Sometimes, a Republican congressman’s impending departure from Congress gives reason for celebration.
Tuesday on X, Republican Rep. Bill Johnson of Ohio announced that he has accepted an offer to serve as the next president of Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio.
Predictably, authoritarian leftists melted down at the news of Johnson’s appointment.
“As I’ve stated previously, I wasn’t looking for another job, because I love the one I have serving the people of Eastern Ohio in the U.S. House. This was an extremely difficult decision,” Johnson wrote as part of a lengthier post.
Since 2011, Johnson has served Ohio’s 6th congressional district. In 2022, he secured 67.7 percent of the vote in defeating his Democratic challenger.
Of course, Republicans in Congress have so often betrayed their voters that we cannot always be sure of their qualities. Johnson, however, has taken principled action on crucial issues.
Earlier this month, for instance, he voted against awarding the FBI a new $300 million headquarters. This qualifies as noteworthy because 70 Republicans joined all Democrats in voting with the FBI.
Likewise, Johnson fought for election integrity in the wake of the rigged 2020 election. On Jan. 5, 2021, for instance, he announced in a statement that he would “support objections to the certification of the Electoral College vote of Pennsylvania, and possibly other states on grounds that they: potentially violated the U.S. Constitution; disregarded their own state election laws; and/or failed to count all legal ballots.”
Godspeed, therefore, to the Ohio congressman. Whether he knows it or not, he will soon find himself besieged.
In the course of our lives, most of us have met reasonable liberals. These are people who share our desire for freedom and prosperity while differing primarily on ways to achieve those things.
Authoritarian leftists, however, desire neither freedom nor prosperity except for themselves. Above all, they want to act out their resentment by hurting you. They rely on jargon and slogans to dehumanize political opponents. In recent years, many of them have settled on “election denier” for this purpose.
In response to Johnson’s announcement, therefore, authoritarian leftists focused on the congressman’s objections to the 2020 election.
“You must hear the footsteps of Jack Smith. You aren’t getting away with trying to overthrow our country,” one vengeful X user posted.
“Adios. We’ll see you again when Jack Smith calls your name. You can run but you can’t hide. Vote blue Ohio,” another vengeful user wrote.
“You tried to overthrow democracy. When the history of this era is written – you’ll be recorded as a traitor. Good riddance to trash,” another angry and delusional leftist added.
“You should be expelled Seditionist. Any University that picks an election denier to lead them is not worth attending. Education is about truth, not rewriting history, actually learning the truth about history. hopefully the DOJ will be dealing with all the traitors soon enough,” another delusional and probably bloodthirsty leftist wrote.
Others who objected to Johnson’s appointment seemed slightly less unhinged only because they chose not to act as cheerleaders for political persecution.
“I’m sad to see this. You are massively under qualified for this position and your political beliefs are repugnant. This YSU grad is extremely disappointed with @youngstownstate,” one user stated.
“God, I’m glad my daughter didn’t consider YSU for college,” an X user with a Ukrainian flag said.
Thus, Johnson will face steep obstacles in his role as YSU president. In all likelihood, he will encounter organized protests, perhaps even large ones.
If conservatives hope to save their country, however, they must wade into the reeking cesspool of higher education. And they must do so without fear.
We should pray, therefore, that Johnson will have the fortitude to face down the hatred and do all the good that his position as university president will allow him to do.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.