Arizona's bullet-headed Arpaio wannabe, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, dropped out of this year's congressional race after an explosive New Times story reported that the anti-immigrant FOX News star is gay. That was damaging enough in District 4, perhaps the most conservative part of a very red state. But it went beyond that: Babeu also threatened his lover, who turned out to be an undocumented Mexican, with deportation if he outed the Sheriff.
After this bombshell took over the front pages for days, Babeu initially said he'd stay in the race; but he could be as racist as his mentor Joe Arpaio in that district, and there's no way those goobers were going to elect a gay man whose lover is undocumented. Commonsense and donor problems got the better of Babeu, and he decided to end his congressional bid and seek his old seat, Pinal County Sheriff, even after other Republicans had started to campaign for the office when Babeu announced his run for Congress.
Babeu is a relative newcomer to Arizona's crazy scene, but he's made a huge impact by following the Arpaio-Pearce-Brewer playbook: scare the hell out of people. You know the script: Arizona is being "invaded" by Mexicans; hundreds of "headless bodies" are littering the desert; illegal aliens are taking our jobs and raping our grandmothers; and we're paying for their education, healthcare, and other services because illegals don't pay taxes! It's bunk of course, but it worked: Brewer wouldn't be Governor and Russell Pearce would not have been elected President of the Senate had it not been for SB 1070 and the 2010 Summer of Hate.
[Good news interruptus: Pearce was recalled last November and is running for the Senate again in Mesa. Yesterday the Arizona Capitol Times reported that every Mesa City Councilperson and the Mayor is supporting Pearce's GOP primary rival, Bob Worsley. Just go back to your hovel, Pearce. Haven't you and your Nazi pals like murderer J.T. Ready done enough damage already?]
Polls show Babeu trailing in the Pinal County Sheriff's race, so he needed something on which to hang his fear-mongering hat. He got it over the weekend when a burned-out SUV filled with five charred bodies was discovered in his county's desert. I could've predicted Babeu's response and I would not have been disappointed: within hours he held a press conference near the scene; he then gave interviews to local and national news outlets in which he said this was clearly another dangerous Mexican drug deal gone bad.
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu was quick to blame Mexican cartels for the grisly deaths of five people... For more than three days after the torched Ford SUV was discovered in Pinal County's remote Vekol Valley, a well-known drug- and immigrant-smuggling corridor, the sheriff repeatedly linked the apparent killings to Mexican drug violence. Arizona Republic
Happily for the publicity-seeking candidate, major news sources picked up the story and repeated Babeu's claim verbatim -- with no evidence:
• "5 bodies found in Ariz may be latest drug violence." FOX News
• "5 bodies found in Ariz may be latest drug violeince." ABC News
Babeu then threw more red meat to the far-right base by reviving his criticism of President Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. They have pointed out, and studies confirm, that both immigration and crime along Arizona's border are down considerably -- a combination of America's shitty economy and the administration's smarter policies. But Babeu wasn't having any of that good news, writing on his Facebook page:
"All information is pointing that this is connected to the violent drug cartel smuggling in this high smuggling area. We have been working closely with ICE, US Border Patrol and other law enforcement to fight back against the drug cartel smuggling. The border is NOT more secure than ever Ms. Napolitano!" New Times
It's anyone's guess where Babeu got "all" this information (his office says it was "an individual who wished to remain anonymous"), but I bet it can be traced to his campaign headquarters rather than the facts on the ground. This wouldn't be the first time the media-hogging booger-head has used a desert incident to push his anti-Mexican propaganda and help sway an election.
In the spring of 2010, as the November election neared, one of his deputies, Louie Puroll, reported being shot by Mexican drug runners, telling the press a heroic tale about stalking them through the desert. Babeu used Puroll's story to frighten voters, at the same time Brewer was screeching her hair-on-fire decapitated bodies lie, and Pearce was blabbering away about Mexican cartel assassinations in Arizona's deserts. For weeks afterward Babeu appeared on FOX News hyping his deputy's story and using it as an excuse for SB 1070 -- and for electing the border hawk Brewer.
Only problem: Louie lied, the story was bogus, and he was fired. Funny, Babeu never apologized for using a lie to try and scare the shit outta people.
He's at it again. Even after the media uncovered Louie Puroll's whopper Babeu did not immediately back off. Well, on Monday even after the Tempe Police Department reported that the five bodies in the SUV were probably a family murder-suicide tragedy, Babeu kept spouting his Mexicans-are-dangerous nonsense:
Through Tuesday, Babeu and his office continued to draw a connection between the five deaths and drug-cartel smuggling violence, even after receiving information from Tempe police on Monday that seemed to shift the focus of the investigation to a missing family who Tempe police suspected may have died in a murder-suicide incident. [emphasis added] Arizona Republic
We don't know everything yet, but what we
do know is that the five bodies are likely Tempe residents James Butwin, Yafit Butwin, and their three children. According to Tempe Police Sergeant
Jeffrey Glover there is no evidence that the family was connected to drugs, smuggling, Mexican cartels, "or anything like that."
In 2011, the National Sheriffs' Association named Paul Babeu "Sheriff of the Year." One wonders what they'd say today. He received that award mostly for his starring role in John McCain's "build the dang fence" ad and his frequent appearances on FOX. He was a rising star in Arizona's GOP and a sure bet for District 4's congressional seat. At the same time, the sheriffs who do patrol the border (Babeu's Pinal County is 100 miles away), were speaking out against SB 1070 and the Brewer-Pearce-Arpaio-Babeu anti-Mexican, fear-mongering, scapegoating nonsense.
It looks as if Babeu will have to hope for another tragedy to exploit:
"My son lost a good friend this weekend, Daniel Butwin, and you are going to try to use this for some political bashing of our democrats in office. Shame on You." Babeu Facebook page comment, since removed. Arizona Republic