Welcome to ...

The place where the world comes together in honesty and mirth.
Windmills Tilted, Scared Cows Butchered, Lies Skewered on the Lance of Reality ... or something to that effect.


Tuesday, January 19, 2010

A Bully get his Comeuppance (They always do)

Naomi Seligman had this to say over at AMERICAblog:

In Arizona, Bully with a badge getting his due

After years of running an immigrant-bashing operation in Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is finally getting his due.

This weekend, immigrant leaders from across the country organized a protest against the sheriff in Arizona. The AP covered the event:
Ten thousand immigrant rights advocates marched in front of a county jail in Phoenix Saturday in a protest that was aimed at Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's immigration efforts...

Organizers say the protest was meant to show officials in Washington that Arpaio shouldn't handle immigration enforcement, and that Congress and the Obama administration need to come up with a way for immigrant workers to come to the country legally.
Arpaio has been described by The New York Times as the "worst sheriff in America":
Sheriff Arpaio is armed and dangerous. He is a genuine public menace with a long and well-documented trail of inmate abuses, unjustified arrests, racial profiling, brutal and inept policing and wasteful spending.
A web site, barriozona.com even tracks the sheriff’s terrorizing sweeps through Latino neighborhoods. You may remember his penchant for dressing jailed immigrants in pink underwear, pink handcuffs and a stripped jumpsuit. But, Arpaio might have to pay for some of his abusive treatment.

The AP reports:
Ten months ago, Arpaio learned he was under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for alleged discrimination and unconstitutional searches. He says the investigation was prompted by his immigration efforts, although federal authorities haven't provided details.

Since early 2008, Arpaio has run 13 immigration and crimes sweeps involving officers who flood a section of a city - in some cases heavily Latino areas - to seek out traffic violators and arrest other violators.

Arpaio's power to make federal immigration arrests was stripped away three months ago by officials in Washington, but he continues his immigration efforts through the enforcement of two state laws.
The sheriff claims none of this bothers him and the protesters should be directing their frustrations at Congress because it has the power to change America's immigration laws:
"They are zeroing in on the wrong guy," Arpaio said. "They ought to be zeroing in on the president."
This time, I'm with the feds. Seems they are looking at just the right guy.

*****

Yes, Naomi, you are correct the Feds have it right this time.

No comments: