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In a campaign speech that appeared to be a throwback to the 2008 presidential election, Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan said on Tuesday that he was "happy to be clinging to my guns and my religion," and even gave a shout out to "Joe the Plumber."

Ryan told supporters in Carnegie, Pennsylvania that "every now and then President [Barack] Obama sort of drops his veil."

"Remember back in 2008, remember the guy 'Joe the Plumber,' remember when [Obama] said, we want to spread the wealth around?" the Wisconsin congressman recalled, referring to Samuel Wurzelbacher, who was made into a conservative celebrity by GOP candidates John McCain and Sarah Palin. "It's this belief that the economy is some fixed pie, that there's only so much money in America -- it's fixed -- and that the job of the government is to redistribute the slices of the pie. That's not true."

"Remember this other time, where [Obama] was caught on video saying, people like to cling to their guns and their religion?" Ryan continued. "Hey, I'm a Catholic deer hunter! I am happy to be clinging to my guns and my religion."

"The idea of America is essentially this: Our rights, they come from nature and God, not from government."

Ryan's remarks about guns and religion seemed to echo a 2008 campaign speech where Palin attacked Obama over the suggestion that economic conditions cause people to become "bitter" and "cling to guns or religion."

"And there must be something about San Francisco and [Obama]," Palin told a crowd in Ohio. "Because it’s like I heard on Fox News today, it’s like a truth serum, where when he’s there he seems to be more candid. Remember it was there that he talking about, there you go, the bitter clingers. The cling-ons, all of us, I guess, hanging on to religion and guns."

Ryan's focus on social issues comes at a time when he is taking heat for his connections to Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO), who recently apologized for the suggestion that women could not get pregnant from "legitimate" rape. Both men had co-sponsored a bill that critics say would have redefined rape by allowing only victims of so-called “forcible rape” to qualify for federally funded abortions.

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At two separate events in recent days, Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher has proposed to "put a damn fence on the border going to Mexico and start shooting."

Wurzelbacher first made the remarks during a campaign rally for Arizona Republican state Rep. Lori Klein on Friday, according to video published by Prescott eNews.

"For years I've said, you know, put a damn fence on the border, going to Mexico and start shooting," he insisted.

Wurzelbacher then repeated the remarks at a so-called "Patriot Rally" with Klein on Saturday.

"I'm running for Congress. How many congressmen or people running for Congress have you heard, put a fence up and start shooting? None? Well you heard it here first. Put troops on the border and start shooting, I bet that solves our immigration problem real quick."

While Klein refused to condemn the call for border violence, her District 11 opponent, Republican state House Speaker Andy Tobin, called for Wurzelbacher to apologize or go back home to Ohio.

"I would ask for him to retract the statement as made in jest, and if not made in jest, I'm appalled at him," Tobin told KTVK. "We don't do that in Arizona."

Arizona Sen. John McCain (R) launched Wurzelbacher into fame during the 2008 presidential election when he repeatedly referred to "Joe the Plumber" during a debate with then-Sen. Barack Obama. McCain's daughter, Meghan McCain, called Wurzelbacher's latest idea "ridiculous." She had previously said that he was a "dumbass" who should "stick to plumbing."

Klein, who is running for re-election in the 11th District, drew charges of racism in 2011 when she read a controversial letter on the state Senate floor, asserting that "[m]ost of the Hispanic students do not want to be educated but rather be gang members and gangsters."

She is also known for pointing a loaded gun at the chest of Richard Ruelas, a reporter for The Arizona Republic, while he was interviewing her at the state Capitol.

“Oh, it’s so cute,” Klein said of the raspberry-pink .380 Ruger that she carries in purse at all times, later explaining that Ruelas had no need to worry because "I just didn’t have my hand on the trigger."

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Stephen Colbert weighed in on what he called "the biggest scandal that he had ever forgotten about" which "luckily Fox News had not," the "fast and furious" gun running scandal which led to the House Judiciary Committee voting to find Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress this Wednesday.

Colbert took the opportunity to have some fun with Fox and the Republicans for their recent conspiracy theory:

COLBERT: Yes, very clearly, Obama started this gun tracking program in 2006, when he hypnotized George Bush. Then he secretly ordered Attorney General Holder to order the Justice Department, to order the ATF to order gun shops to sell guns to Mexican drug cartels, and then lose track of them, thereby panicking Americans to gin up support for the draconian gun control measures that Obama has never introduced.

Colbert also took the opportunity to mock "Joe the Plumber's" new ridiculous political ad he has out: 'Joe the Plumber' Shoots Fruits, Claims Gun Control Caused the Holocaust.

