I cannot decide…
Sheriff Joe
Joe Arpaio is the Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona.
Maricopa County (/ˌmærɨˈkoʊpə/marr-i-koh-pə) is a county located in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,817,117, the most populous in the state,[1] and ranks fourth among the nation’s counties and is greater than the population of 23 states.[2] Maricopa County is also one of the largest counties in the United States by area having a land area greater than that of seven states. (Wikipedia)
Sheriff Arpaio has been Sheriff since 1992, having been elected for 4 – 4 year terms, thus far. He is 81 years old. He is the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the County. (CLEO)
(from A Geek with Guns…)
Do you love your country? Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio does. In fact he loves his country so much that he’s punishing all nonbelievers in his prisons:
Arpaio said he has implemented an American flag campaign in his jails.
Each cell is getting a sticker of an American flag. Any inmate who vandalizes the flag will be punished with the restricted diet.
In keeping with the patriotic theme, Arpaio has ordered that the playing of God Bless America and the National Anthem be done daily in every jail facility over the public address system and for all the inmates, regardless of national origin, to hear and sing-a-long.
Now I am a patriotic American. I vote, pay attention to civic affairs, and sing along The Star-Spangled Banner when appropriate. Because I CHOOSE too! (And sometimes, I cry when so doing). I’ve no problem with having American Flags in jails, nor with playing The National Anthem for the inmates.
Now Sheriff Arpaio’s forcing patriotism on those under his administration, to me, smacks of Soviet Russia and/or Nazi Germany. Any foreign visitor to this country would be respectful of our nation’s flag and anthem. (I hope.)
Are the inmates being forced to stand, directly or through intimidation? THIS is the question I have. Sheriff Arpaio has done some good things, but these have been counter-acted by the many lawsuits for abuse and deaths while in his custody. And his going over budget, constantly.
And, he’s in constant trouble by opening his mouth! He’s currently being monitored by a federal ‘civil rights’ attorney!
We need a strong law and order guy at the helm of the county, tempered with knowledge of the Bill of Rights, and the Freedoms being protected. Not this guy.
PS – as to mindset – he’s retired D.E.A.!
Guffaw in AZ 
Don’t even get me started on Sheriff Joe. The man has no concept of the Constitution whatsoever. It was his brand of authoritarianism that the Colonists were rebelling AGAINST.
Two stories of his abuses from my personal life:
1. A friend was arrested for looking like a Mexican while walking home late at night after getting off work, he had no ID on him at the time of arrest (papers, please?). So, he was unable to prove that he was a naturalized citizen via adoption as an infant from KOREA! His adoptive mother is now deceased, and when he made his one phone call, to his sister (also adopted from Korea) couldn’t find his paperwork immediately, and as a result, spent the night in jail, all because he “looked Mexican”.
2. Another friend was arrested on a ridiculous “domestic violence” charge (he broke a coffee mug), and during his night in jail was DENIED his medically necessary prescriptions.
No wonder the county is awash in lawsuits due to this man and his regime.
Apparently he has no concept of “innocent until proven guilty,” which MOST of his inmates are, because they have not been tried yet.
All the Sun City crowd (who keep electing him) care about is that he’s “tough on crime”.
They fail to realize that when such a buffoon is allowed to run rampant, ANYBODY can get caught up in that dragnet, and once you are, you have no Constitutional rights, just the whims of ‘ole Sheriff Joe.
Posted by Tomi | November 29, 2013, 8:59 amI like ‘tough on crime’. But, that must be balanced with following ‘the law’. As in The Constitution. Part of the job of a peace officer is protecting citizen’s rights – THAT’S what makes it so difficult.
If we just wanted thuggery, that would be easy.
He HAS done some good things, like using trustees to man the dog pounds. I don’t know that actual stats about arrestee vs. convicted, but, it what you say is true…
Posted by guffaw1952 | November 29, 2013, 10:08 amPS: Meant to mention, your post title made me think of that Simpsons’ episode where Mcbain (played by Rainier Wolfcastle) is in an airplane and radios: “Mcbain to base – under attack by commie-nazis.”
🙂
Posted by Tomi | November 29, 2013, 1:43 pmNice.Statists no matter what the bent…
> Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 20:43:18 +0000 > To: guffaw1952@hotmail.com >
Posted by guffaw1952 | November 29, 2013, 1:45 pmI’d often wondered about ol’ Sheriff Joe … until the ‘net made info more readily available. He’s just like the nanny-statists in DC, from whence he came.
Posted by Rev. Paul | November 29, 2013, 2:02 pmTo a conservative, he looks good on the surface. But…
Posted by guffaw1952 | November 29, 2013, 4:54 pmToo much power for too long?
Posted by ProudHillbilly | November 30, 2013, 3:54 pmSadly, he was like this from the get-go…
Posted by guffaw1952 | November 30, 2013, 4:50 pm