The Arpaio Files: Meet Joe Blow

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Vice President Joe Biden was in Phoenix yesterday meeting with area Democrats. He also took time out to personally recognize some of the local people who have benefited from the Federal stimulus package. Then, to add the frosting to that cake of a day, the Vice President took a meeting with Joe Arpaio, the legendary (in his own mind) sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona.

Or did he?

Well, according to Sheriff Joe, he did. The self-styled "toughest sheriff in America" tweeted the following: "Just got done meeting with the Vice President of the United States." The sheriff even revealed the nature of their talks. He apparently told the Veep of his need for more deputies.

The local press, which should be used to our sheriff's outlandish propensity for shameless self-promotion and exaggeration, bought into his tweet and helped to generate more local buzz about the meeting between the Vice President and Sheriff Joe.

Only one problem - if a meeting occurred, it was somewhere in cobwebs of Arpaio's aging head.

Today the White House issued a statement noting that the Republican Arpaio had not been invited to the Biden event - he just showed up. Apparently pushy old Joe managed to grab a handshake with the Vice President as he was exiting the building, but it lacked the element of conversation that most people regard as necessary for a "meeting."

Undoubtedly the Vice President is aware of our illustrious sheriff. Janet Napolitano probably regales the cabinet with stories of Sheriff Joe routinely rounding up political opponents and charging them with bogus offenses. And Joe's tent city is truly legendary, adding to that tough cop image that he likes to brandish.

I suspect that Biden has a working knowledge of Arpaio - and that if the sheriff had the opportunity to make a pitch for more deputies, the Vice President would have probably laughed in his face. True, more deputies could help to serve the 40,000 misdemeanor and felony warrants that are backlogged and waiting to be delivered to deserving recipients in Maricopa County, but the sheriff already commands a force that would give any third world dictator a permanent boner. If Sheriff Joe would take some of the deputies off of his publicity-oriented immigration sweeps and other stunts, the county's law enforcement work might start getting done.

But those are just my thoughts.

Arizona for Dummies

by Pa Rock
Keeper of the Welcome Mat

Today three bloggers (one national and two from local newspapers) banged out posts that, taken together, offer a fairly accurate, and somewhat frightening, portrait of this overly developed desert that is Arizona. Their comments should be bound and distributed by the local chamber of commerce as an exercise in truth in advertising. Please read on...

Arthur Frommer is a travel writer, consumer advocate, and publisher of the popular Frommer’s Travel Guides. Today on his blog, Arthur Frommer Online, he took the state of Arizona to task over the shameful exhibition of weaponry outside of President Obama’s speech to the VFW last Monday. He said in his blog that he was “shocked beyond measure” by reports of individuals showing up at the event toting guns, including one who was strapped with an automatic assault rifle.

Frommer declared:

"For myself, without yet suggesting that others follow me in an open boycott, I will not personally travel in a state where civilians carry loaded weapons onto the sidewalks and as a means of political protest. I not only believe such practices are a threat to the future of our democracy, but I am firmly convinced that they would also endanger my own personal safety there. And therefore I will cancel any plans to vacation or otherwise visit in Arizona until I learn more. And I will begin thinking about whether tourists should safeguard themselves by avoiding stays in Arizona."

The travel writer went on to suggest that this was a targeted political activity. He asked:

“If Ronald Reagan were delivering a political talk in Phoenix, Arizona, would they have felt it was proper for protesters with guns to mill about outside of the hall from which he would leave?”

Stephen Lemons, writing in our local alternative newspaper, The Phoenix New Times, pointed out that Chris B. Unknown, the man with the automatic assault weapon, had been spotted August 8th at the town hall meeting of Republican Congressman John Shadegg – and he didn’t feel the need to bring his guns to that event.

(Note: Chris B. Unknown is black – and some wags have suggested that his race may have played into the decision to use him in this demonstration so that the right wing radio station personnel who organized the protest would be inoculated against charges of racism.)

