Sheriff Joe: 'Have you forgotten me?'

[Coz]

Sheriff Joe: 'Have you forgotten me?'

by E. J. Montini, columnist - Mar. 24, 2011 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

I have two ledes for today's column. Each sentence says the same thing in a slightly different way.

Lede No. 1: Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio says that if he were a U.S. senator, he would urge the federal government to stage joint military operations south of the border with the Mexican military in order to secure the border and squash the drug cartels.

Lede No. 2: Sheriff Joe needs a hug.

Arpaio, who is driven by the media, hasn't dominated the local news for months, and he can't understand why.

Why isn't there more interest in the fact that he is contemplating a run for the U.S. Senate?

Why did the media so quickly pass over the raid his deputies conducted on five Pei Wei Asian Diner locations in the Valley, rounding up a bunch of employees suspected of "using false identification to gain employment."

Why no reports on the fact that Arpaio was named one of the top-10 most sought-after talk-show guests in a recent poll?

And what about his Facebook page, which has thousands of friends? And his thousands of Twitter followers? You get the idea.

Last week, the Sheriff's Office sent an e-mail that hinted at how underappreciated the sheriff believes that he is. It read in part:

"Sheriff Arpaio states he feels that he deserves a reward for the laws he enforces resulting in putting Americans back to work during rising levels of unemployment . . . "

A reward?

"I probably made an opening for your son to get a job that was being taken up by illegals," Arpaio told me this week. "So, I'm doing it for you."

He added, "To be serious, every time we raid a business establishment . . . we make room for those who are here legally in this country and that's why I said they ought to thank me. . . . Another thing you ought to thank me for - and I know you won't - is that as soon as we raided these places they took out a whole page ad in The Arizona Republic trying to recruit people. So I just gave you guys $10,000 or $15,000."

Arpaio said that this past week he has had crews filming him from the Discovery Channel as well as from French and Italian television. Of the local media, however, he asked, "What's the matter? Have you forgotten me?"

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2011/03/24/20110324sheriff-joe-montini.html#ixzz1HWUMcJ3U

[gizzards 1]

I think we should honor the Maricopa Moron. I'll bring the 30pounds of anchor chain and we will all meet at lake pleasent with MM. When the bubbles stop and the oil slick clears, we can build a memorial for it like pearl harbor, cept ours would having peeing stations all around the outside so all could honor him.

[carolwhaley]

I think you are right.

[mareike]