet the 99 weeks of unemployment coverage makes a come back around June/July 2013.
  • u
    commonsense51
    !
    @RobertJHarsh Yes, you are probably correct. It was a sad day and we are now stuck with Obamacare which will add trillions more to our debt. It is sickening to think that our votes will no longer matter in this welfare nation created by Democrats.
  • R Load more comments...