Article: Carson says Jews with gun rights could've stopped Hitler

[fortnightlily]

I can't even with this guy any more.  It's like he's trying really hard *not* to win the nomination.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/carson-suggests-that-gun-rights-might-have-prevented-the-holocaust/2015/10/08/99a82d9e-6df2-11e5-9bfe-e59f5e244f92_story.html

By Vanessa Williams October 8 at 7:15 PM
Ben Carson said Thursday that Adolf Hitler’s mass murder of Jews “would have been greatly diminished” if German citizens had not been disarmed by the Nazi regime.

The comment, which came during an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, was similar to arguments Carson made following last week’s mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., in which he defended the Second Amendment and suggested that the victims should have fought the gunman.

Carson, a retired neurosurgeon and a contender for the Republican presidential nomination, has generated headlines repeatedly for speaking his mind. His string of comments on hot-button issues includes stating that homosexuality is “absolutely” a choice, saying he would not support a Muslim for U.S. president and declaring last week that he would “not just stand there and let him shoot me” — a reference to the Oregon gunman.

Carson has criticized the news media, saying his comments are being taken out of context, but he has not backed down from the basic positions.

And there seems little impetus for him to do so. Carson’s views on abortion, homosexuality, guns and Muslims are in line with those of the GOP’s conservative wing. Carson, who has no government experience, is running second to Donald Trump and is viewed more favorably than the bombastic businessman. Carson’s flair for dramatic political rhetoric — he once referred to the Affordable Care Act as the “worst thing to happened in this nation since slavery” — helped to launch his presidential campaign.

What candidates shouldn't say after a mass shooting
Play Video1:19
In the wake of a shooting that left nine dead in Oregon, 2016 Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and former governor Jeb Bush took to the campaign trail to talk gun control. The Fix’s Chris Cillizza analyzes where they went wrong. (Julie Percha/The Washington Post)
[Carson stands by Oregon comments, and Trump jumps to his defense]

His comments about gun control in Nazi Germany are explored in his just-released book, “A More Perfect Union: What We the People Can Do to Reclaim Our Constitutional Liberties,” in which he expands on his political views.

He said Nazi Germany was one of the regimes that he used as a cautionary tale against curbing citizens’ gun rights.

“But just clarify, if there had been no gun control laws in Europe at that time, would 6 million Jews have been slaughtered?” Blitzer asked.


“I think the likelihood of Hitler being able to accomplish his goals would have been greatly diminished if the people had been armed,” Carson said.

Blitzer pushed a bit more: “Because they had a powerful military machine, as you know, the Nazis.”

“I understand that,” Carson said. “I’m telling you that there is a reason that these dictatorial people take the guns first.”

Where is Ben Carson from?
Play Video0:12
Here's the answer to one of the most Googled questions about one of the most Googled candidates. (Osman Malik and Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)
In interviews this week, he has rejected criticism that he was blaming the victims of Oregon shooter Christopher Harper-Mercer, 26, who killed nine people and wounded nine others before taking his own life. Instead, Carson argued that he is trying to speak to potential victims of future incidents.

“I’m not complaining about any of the victims,” he said on CNN. “I’m trying to plant the seed because this may not be the last time this occurs. And if it occurs again and there’s a bunch of people, they might start thinking, you know what, we’re not going to just take this. And that’s one of the things that was learned from Flight 93 on 9/11.”

Although some, including at least one relative of a shooting victim, have called his remarks insensitive, some residents of the small town where the shooting took place have expressed similar sentiments. Some have criticized President Obama, saying he politicized the shootings when he harshly criticized Congress for not taking up gun control.

Carson’s campaign spokesman did not respond to requests for comment. Armstrong Williams, a close adviser to Carson, said the media storms that have swirled around the candidate’s comments have been “a blessing,” because they keep his name in the news and “help us get our story out.” He thinks it has helped Carson’s standing in the polls.

“For Dr. Carson this is a new language, a new culture,” Williams said. He said that the average voter does not scrutinize candidates for verbal missteps. “They care about intent. I think people understand what Dr. Carson is trying to say.”