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Republican Ohio congressional candidate Samuel “Joe The Plumber” Wurzelbacher released a campaign video on Tuesday, in which he warns that "gun control" led to the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust.

"In 1911, Turkey established gun control," Wurzelbacher points out as he places several shells in a 12-gauge shotgun. "From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians unable to defend themselves were exterminated."

"In 1939, Germany established gun control," the candidate continues. "From 1939 to 1945, 6 million Jews and 7 million others unable to defend themselves were exterminated."

Wurzelbacher then takes aim and blasts various fruits with his shotgun.

"I love America," he concludes.

In the description for the YouTube video, Wurzelbacher sheds some light on why he blames the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide on "gun control."

"If you hunt or just like shooting guns, the 2nd Amendment will always be a good thing," the description says. "History also tells us it's our last line of defense in the face of an out-of-control government. And killing fruits and vegetables is... what? Better watch the video to see..."

(h/t: Politicker)

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Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher is lashing out at CNN for asking if he still holds negative views about LGBT people even though he is seeking to represent them in Congress.

On Thursday, Wurzelbacher appeared on CNN's morning show to plug his campaign for office in Ohio's 9th Congressional District, but he apparently wasn't prepared to be face questions about the homophobic comments in his past.

CNN host Zoraida Sambolin pointed to an interview with Christianity Today where he had said he would never let "queer" people around his children.

"I personally still think it's wrong," Wurzelbacher opined in 2009. "People don't understand the dictionary—it's called queer. Queer means strange and unusual. It's not like a slur, like you would call a white person a honky or something like that. You know, God is pretty explicit in what we're supposed to do—what man and woman are for."

"I've had some friends that are actually homosexual," he added. "And, I mean, they know where I stand, and they know that I wouldn't have them anywhere near my children."

"Have you changed your positions on this at all?" Sambolin asked the GOP candidate on Thursday.

"So, this is TMZ. This isn't CNN is what you're saying?" Wurzelbacher complained. "No, I want everybody to have a job."

"What about these comments that you made?" the CNN host pressed. "Do you stand by these comments?"

"Listen, in my dictionary and in everyone's dictionary from the 1970s, the word queer did mean strange and unusual. There was no slur to it. Do you challenge that?" Wurzelbacher shot back. "Come on. You're trying to do a gotcha moment, it's quite obvious."

"No, no, it's not a gotcha moment," Sambolin replied. "These are things that you said and I think people voting for you should have an opportunity to understand whether or not you have changed your positions on these two issues here."

"I'm allowed to have my opinion as an American but it seems the left becomes very intolerant when you have an opinion other than what they state," Wurzelbacher insisted. "My opinions are mine."

Later on Thursday, he told Politico that CNN's questions were "seventh grade shenanigans."

Wurzelbacher, who became widely known as "Joe the Plumber" during the 2008 election, will face Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) in November. The Human Rights Campaign rated (PDF) the incumbent congresswomen at 83 percent in 2010 for her support of LGBT rights. She supported the repeal of the military's ban on gay and lesbian service members, but has also voted in favor of the federal ban on same sex marriage.

Kaptur has defeated every Republican challenger in her district since 1983.

(H/T: Towleroad)

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Well we can thank Republican redistricting in Ohio for forcing the voters there to choose between Marcy Kaptur and Dennis Kucinich. Kaptur won the Ohio Democratic primary for the newly drawn district and will now face off against, get this... Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, otherwise known as "Joe the Plumber" in the general election.

Ed Schultz noted during MSNBC's interview with Kaptur that it was likely strong support from the unions there that pulled her through with her win in the primary race.

I hate the fact that the voters in Ohio ended up having to choose between the two of them even as unhappy as I was with Kaptur after her support of the Stupak amendment during the health care debate. Regardless of the issues I've had with either of them, they're minor when you look at both of their overall voting records and what it means for liberals and our issues to lose a Democratic seat in the House.

Kaptur was gracious during her interview here and said that she had not had a chance to speak to Kucinich yet after her win. I sadly can't say the same for Kucinich after reading this. As much as I've really liked Dennis and have been a supporter of his over the years, I've got to say, this is just graceless and looks like sour grapes. I'm really disappointed he decided to respond this way.

Kucinich: Kaptur Campaign 'Utterly Lacking In Integrity':

Dennis Kucinich had some not-so-nice words for his primary opponent following a tough loss in Ohio. Kucinich said Marcy Kaptur ran a campagin "that was utterly lacking in integrity" while also failing to congradulate her, tweets Chad Pergram.

The one upside to come out of Ohio is mean Jean Schmidt won't be returning since she lost to former Army Reserve Major Brad Wenstrup. The downside is he's further to the right than Schmidt should he win the general election.

