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Joe The Plumber Defends Campaign Ad Tying Holocaust To Gun Control

By Adam Peck on Jun 22, 2012 at 4:36 pm

Earlier this week, Samuel Wurzelbacher — known to most as Joe the Plumber — posted a campaign ad on YouTube that sought to blame gun control laws for human atrocities, including the Armenian genocide of the early 1900s and the extermination of 6 million Jews during World War II.

Amazingly, Wurzelbacher kept digging. Yesterday in an interview with the Toledo Blade, Wurzelbacher defended the ad by denying he ever mentioned the Holocaust:

“All I said was gun control was implemented, and then governments proceeded to violate human rights,” Mr. Wurzelbacher said. “Nowhere did I mention the Holocaust or was I even talking about it.”

Let’s go to the videotape:

Apparently, Wurzelbacher can’t find any references–explicit or otherwise–to the Holocaust in the lines “In 1939, Germany established gun control. From 1939 to 1945, 6 million Jews and 7 million others, unable to defend themselves, were exterminated.” Worse, he goes on to blame “the liberal media” for pointing out the obvious–and deeply offensive–Holocaust reference.

His campaign spokesman Phil Christofanelli told the paper that the story was “generated by left-wing liberal blogs and picked up by the ‘sympathetic liberal media.’” Jewish groups were swift to condemn the ad, as were Democrats and the overwhelming majority of viewers on YouTube. As of publication, the ad has been viewed almost 50,000 times and most of the feedback has been negative.

For good measure, Christofanelli expanded on the ad as well, adding slavery to the list of atrocities that can be traced back to gun control. “Well, blacks weren’t allowed to own guns in the South, that’s a historical fact as well,” he told Politicker on Tuesday.

Partisan Republicans Aggressively Seeking To Become Election Officials In Florida

By Adam Peck posted from ThinkProgress Election on Jun 22, 2012 at 3:10 pm

Republican lawmakers in states like Georgia, Texas and Wisconsin have spent the last several months introducing — and, in some cases, passing — laws designed to suppress largely Democratic voters ahead of the general election.

Nowhere have these efforts advanced further than in Florida, where Governor Rick Scott has defied the Department of Justice’s order to cease his highly controversial and ineffective voter roll purge, in which hundreds of eligible voters — including many Latinos and self-identified Democrats — have been booted from the rolls.

All of this has succeeded in politicizing the most impregnable institution of democracy: elections.

The Herald-Tribune in Sarasota, Florida reports that election supervisors, long considered dull administrative desk jobs with little to no influence on policy, have become hotly contested jobs attracting political heavyweights in some counties along the state’s West Coast:

• In Sarasota County, three-term county commissioner Jon Thaxton, a Republican, is challenging supervisor Kathy Dent.

• In Manatee County, state Sen. Mike Bennett, a Bradenton developer known for antagonizing Democrats in Tallahassee, is banking that his decade of name recognition will help him succeed retiring supervisor of elections Bob Sweat.

• In Charlotte County, former four-term county commissioner Adam Cummings is looking to unseat first-term incumbent Paul Stamoulis.

• In Hillsborough County, former state Rep. Rich Gloriso, a Republican, passed up an opportunity to run for the state Senate to instead run for supervisor of elections.

The trend is troubling, and could perhaps signal the next front in an ever-expanding political battlefield. Already, a handful of isolated Election Day incidents—most notably Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus’ botched 2011 special election in Wisconsin—have stirred controversy.

Romney Campaign Co-Chair: Romney Would ‘Rescind’ Obama Immigration Directive

By Judd Legum on Jun 22, 2012 at 2:00 pm

A week ago, Obama announced that the Department of Homeland Security was halting deportations for up to 1.4 million young undocumented immigrants. Since that time, Mitt Romney has been repeatedly asked whether, if elected, he would undo Obama’s directive or leave it in place. Romney has steadfastly refused to answer.

But Ray Walser, a co-chair of Mitt Romney’s campaign for issues pertaining to Latin America, finally spilled the beans:

…Mr Walser, told The Daily Telegraph: “My anticipation is that he would probably rescind this directive were he to be elected in November.”

Mr Walser, a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation and veteran US diplomat, said such a decision would be in line with the “very tough” stance taken on illegal migration by Mr Romney so far.

After Walser’s comments to The Daily Telegraph, the reporter followed up with the Romney campaign. It refused to repond to his inquiry. But Walser got back in touch with the reporter and begged not to be quoted: “I’ve now had a little conversation with people from the campaign and they are concerned… They would really prefer that if you’re going to quote the Romney position, you get it from someone other than me.”

Update

Greg Sargent follows up with Walser, who stands by his comments and claims they are consistent with what Romney has been saying.

Update

Via Greg Sargent the Romney campaign responds: “Ray Walser does not advise nor speak for the campaign on immigration policy. Gov. Romney has been clear he will put in place a long-term solution that will supersede President Obama’s stop-gap measure.” Walser is listed as the campaign’s co-chair for Latin America.

NEWS FLASH

Republican Rep. Who Denounced ‘African Americans For Obama’ Group Silent On ‘Juntos Con Romney’ | Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) turned heads in April when he attacked the “African Americans for Obama” group as “worse than sad.” He accused Obama of using “that and to go out and try to create divisiveness or one race against the other.” Today, Mitt Romney announced his Latino outreach group in 15 states, “Juntos con Romney” (“Together with Romney”). ThinkProgress contacted Gingrey’s office to see if he was similarly outraged, but he has yet to respond.

