Viewers of Keith Olbermann's Countdown show on MSNBC are going to start wondering what's wrong with Wisconsin. Wednesday night's program included three Badger state stories, none of them flattering.
Republican Senate candidate Ron Johnson got the most attention, a 10-minute-plus segment for his opposition to the Child Victims Act, a bill removing the statute of limitations in cases of sexual abuse of children.
Johnson was a member at the time of the finance council of the Green Bay Catholic Diocese, which was being sued for covering up pedophilia by priests -- but he neglected to mention that in his testimony last January at the state capitol, which Olbermann aired its its entirety. Johnson's testimony had been reported earlier, but the video just surfaced. Johnson speed-reads his testimony, in what Olbermann described as "high speed sophistry," arguing that the law would hurt non-profit groups trying to do good, among other things. Olbermann termed it "some pretty mediocre arguments against protecting kids from pedophiles."
Todd Merryfield, one of the victims of a priest from the Green Bay diocese, appeared on the show and said he had been a "huge Johnson supporter" until learning of his position on the issue on Tuesday.
