Joe the Plumber blames Holocaust on gun control, and Ron Paul predicts success

Joe the Plumber blames Holocaust on gun control, and Ron Paul predicts success


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SALT LAKE CITY — Congressional candidate Samuel Wurzelbacher, R-Ohio, has released a new campaign ad blaming the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide on gun control laws in Turkey and Nazi Germany.

Wurzelbacher, more commonly referred to as "Joe the Plumber," released the web video Monday.

"In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were exterminated," he says while loading a shotgun.

"In 1939, Germany established gun control," he continues, while shooting fruits and vegetables off a target. "From 1939 to 1945, six million Jews and seven million others unable to defend themselves were exterminated."

"I love America," Wurzelbacher closes.

The National Jewish Democratic Council on Tuesday slammed Wurzelbacher for the ad, saying it was inappropriate and offensive.

"Using the memories of the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust to make a political point is never appropriate, under any circumstances," the council said in a statement. "For Ohio Republican House candidate Samuel Wurzelbacher to imply that these innocent lives were taken because of gun control laws is simply beyond the pale."

Harry Reid channels his inner athlete

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took a page out of Washington Nationals player Bryce Harper's book Tuesday while responding to a question from Roll Call's Steve Dennis.

"I don't want to answer that question," Reid said in response to Dennis' question about whether Reid would force Republicans to go on record about immigration by bringing the DREAM Act to the Senate floor. "That's a clown question, bro."

The phrase had originally been used by Harper in response to a Canadian journalist's question about Harper's favorite kind of beer. Harper, who is 19 and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, issued an instantly classic response: "That's a clown question, bro."

Americans' changing opinion of Obama

A plurality of Americans say they are better off now than they were when Pres. Barack Obama was first elected, according to a new Bloomberg National Poll.

Forty-five percent of respondents said they are better off now than at the beginning of 2009, when Obama was inaugurated, while 36 percent say they are worse off.

A March poll found that Americans were fairly evenly split on their opinions.

The findings are a change from 2011, when many Americans said they were worse off since Obama was elected.

'America's toughest sheriff' gets a Celtics birthday wish

Maricopa County, Ariz., sheriff Joe Arpaio got a birthday wish Monday from the Boston Celtics.

Arpaio tweeted an image of a letter from the Celtics' community relations department.


There's going to be a lot more support there than the delegate count indicates.

–Ron Paul


Arpaio, known as "America's toughest sheriff," has received attention in the past for his tough immigration enforcement tactics. He recently was criticized when Maricopa County police officers briefly held a 6-year-old undocumented immigrant before releasing her into the care of a social services organization.

Ron Paul predicts convention success

Ron Paul said on Tuesday that he predicts more success at the Republican National Convention in August than what the delegate count suggests.

"There's going to be a lot more support there than the delegate count indicates," he said on CNN.

Paul has said in the past that it is apparent that he will not be the delagate. He wants to get his ideas out to the public, though, which he said will be made easier by delegates bound to Mitt Romney who agree with his views.

"It looks like (Romney) has the delegates, but he doesn't have the control of the hearts and mind of the people," Paul said.

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Stephanie Grimes

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