A co-creator of the party game Cards Against Humanity is planning to bombard the office of US senator Ron Johnson with potatoes, after the Wisconsin Republican sent a “cease and desist” letter to a local constituent.
Cards Against Humanity launched the campaign on Thursday, inviting people to spend $5 to have a potato sent to Johnson’s office. Each potato will have the words “hold a town hall” written on it. Johnson was one of a number of politicians who did not hold public meetings during the congressional recess.
In February, the senator’s office sent a letter to Earl Good, a Wisconsin resident and Vietnam veteran, ordering Good not to call or visit any of Johnson’s offices. It added that if he failed to comply he would be reported to the police.
Good told a local news channel he had called Johnson’s office up to 80 times a day in an attempt to speak with the senator.
“The reason I reached out to Ron Johnson, I disagreed with several of the cabinet appointments that were made, and I was concerned about the Affordable Care Act, privatizing the veteran’s administration, the Russian hacking,” Good told CBS 58.
A post on Cards Against Humanity’s website said: “Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) is refusing to hold a town hall meeting with his constituents.
“Legally, we’re not allowed to call Senator Johnson a cruel idiot who doesn’t understand how health insurance works.
“But we are allowed to mail thousands of potatoes to his office demanding that he listen to his constituents and hold a town hall meeting.”
Max Temkin, co-creator of Cards Against Humanity, told the Guardian there had already been “thousands of orders”. He said he would begin sending potatoes to Johnson “in the next week or two”.
“We picked potatoes because they’re funny and very inconvenient for the senator,” Temkin said. “If he ignores them, they’ll go bad.”
Temkin had planned to send “one ton of inverted pork rectums” to the senator’s office, but changed course on Thursday. It is unclear where the potatoes will originate from, although the state of Wisconsin is well known for its potato output.
According to the Wisconsin potato and vegetable growers association, Wisconsin is ranked third in the nation for potato production, and “No1 east of the Mississippi”.
A spokesperson for Johnson told CBS 58 that “very infrequently a pattern of inappropriate behavior emerges that crosses the bounds of decency and requires action to ensure the well being of visitors to the office and staff”.
Ben Voelkel, communications director for Johnson, told the Guardian the potatoes would be donated to food pantries in Milwaukee.
“Instead of spending $5 on a 38-cent potato,” he said, “I’d encourage people to donate directly to their local food pantry to help those in need in their community.”
Originally posted at The Guardian
