Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio had a really busy day yesterday. First he had to react, with predictable dudgeon, to President Obama's decision to selectively enforce immigration laws. It was an outrage, he said, and was remarkably unmoved by the argument that maybe a college student or employed young person who was brought to the US as a baby, has no criminal record, and just wants to be a productive member of American society, is the kind of person this country should want to keep, rather than want to throw out. Joe said he'd continue to round 'em up wherever he finds them -- beyond that, who knows what he'll do.
Then last night there was a Tea Party meeting in suburban Gilbert. The featured guest was birther loon Jerome Corsi who has this whole bizarre theory about transposed numbers, smiley faces embedded in signatures, and other "flaws" that establish that the long-form birth certificate Obama released is a fake. 250 Tea Partiers signed a petition humbly beseeching the sheriff to launch an investigation into the genuineness of the long-form certificate in hopes of keeping Obama off the ballot here. And guess what, the sheriff posed proudly with Corsi and vowed that yes, such an investigation is within his jurisdiction (what isn't?) and he would certainly get right on it.
For a 78-year old crank, Joe really keeps himself busy, and keeps the rest of us alternately shaking our heads and laughing at him, not with him.