In the most recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, 45 percent of respondents held a favorable view of Carson, while 27 percent had an unfavorable view.


In contrast, Trump registered a 35 percent favorable rating and a 60 percent unfavorable rating. Carly Fiorina, the former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard and another GOP contender, had a 35 percent favorable rating and a 30 percent unfavorable rating.

Despite his tough talk about confronting a mass shooter, Carson described in a radio interview Wednesday a very different reaction to a gunman who confronted him during a holdup at a Popeyes fast-food restaurant in Baltimore.

“Guy comes in, put the gun to my ribs and I just said, ‘I believe that you want the guy behind the counter. . . . He said, ‘Oh, okay,’ ” Carson told Karen Hunter, a host of SiriusXM’s “Urban View.”

“You just redirected him?” Hunter asked.

“I redirected him,” Carson said, chuckling.

Vanessa Williams is a staff writer at The Post. Contact her at [e-mail].

[ECB]

OMG.

He has to be a plant. HAS to be. This is a long con of the democrats...

I wouldn't be so jaw on the floor about him if he weren't polling in SECOND place to fucking DONALD TRUMP!!!!! The fact that people are actually following him and supporting him - our country is just so fucked.

[summer]

Right, a couple of pistols could have completely stopped the Holocaust. Just like a Walmart stockpile is going to take down the U.S. Army when Obama decides to "invade Texas." Riiiight.

[smock]

I want someone to ask Ben Carson if he thinks Australia is a Nazi-like dictatorial regime. Oh, wait, it seems like Dr. Carson gives zero shits about facts.

[Deleted]

This guy is a dick.

[fortnightlily]

Oct 9, 2015 9:04:04 GMT -5 smock said:

I want someone to ask Ben Carson if he thinks Australia is a Nazi-like dictatorial regime. Oh, wait, it seems like Dr. Carson gives zero shits about facts.

No, but Kangaroo Hitler is lying in wait, and they'll be defenseless!

[iammalcolmx]

Yeah he HAS to be a mole!!!

[debatethis]

So not only is he a victim-blaming dick, but he's factually inaccurate. Treaty of Versailles? Weimar Republic? Hellooooo history?

[jln]

Yeah fuck him.

[Deleted]

Talk about jumping the shark.

[Deleted]

Carson’s campaign spokesman did not respond to requests for comment. Armstrong Williams, a close adviser to Carson, said the media storms that have swirled around the candidate’s comments have been “a blessing,” because they keep his name in the news and “help us get our story out.” He thinks it has helped Carson’s standing in the polls.

“For Dr. Carson this is a new language, a new culture,” Williams said. He said that the average voter does not scrutinize candidates for verbal missteps. “They care about intent. I think people understand what Dr. Carson is trying to say.


I could be naive but I don't think this is good advice do you? It might help him in the primaries but how will he ever win a general election with these kinds of remarks in his history?

[swsaradee]

I just don't have the words for my contempt for him.

[pixy0stix]

He just keeps digging.

[sushi]

Oct 9, 2015 9:04:28 GMT -5 fortnightlily said:

Oct 9, 2015 9:04:04 GMT -5 smock said:

I want someone to ask Ben Carson if he thinks Australia is a Nazi-like dictatorial regime. Oh, wait, it seems like Dr. Carson gives zero shits about facts.

No, but Kangaroo Hitler is lying in wait, and they'll be defenseless!

Someone with better skills than I needs to make a kangaroo Hitler gif

[ECB]

Oct 9, 2015 9:22:05 GMT -5 CheeringCharm said:

 

“For Dr. Carson this is a new language, a new culture,” Williams said. He said that the average voter does not scrutinize candidates for verbal missteps. “They care about intent. I think people understand what Dr. Carson is trying to say.


I could be naive but I don't think this is good advice do you? It might help him in the primaries but how will he ever win a general election with these kinds of remarks in his history?

Well, this guy is delusional too, then.  I don't think "we" are scrutinizing "verbal missteps".  we're scrutinizing the overall meaning of what he's saying and how INACCURATE he is. 

And I do truly hope that America on the whole is giving this guy the side eye.  If, IF, he or Trump were to actually get the nomination, then I need to believe that the democrat candidate would win by a landslide. 