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As the Koch brothers attempt to counter the protests in Wisconsin with an astroturf bus tour of their own, brought to you by Tim Phillips and Americans for Prosperity, Rachel reminds us of Tim Phillips lovely past before he went to work for the Koch brothers -- working with Ralph Reed helping to rip off Indian casinos and fooling Christian groups along with Ralph Reed to support the exploitation in the Northern Mariana Islands because the Chinese workers there were being converted to Christianity. What a guy.

Here's part of a report on him from Think Progress' The Wonk Room from back in May of 2009 -- Tim Phillips, The Man Behind The ‘Americans For Prosperity’ Corporate Front Group Factory:

As a Virginia-based political consultant, Phillips got his first big break managing the campaign of Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA). After serving as Goodlatte’s chief of staff for four years, Phillips joined former Christian Coalition director Ralph Reed in 1997 to create an astroturf lobbying and campaign consulting operation called Century Strategies. The firm promised to mount “grassroots lobbying drives” and explained its strategy as “it matters less who has the best arguments and more who gets heard — and by whom.”

After being recommended by Karl Rove, Century Strategies signed its first major corporate client – Enron. Phillips and Reed were paid $380,000 to mobilize “religious leaders and pro-family groups” to push energy deregulation in Congress and on the state level, a policy shift that led to the energy crisis and economic meltdown of 2001. The Washington Post reported that the pair informed Enron that they had leveraged their relationships with members of Congress and “placed” articles in prominent papers like the New York Times.

Part of Phillip’s role at Century Strategies was to manage the firm’s direct mail subsidiary, Millennium Marketing. In 1998, now disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff hired Phillips’ firm to pressure members of Congress to vote against legislation that would have made the U.S. commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands subject to federal wage and worker safety laws. A federal report “found that Chinese women were subject to forced abortions and that women and children were subject to forced prostitution in the local sex-tourism industry.” Nonetheless, Phillips sent out mailers claiming Chinese workers “are exposed to the teachings of Jesus Christ” while on the islands, and many “are converted to the Christian faith and return to China with Bibles in hand.” The mailers then encouraged the recipients to contact lawmakers and ask them to oppose the Marianas labor reform legislation.

The Marianas stealth lobbying effort was not the only time Phillips worked with Abramoff. Reed and Phillips conspired to generate conservative Christian outrage towards gambling at Indian casinos in a cynical plot to encourage those same tribes to hire Abramoff to lobby on their behalf. In some cases, Phillips’ anti-gambling crusade would simply be part of an effort to kill off competition to Abramoff’s clients. And while Phillips and Reed postured to be motivated by anti-gambling Christian values, the pair helped launder lobbying money from an Abramoff Internet gambling client called eLottery.

Though Phillips and Reed are best known in the campaign consulting world for engineering the dual victories of Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and Republican Gov. Sonnie Perdue in Georgia (by associating images of Osama bin Laden with the incumbent Democratic senator), the pair can also be credited with the most below the belt tactics ever seen in modern Republican primaries. The duo “spearheaded” the telemarketing and direct mail efforts for George Bush against John McCain in the 2000 primaries. It is widely believed that Century Strategies executed the mass mailers and robo-calls which accused McCain of fathering an illegitimate child with a black woman, using the image of McCain’s adopted daughter from Bangladesh.

Much more there so go read the rest.

Our friends at Media Matters for America put together some highlights of the Tea Party Express rallies in Nevada and Florida. Looks like another night on the Fox propaganda channel... live.

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Hey Larry. The only thing I care less about than Sarah Palin's new book is what Joe Wurzelbacher a.k.a. Joe the fake Plumber thinks about it. Sorry to inflict JTP on anyone who hits play on the video but I can't believe King or anyone else is still giving this guy what is way past due on his fifteen minutes of fame. Thanks a lot John McCain. Nothing like seeing your cheap campaign trick refusing to ever go away.

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Looks like American's for Prosperity's Tim Phillips has resorted to hiring some cheap help with their tour bashing the Employee Free Choice Act. Who better than Mr. Fake Plumber Joe Wurzelbacher? I guess these guys couldn't find any real plumbers to go out there and attack unions. From KDKA Pittsburgh:

'Joe The Plumber' Speaks In Green Tree

Samuel Joseph Wuerzelbacher was there to rally against the Employee Free Choice Act – a bill that's supposed to make it easier for unions to organize.

Some local unions organized against Joe at the event.

President Obama supports the Employee Free Choice act.

It appears to be dead for now in Congress due to opposition from Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter.