You had to see this coming.
When organizers of the Senator Russell Pearce recall launched their petition drive in January, few pundits, except for Stephen Lemons at New Times, gave them a snowball's chance in Mesa's District 18. However, when Citizens for a Better Arizona turned in way more signatures than they needed to put the question before voters, even Senator Pearce lost his bravado and ultimately resorted to some pretty devious electioneering tactics, knowing he couldn't win by sticking to the truth.
His campaign was grounded in lies and deceit, which included recruiting and funding a sham candidate to siphon anti-Pearce votes from challenger Jerry Lewis. Those slimy tactics, as much as the Senator's piss-poor record and racist rhetoric, were no doubt responsible for the result last Tuesday. Adios, you old poopy pants.
One of Pearce's regular lies was that Citizens for a Better Arizona was funded and managed by "outside leftist extremists" who opposed "the rule of law," which couldn't be further from the truth. One of CBA's co-directors was Randy Parraz, a Scottsdale lawyer whose father was a policeman; another was Phoenix lawyer Chad Snow, a Mormon and Republican, just like Pearce. Many of CBA's volunteers, in fact, were conservatives -- people who were sick of and embarrassed by the Senator's mean-spirited bigotry. When you consider that 70% of Jerry Lewis's donations came from District 18, while only 10% of Pearce's were from his own district, it's not too hard to figure who was supported by "outside" forces.
Happily, pussface Pearce is no longer presiding over the Arizona Senate -- scheduling bills, appointing committee chairs, whispering know-nothings in Governor Brewer's ear. One of his chief allies, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, is none too happy about this development, or the recall activities in Wisconsin, Ohio, and elsewhere. Check out the fundraising appeal that Arpaio emailed this week after his "dear friend" was sent packing by Che Guevara:
Dear Friends & Supporters:
You may have heard by now that my dear friend state Senator Russell Pearce was removed from office here in Arizona by a group of liberal, left-wing agitators. Their stated purpose for removing him was because he was too "extreme" when it came to enforcing illegal immigration laws.
I think it's a sad day for our country when anyone thinks standing up for the Rule of Law is a sign of extremism.
But what's more than sad, what's really outright dangerous is that this same group of people is now making political threats against anyone who dares go against their liberal agenda. They've now become emboldened that they can usurp the regular political process and begin recalling elected officials from office. You see this unfolding in other states around the country.
These radicals know they can't win a regularly scheduled election so they manipulate the process in order to win.
And guess who they say is next on their list. That's right, me!
Just a few days after the recall election, the organizer of the effort, Randy Parraz, said this about me:
"If he wants to go down with Russell Pearce, so be it. We are tired of the image of Arizona being tarnished with the likes of Pearce and Arpaio," Parraz said. "The question is not how are we going to go after him, the question is how is he going to behave."
BEHAVE? Do you see how arrogant these people are? Mr. Parraz is the same guy that has been leading demonstrations against me for years. I'm not going to back down from doing the job I was elected to do by the people because Mr. Parraz and his immigration attorney friends believe in open borders and amnesty.
The mainstream media now can't control themselves. They are giddy at the prospect of me being recalled. Already, they are writing my political obituary. They have all bought into this misconception that the issue of combating illegal immigration is dead. They are wrong!
The good, law-abiding citizens of this country are fed up with illegal immigration, drug-trafficking and human smuggling. For years, I've been enforcing our state and federal laws to combat these crimes and I’m not about to stop now.
I won't back down one inch from upholding my oath to the Constitutions of Arizona and the United States. Not from Barack Obama, not from the drug cartels and certainly not from the likes of Randy Parraz.
Will you join me in this fight? Battling this recall is going to be costly. Your support has always been so greatly appreciated, but it's critical you now stand by my side in this hour of need.
Please contribute today. I have to rely on good people like you for their support and prayers. Your contribution will show I have the strength of the people on my side.
We cannot let those who want to see our country weakened beat us at the ballot box. Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope you'll respond today.
Sincerely,
Sheriff Joe Arpaio
Maricopa County, Arizona
P.S. Please do not delete this email. It's important that we begin to prepare now for a costly recall election. In addition to contributing, please send this email to at least five or six of your friends who share our commitment to supporting the Rule of Law. Again, I thank you.
