Joe

All of the sudden the metaphoric meaning behind the lyrics "I shot the sheriff, but I did not shoot the deputy..." makes more sense to me. I live in Maricopa county, which means me Sheriff is Joe Arpaio. (Insert groan here because you either know where I am going with this or you can't stand the guy either.) The rest of the country looks at this guy as a quirky, entertaining, hard-ass sheriff who dreamed up the pink underwear, tent city, and green bologna. I've heard people say Arizona is lucky to have Joe. That's like saying Germany was really lucky to have Adolf Hitler because he loosened up the real estate market and created jobs. This guy is a piece of work--and mark my words, by saying this I except to be arrested soon on trumped up charges for some littering violation.

Known as "America's Toughest Sheriff", this guy also has the most innovative public relations department. He is on the evening news, literally, at least twice a week. Currently he is under investigation by the US Department of Justice and Congress for violating laws related to his immigration crackdown. Basically, Arpaio likes to round illegals in raids, arrest them, etc. and in some of those raids are actual US citizens. He doesn't see anything wrong with this. By this, I mean taking away the rights of native or naturalized citizens.

Something else Arpaio is in the news for: demanding $1 million dollars from the State for salary raises for his deputies. I'm all for paying for safety--honestly I think those men need a bonus for putting up with him--but we are in something called a recession. You'd think it takes balls to go to the legislature and make those sorts of demands, but it really doesn't. Our lawmakers l-o-v-e Arpaio. Seriously, I think they send each other Valentines and give each other massages.

This morning I tried not to throw-up my Cheerios when I read that the reality TV show Arpaio just filmed "didn't cost much money" to the Arizona taxpayer. Right near this headline: Arizona $3 Billion Deficit Looms Large for Lawmakers". WTF?

I'm pretty sure that if asked Arpaio would say that we should not scrimp at all when it comes to funding any program he dreams up because it is in the good of public safety. But what about health care, education, transportation, etc, etc?