New Times,
New Thinking.

Joe the Plumber Godwins gun control

"Obama is Literally Hitler" he didn't say, but may as well have.

By Alex Hern

Samuel “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher, who first gained fame in the 2008 Presidential election when he confronted Barack Obama over small business taxation, is running for Congress on a platform of “I won’t do the holocaust but Barack Obama might”. Seriously:

For those that can’t watch the video, it opens with some cheery music and footage of Wurzelbacher loading his shotgun and shooting some fruit, over which he narrates:

In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were exterminated. In 1939 Germany established gun control. From 1939 to 1945 six million Jews and seven million others, unable to defend themselves, were exterminated.

Wurzelbacher then turns to the camera, smiles, and says “I love America”.

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how Progressive Media Investments may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU

The implication is clear: if Democrats are trying to establish gun controls, it is because they are Literally Hitler.

It is quite possibly one of the most shameless invocations of Godwin’s law (originally a prediction that “as an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one”, the phrase has now come to mean roughly “if you invoke Hitler, it is because you have no real argument to make”) ever seen in the political sphere. 

Wurzelbacher denies this interpretation, writing on twitter:

Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf that his agenda would not be possible unless the people were disarmed.(Facts, Liberal hate them & ignore them). . . No one in the video said gun control CAUSED genocide. . .

Content from our partners
The UK’s skills shortfall is undermining growth
<strong>What kind of tax reforms would stimulate growth?</strong>