Justice

Romney Proposes An Immigration Reform That Republicans Have Already Rejected

By Amanda Peterson Beadle posted from ThinkProgress Justice on Jun 22, 2012 at 12:01 pm

When Mitt Romney outlined his ideas about immigration policy at a Latino conference in Florida, he endorsed removing the cap on visas for the spouses and children of lawful permanent residents. This measure would allow the more than 300,000 people who are waiting for a family-sponsored green card to skip the years-long wait for a visa under a Romney presidency. “We will exempt from caps the spouses and minor children of legal permanent residents. And we will eliminate other forms of bureaucratic red tape that keep families from being together,” he told the crowd at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference.

This is not a new idea — Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez (NJ) has championed this provision as part of a broader comprehensive immigration reform bill. But, as Menendez pointed out in a statement after Romney’s speech, Republicans have “failed to endorse” the idea of allowing more family visas. “I’ve reached out to Republicans to help me fix our legal immigration system but unfortunately to date, Republicans continue to oppose reforms to our family immigration system,” Menendez said.

Indeed, no Republican co-sponsored Menendez’s immigration proposal that would expand the number of family visas. And when the senator’s office has reached out to Republicans to compromise on the provision Romney mentioned, Republicans rejected the olive branch, a staff member told ThinkProgress.

ThinkProgress reached out to Republicans on the House and Senate Judiciary committees to see if they would support Romney’s proposal. In response, House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) said in a statement Romney is “right to recognize that immigration reform needs to be geared towards bolstering our economy and job creation,” but did not comment on the GOP candidate’s visa expansion proposal.

As an Associated Press fact check of Romney’s speech points out, Romney would need Congress’ help to expand the limit if he were president. But after failing to support legislative attempts to increase the limit, it’s unlikely Republicans will jump on board now simply because Romney has suggested it.

Republican Congressional Candidate Wants To Impeach Obama For ‘Giving Away’ Seven Arctic Islands

By Scott Keyes on Jun 22, 2012 at 10:48 am

Texas congressional candidate Wes Riddle (R)

A congressional hopeful has a plan to impeach President Obama, deep in the heart of Texas.

Wes Riddle, a Republican tea party activist locked in a run-off with fellow GOPer Roger Williams in Texas’ 25th congressional district, is campaigning on a conspiracy theory even more bizarre than the fantasy that the United Nations and George Soros are conspiring to eliminate the game of golf.

Riddle has promised to begin the impeachment process against President Obama the day he enters Congress — seemingly implying that he believes Obama will be reelected — because of a boundary treaty that was ratified by the Senate in 1991. Obama was 30 years old at the time and just finishing up law school.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has the details:

Riddle, a retired Army officer from Gatesville, wants to impeach Obama for “giving away” seven Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea islands near Siberia to Russia.

(Yes, even though those islands were ceded in 1991 under President George H.W. Bush.)

Riddle also wants to impeach Obama, according to the paper, because of “President Obama’s abuse of power and blatant disregard to the Constitution.”

This paranoid fantasy appears to have been spawned by Tea Party favorite Joe Miller. According to his World Net Daily piece, the Obama administration gave away “seven strategic, resource-laden Alaskan islands.” Miller was apoplectic: “We won the Cold War and should start acting like it.”

Though FactCheck.org has thoroughly debunked this conspiracy theory, reality hasn’t stopped Riddle from using it as a rationale for his goal of impeaching Obama.

The run-off election will take place on July 31.

Justice

Flawed Voter Purge Underway In Georgia

By Josh Israel posted from ThinkProgress Justice on Jun 22, 2012 at 9:00 am

Georgia Secretary of State Brian P. Kemp (R)

Georgia Secretary of State Brian P. Kemp (R)

One of the most troubling aspects of Gov. Rick Scott’s (R-FL) likely illegal attempt to purge people his administration said were non-citizen voters from the voter rolls was the error-riddled list of alleged non-citizens on which it relied. Though the Scott administration told election supervisors that it had a list of “sure-fire” non-citizens, hundreds proved to be naturalized — or even natural-born U.S. citizens. A new voter purge effort in Georgia is running into the same problem: bad data.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that after a state-level investigation, Fulton County, Georgia identified at least 2,400 voters it believed to be registered to vote at vacant lots. Like with the Florida purge, county elections officials began sending letters to those voters to determine whether they lived at those address. Unfortunately, as with Florida, they ran into a major problem:

State Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, has cried foul, citing the county’s embarrassment when it sent letters to residents of a senior high-rise earlier this month telling them that their building doesn’t exist and that, to prove otherwise, they needed to show up for a hearing. Elections Director Sam Westmoreland apologized, but Fort said the error proves his process is flawed.

Like with Florida, this purge apparently comes within 90 days of a federal election — likely putting it in conflict with provisions of the National Voter Registration Act. Like with parts of Florida, Georgia is covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, meaning this move could require pre-clearance from the U.S. Department of Justice. Like with Florida, the elections department said it was acting on a request from the office of Georgia Secretary of State Brian P. Kemp (R). And, like with Florida, this purge could disproportionately affect minority voters — given the racial diversity of Fulton County.

Westmoreland conceded that about half of the people on the list have already responded and shown that they indeed live at the addresses they claim. Fort notes that many of the remaining 1,200 people could also still be legitimate voters.

Update

Fulton County Director of Registration and Elections Sam Westmoreland told ThinkProgress that board has not purged any voters and will not do so unless completely convinced that they are actually ineligible. If anyone is determined to be improperly registered, Westmoreland promised, they will not be removed within 90 days of any federal election. If any of the July primaries go to an August runoff, he noted, that would likely mean any removals would take place after the November elections.

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