Posted on
December 12, 2009 in
In response to Why Maricopa County Matters, in which I wrote,
Sheriff Joe is what we get when we leave our form of government, rather than just the people serving us in it, up to the scared white Republicans. His conduct, and his reelections, are proof that the voters of Maricopa County do not love the Constitution.
an anonymous commenter wrote:
He is an elected official and people vote for him every time. Even I have. He is one of the few who make the justice system what it should be. $20,000 a year to house a federal inmate; more people in the real world earn less to make a living and are law abiding citizens. What is wrong with this picture? If you’re on your third DUI, you should be in a tent, with only water in the Arizona heat. You deserve to eat (and it is all edible, it just doesn’t taste good) green bologna, mealy apples, etc. Prison should not be easier than living in society. It’s supposed to be difficult and make you realize you don’t want to come back. Not realize, “hey, it’s okay if I go back, at least they feed me in prison, give me hair cuts, and keep me warm.”
Never mind my policy against anonymous commenting; does this fool not realize that he just illustrated my point about Maricopa County’s voters? He admits voting for Warlord Joe because Warlord Joe “makes the justice system what it should be,” and no mention of the Constitution.
I could more easily write this off as just another Constitution-loathing scared voter, trading the perception of temporary freedom for an irreversible loss in liberty, except that he’s leading the polls for the Arizona Governor’s race (via WindyPundit).
Commenter Jameson Johnson of Phoenix writes,
If anyone is interested in querying the Justice Department as to why there has been no action whatsoever in the past two years, I will provide contact information for the Civil Rights Division’s investigator in charge of the Maricopa County Task Force.
Sarah Stella Lopez
Investigator
U.S. Department of Justice
Special Litigation Section
(202) 305-0372 (direct)
(202) 514-4883 (fax)
Sarah.Lopez@usdoj.gov
Oh that old pest of a constitution always gets in the way of justice. As for Maricopa County , Id bet they would vote Adolf Hitler in to office if he was around to run, so I guess they had to settle for Joe instead after all he is the next best thing.
You know, that really is the question: How has his treatment of prisoners continued without any investigation by the Feds?
In addition, is anyone in AZ Government paying attention to this?
Oh, and I enjoyed this post very much. I will bookmark it for later use.
I love how people still think that Sheriff Joe is saving the taxpayers money by treating his prisoners inhumanely, failing to take into account the millions of dollars the county has been forced to pay in damages from successful lawsuits for such treatment.
Good post. He is a popular guy out there and he will get elected as long as Az. residents like that type of treatment. That crap would never fly in Harris County, Tx. Hell, we are trying to cut down the number of defendants in the court room … they wont even make it to the jail to have a shot at “Sheriff Joe” style treatment.
Why, indeed, do voters keep returning Sheriff Joe to office?
From Conor Friedersdorf, blogging at AndrewSullivan.com:
[T]here is a near consensus in America that unlimited immigration via entirely open borders is not viable. What frustrates me is that, among many of the folks who style themselves immigrant advocates or pro-immigration, there is an utter refusal to articulate specific, workable views about what the limits should be, let alone to abide enforcing limits that are duly signed into law. One pernicious effect is that restrictionists are the only game in town for folks who want to enforce some limits on immigration, hence the rise of demagogues like Joe Arapaio, who are able to cast their extra-legal racial profiling as a defense of American sovereignty, rather than the assault on even legal Latino immigrants that it frequently ends up being.
https://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/12/grappling-with-immigration.html
Adam,
An intelligent response to the rather bigoted “scared white Republicans”. Arpaio gets voters from both political parties and independents, as well from all ethnic groups. A shame, given what a joke he has become. The immigration issue is a linchpin in his reelection. And, no, this “scared white Republican” didn’t vote for him last election given his continual violation of basic civil liberties.