After reading Willmar city council member Christianson under scrutiny for liking racist & mean Facebook posts, a reader contacted Bluestem with screenshots of Facebook posts by Vadnais Heights' city council member Craig Johnson's personal Facebook page.
The content Johnson shares is a froth of Hillary Clinton bashing, climate change denying, liberal mocking memes, along with pro-Catholic content. Along the way, Johnson expresses his loathing of a rage of public figures, living and dead, from freshman Minnesota state representative Ilhan Omar, DFL-Minneapolis, to Reformation leader Martin Luther.
Bluestem knows of no other elected official in Minnesota has been so inclusive in his scorn as to bash both Muslims and Lutherans. The screengrab at the top of the post announces Johnson's desire to see Representative Omar sent to prison.
Luther doesn't fare much better in an article Johnson shares from Church Militant, a conservative Catholic publication often critical of Pope Francis.
Johnson frequently bashes climate change, despite the fact of Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical on climate change or news of the Holy Father's recent statements. Example: the CBS News report, Pope Francis denounces climate change deniers:
Pope Francis denounced those who deny global warming and urged negotiators at climate talks in Germany to avoid falling prey to such "perverse attitudes" and instead accelerate efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
Francis issued a message Thursday to the Bonn meeting, which is working to implement the 2015 Paris accord aimed at capping global emissions.
In the message, Francis called climate change "one of the most worrisome phenomena that humanity is facing," and urged negotiators to ignore special interests and political or economic pressures and instead engage in an honest dialogue about the future of the planet.
He denounced that such efforts are often frustrated by those who deny climate change, are indifferent to it, or think it can only be solved by technical solutions.
Here's a post typical of Johnson (we marvel at preferring the Farmer's Almanac over the Holy Father's encyclical):
And then there's Johnson's view of immigrants bringing disease to the New World (and he doesn't mean Lord Jeff Amherst's musing on smallpox blankets, either):
But Bluestem's favorite? Sharing "news" that the recent Keystone pipeline leak--the third significant leak in seven years--was caused by "Trump Haters":
Er, no, Trump-Haters had nothing to do with causing the leak. According to those environmental extremists at the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, the Keystone pipeline leak was likely caused by 2008 damage incurred by the construction of the pipeline itself:
A federal agency says a leak in TransCanada Corp.'s Keystone oil pipeline in South Dakota likely was caused by damage during construction in 2008.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued a corrective action report Tuesday on the estimated 210,000-gallon oil spill. The report says a weight installed on the pipeline nearly a decade ago may have damaged the pipeline and coating.
According to the report, weights are placed on the pipeline in areas "where water could potentially result in buoyancy concerns."
Curious about whether other members of Vadnais Heights City Council shared Johnson's high standards for evidence and civility, we consulted Mr. Google and the results weren't pretty. On November 9, the Pioneer Press reported in Vadnais Heights council member pleads guilty to disorderly conduct in domestic incident:
A Vadnais Heights City Council member pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct Thursday following allegations that he became violent and threatening toward a woman he was seeing.
Terry Nyblom entered the plea in Ramsey County District Court in Maplewood, according to court records.
The 53-year-old previously faced charges of disorderly conduct, interfering with a 911 call, misdemeanor-level domestic assault and fifth-degree assault.
The other charges were dropped in accordance with Nyblom’s agreement to plead guilty to the disorderly conduct count, which is a misdemeanor. . . .
While he remains a city council member, Nyblom was removed from his position as deputy mayor following the allegations.
“We didn’t want this to distract from the ability of someone to lead our city,” Vadnais Heights Mayor Bob Fletcher said.
Fletcher added that while the city is “disappointed” by Nyblom’s alleged actions, it has no authority to remove him from office.
Yes, it's that Bob Fletcher.
Why Johnson's posts matter
At the West Central Tribune, Shelby Lindrud reported in Concerns raised over Ron Christianson’s Facebook account activity; Professor: Elected officials are rightly held to a higher standard:
Larry Jacobs, the director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the Hubert H. Humphrey School and Department of Political Science at the University of Minnesota, said that elected officials are rightly held to a higher standard because they represent all citizens of the city and certain speech can divide the community.
Screengrabs: All from Craig Johnson's personal Facebook page.
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