Paid for by Re-Elect Joe Arpaio 2012
I guess I've done my good deed by forwarding this fear-mongering, lying poppycock to at least five of my friends. Clearly the authors of this nonsense, a team, says Lemons, that included Chuck Coughlin, Governor Brewer's lead consultant and former lobbyist for the private prison industry, ran their idiocy through the Red Meat Machine, which spewed out every vowel, syllable, and phrase imaginable to make wingers open their wallets like a Pavlov's dog.
• "liberal, left-wing agitators" -- check
• "illegal immigration" -- check
• "liberal agenda" -- check
• "rule of law" -- check
• "radicals" -- check
• "manipulate the process" -- check
• "I'm not going to back down" -- check
• "good, law-abiding citizens" -- check
• "open borders and amnesty" -- check
• "the mainstream media ... are writing my political obituary" -- check
• "those who want to see our country weakened" -- check
• and, naturally, Joe, with his $6 million war chest, is the victim. Always. It's always about him, as his office's media flacks tell us daily.
Then there's a big box at the end of the email that says, "Help me fight back against the EXTREMISTS. Donate today!" Send your cash to Joe to stop this tsunami of leftist filth! Only the Sheriff knows when he'll find time to battle the extremists while he's busy looking for Obama's birth certificate.
According to the old coot, what's happening in Arizona, Ohio, and Wisconsin, not to mention at Occupy locations nationally, is little more than a dangerous, unpatriotic movement led by extremists and radicals, and aided by an equally liberal media. All of them "want to see our country weakened" because, you know, that's what liberals want. Yup, that's why I joined the military Joe, that's why I served in a foreign war while you sat on your chickenhawk ass behind a desk in France. Because I want a weakened country. You're not worthy to lick Scott Olsen's boots.
Help CBA battle the real extremist
Stephen Lemons' article in New Times today reminds us who the real "extremist" is, who the real people are who don't follow "the rule of law." For nearly three years, Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been the subject of two Federal probes -- a Department of Justice inquiry into racial profiling, and a Grand Jury investigation into abuse of powers. It's been well documented that Arpaio is the most sued public official in the land because he is a fucking criminal. He's cost taxpayers of Maricopa County more than $50 million in lawsuits that were filed by the victims of illegal arrests, detainments, and other harassments, or by the families of inmates who were beaten or killed while in the Sheriff's custody. And tens of millions of dollars in other lawsuits are pending.
Arpaio also swiped $100 million from a fund intended for inmate services and redirected it to his immigration task force. After all, the media hog and his kung-fu pal Steven Seagal need a fancy tank to bust up cock-fighting operations.
As Citizens for a Better Arizona prepares to take on Arpaio, the group has a lot of material to work with: financial irregularities, costly lawsuits, crime (in Arizona only Arpaio's county has seen an increase), cronyism, perjury, illegal campaign schemes, false arrests, and countless retaliatory indictments that the Sheriff's Office leveled against his political enemies. Many of these crimes and shenanigans were revealed in a scathing 63-page report that former Arpaio Deputy Frank Munnell released last year.
And then there are the videos, like the aftermath of the Sheriff's goons Tasing 40-year-old Juan Mendoza to death. According to a 2008 story that Lemons republished today,
Eleven officers teamed up to move [Mendoza]. They swarmed him, wrapped a blanket over his head, and strapped a leather restraint, known as a "belly belt," around the blanket to hold it in place.... [Mendoza] was fighting for his life. The county medical examiner documented "blunt force injuries" on his face, torso, and limbs. His neck muscles hemorrhaged internally from the strain, and a gash was notched out of his nose -- either from being struck or from being pressed into something. New Times
If you're up for it, Lemons' article includes photos of Mendoza's scarred corpse, with a transcript of his actual words during the torture in Arpaio's gulag: "Somebody is trying to kill me!" That crime robbed three children of a father and cost taxpayers $1 million, a murder county officials blamed on the victim. Of course.
[Arpaio spokesman] Jack MacIntyre said the sheriff's office did nothing wrong, and Juan Mendoza’s lifestyle had something to do with his death while in custody at the Maricopa county jail.
"I do not think that anybody in our care should die. I do not think we should take all the responsibility for individuals who put themselves in a position to have this kind of reaction. Mr. Mendoza was not a decathlete. Before he went into this jail he had a history of alcohol and other abuse," said MacIntyre. FOX10.com
Yes, I can see how a man who was naked and strapped to a chair with his arms handcuffed behind his back "put [himself] in a position to have this kind of reaction." I guess I'm only surprised that MacIntyre didn't say he was an extreme leftist.
Next up, Arizona: Joe Arpaio. Let's do this thing.