[2curlydogs]

He's probably thinking "Hey! I started saying crazy-ass shit and they started talking about me! Just like Trump!"

[smock]

Oct 9, 2015 9:26:34 GMT -5 sushi said:

Oct 9, 2015 9:04:28 GMT -5 fortnightlily said:

No, but Kangaroo Hitler is lying in wait, and they'll be defenseless!

Someone with better skills than I needs to make a kangaroo Hitler gif

Don't worry, it's already been done! Here's a 1937 propaganda poster showing Kaiser Wilhelm as a kangaroo with baby Joey Hilter kangaroo in his pouch:

[nikki25]

The Germans were armed; they called themselves Nazis.

His campaign manager must be having a stroke with this guy. The sad fucking thing is there are people nodding their heads with this guy.

[aurora]

OK, we can hypothesize about what might have happened in Europe if the 2nd amendment applied there, but remember that gun violence already kills more young people in the U.S. than car crashes. Today. With our current system.

www.forbes.com/sites/dandiamond/2015/08/26/americas-gun-violence-problem-in-three-charts/

More than 30,000 people die from gun violence every year in the U.S. This is a problem that is happening now. Worrying about what could possibly happen if Big Gubment decided to round up a bunch of citizens and slaughter them...well, I know it has happened in the past, but there is no guarantee or even any supporting evidence that people having guns could stop that.

Why can't we see that we need to address the problem we have TODAY?

[suzyp]

HOW ARE PEOPLE STILL TAKING HIM SERIOUSLY?

All of this is seriously pissing me off now.

[decemberwedding07]

Sadly, the people he's trying to reach are not going to think this is a crazy thing to say, because they already say it themselves! I have heard this from many, many gun lovers.

[darnkatz]

[Vespasia]

The internet really does have everything.

[MrsAxilla]

Oct 9, 2015 9:45:41 GMT -5 aurora said:

OK, we can hypothesize about what might have happened in Europe if the 2nd amendment applied there, but remember that gun violence already kills more young people in the U.S. than car crashes. Today. With our current system.

www.forbes.com/sites/dandiamond/2015/08/26/americas-gun-violence-problem-in-three-charts/

More than 30,000 people die from gun violence every year in the U.S. This is a problem that is happening now. Worrying about what could possibly happen if Big Gubment decided to round up a bunch of citizens and slaughter them...well, I know it has happened in the past, but there is no guarantee or even any supporting evidence that people having guns could stop that.

Why can't we see that we need to address the problem we have TODAY?

The overwhelming Jewish support of gun control is actually a fascinating topic and there is a LOT written about it.  One of the themes that stuck out to me is that with a few obvious exceptions (nazis being one), Jews have benefitted from and are supporters of a strong central government.  Historically, it was their neighbors, not their government, who threatened Jewish existence.  Jews were wholly in favor of a fiercely armed government who struck fear into the hearts of those who would expel them from their homes.  

[Elsa]

[AJL]

What a dipshit.

[ESF]

HOW IS THIS REAL LIFE?

[LadySusan]

Oct 9, 2015 9:04:28 GMT -5 @adobeclay said:

This guy is a dick.

This guy totally fits my arrogant, asshole surgeon stereotype to a T.

[mouse]

Um...

Despite his tough talk about confronting a mass shooter, Carson described in a radio interview Wednesday a very different reaction to a gunman who confronted him during a holdup at a Popeyes fast-food restaurant in Baltimore.

“Guy comes in, put the gun to my ribs and I just said, ‘I believe that you want the guy behind the counter. . . . He said, ‘Oh, okay,’ ” Carson told Karen Hunter, a host of SiriusXM’s “Urban View.”

“You just redirected him?” Hunter asked.

“I redirected him,” Carson said, chuckling.

---
What a hero!

[Deleted]

I think Carson was just aiming for a Cabinet position or Fox News gig and now all of a sudden he's leading in many polls and is like, oh shit, this wasn't supposed to happen. Or else he realized he might get more speaking time in the debates if he brings out the crazy like Trump.