Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio just released another fund-raising email, which Stephen Lemons at New Times deconstructs so we don't have to. Arpaio is in the middle of a contempt of court hearing that isn't going his way, with former deputies turning on him, lawyers quitting the case, and Judge Murray Snow zeroing in on an explosive plot by the sheriff's team to get dirt on the judge in order to force him from the bench. Bottom line: there's a real chance Arpaio's butt could land in the clinker.
All this is happening as Arpaio prepares for his 2016 election, when he will be 84. He nearly lost the 2012 race, winning by a fraction of a percentage point, and it took about $8 million to earn that victory, most of it donated by gullible out-of-state seniors. So the sheriff and his election team are starting now, in order to build a multi-million-dollar war chest for next year. Sheriff Arpaio will need it, as his approval ratings, even in conservative Maricopa County, are falling fast.
This week's email is full of bunk.
Patriot,
I normally do not write you emails this personal — but today I'm making an exception.
Now hold on right there!
All of Arpaio's emails are "this personal." They're all about
him, him, him, how Enemies of the Good are out to get him, him, him, and how patriotic Americans can keep him, him, him in office, fighting the good fight, as in:
I have fought against Mexican drug cartels who have threatened me and my family.
Really? When did that happen?
Who he has "fought against" are the conspiracies that take up way too much space in his alleged mind. Such as one involving Eric Holder, Judge Snow and others, who supposedly were plotting to take down Arpaio (they weren't). His office has spent perhaps $1 million in RICO funds investigating this dead-end fantasy. So naturally Arpaio's email blabbers on about how he's fought against a "corrupt" DOJ, even though the only thing that's corrupt here is Arpaio wasting taxpayer dollars to disqualify a judge.
But today's kicker, as Lemons explains and Dennis Welch at Channel 3 probes in an interview with Arpaio's chief fund-raiser bull-shitter, is the email's subject line: "They're trying to recall me."
Huh, who is trying to recall him? Groups have tried, for sure, but they're all defunct, and with an election right around the corner a recall effort now would be a waste of time. No one is trying to recall Arpaio. No one. Period. But a recall sure is a handy fund-raising tactic, especially if Maude and Clarence in Iowa only read Arpaio's emails and not the local news.
When Dennis Welch confronted Chad Willems, who wrote the email, about this apparent discrepancy it went like this:
"There's not a formal recall effort," Willems admits on camera.
Welch asks if the e-mail Willems wrote was misleading.
"I don't think so," replies Willems, blankly staring at Welch.
An uncomfortable pause ensues.
"Why do you say that?" wonders Welch.
"I just don't think it's misleading," repeats Willems.
Okaaaay, he doesn't think the lie is misleading. Like so much of Arpaio's reign — lies don't matter. And if you're enough of a gullible racist, the sheriff lets you know that he's made a button specially for you!
I hope you will click on this donation button I asked my staff to make just for you and help me today.
My own button! Made just for me!