Lemons ended his tirade in the New Times with this declaration:

“So, Mr. Frommer, you have every right to be concerned about traveling in Arizona. Out state is psycho, and often racist. We’ve got more guns here than the Chinese army, and daggnabbit, we may be the next Dallas, circa 1963, if you get my drift. Here’s hoping Chris B. isn’t employed by a local book depository. At least no one can accuse him of being racist if he pulls an Oswald.”

Laurie Roberts, writing in her blog in today’s Arizona Republic, the stodgy old newspaper to which the New Times is the alternative, was dismissive of Frommer’s complaint, exercising the tired conservative saw that the truly scary people are the criminals with guns that aren’t on display. That said, she went on to post a list of things in Arizona that she does regard as scary, to wit:

“It's scary to me that we live in a state that has such inept political leaders that we still don't have a state budget nearly two months into the year. And that next year, we will likely re-elect every darn one of them. It's scary to me what our leaders are willing to give up, in the name of no new taxes. That they consider the education of our children a burden and the average Joe -- that poor schlub who isn't pulling down six figures -- as invisible.

“It's scary to me that the we live in a state that thinks so little of the little guy that our legion of unemployed are expected to live on a measly $265 a week -- a shameful pay level that ranks 49th in the nation. That's if the incompetents who run DES can manage to get these people the meager amount that is owed them and that's a HUGE if.

“It's scary to me that the prevailing view around here at the moment seems to be every man for himself and if you are one of the unlucky ones to lose your job, well then I guess you're just supposed to move on. To where or what, I don't know.

“It's scary to me that people blindly support everything that Joe Arpaio (Maricopa County sheriff) does because "he's the only one doing anything about illegal immigration" -- which isn't true but doesn't seem to matter. And thus ol' Joe can do whatever he wants. The man apparently never oversteps the boundaries that must be in place for people with badges and guns and if he does, we justify it because he is ,as we all know, "the only one doing anything about illegal immigration.

“It's scary to me that we have a governor who seems unable to govern and a Legislature that collectively seems uninterested in anything short of getting re-elected. That we have kids coming out of school with no place to go and nothing to do because our economy seems to be built on one thing and one thing only -- building houses.

“It's scary to me that too many of us think of illegal immigrants not as people but as vermin out to suck the lifeblood out of the city. Seems to me we're doing a pretty good job of that ourselves.”

Ah, yes, life in Arizona is definitely an acquired taste! My thanks to Mr. Frommer, Mr. Lemons, and Ms. Roberts for summing it up so nicely. The only significant thing that they failed to mention was the scorpions!

The State of Hate in Arizona

by Pa Rock
Social Observer

Remember William Kostric, the moron who showed up at President Obama’s town hall meeting in New Hampshire this week packing a pistol? He carried a sign with a thinly veiled death threat that read: “It is time to water the tree of liberty.” Kostric wondered aloud to Chris Matthews on Hardball why more good Americans, like him, weren’t showing up armed at these events?

My first thought regarding this evolutionary throwback was that he would fit right into the cultural landscape of Arizona. Imagine my lack of surprise when I learned later that he had recently relocated to New Hampshire from Scottsdale, Arizona!

To say that Arizona has its fair share of dangerous and demented nut jobs would be gross understatement. The state is rife with hate – and damned proud of it!

This week Dr. Heidi Beirich, a representative of the Southern Poverty Law Center, spoke in Phoenix and gave a public presentation on the increase of hate group activity in Arizona. She listed the three primary reasons for the rise of extremist activity in the state as being the election of a black President, the weak economy, and the nativist uproar over illegal immigration from Mexico. Arizona, due primarily to its long border with Mexico, seems to go especially berserk whenever it appears that anyone with brown skin is being treated fairly or humanely.

Dr. Beirich had particularly pointed remarks concerning Joe Arpaio, the sheriff of Maricopa County, and state senator Russell Pearce, both of whom she sees as pandering toward members of these groups and thus empowering them with a sense of legitimacy.

The Southern Poverty Law Center recognizes nineteen distinct hate groups currently operating in Arizona. Three are classified as Racist Skinhead organizations: the Western Hammerskins (statewide), Vinlanders Social Club (Mesa), and Volksfront (Phoenix). The term "Skinheads" refers to young thugs with shaved heads and plenty of tattoos who get off on drugs and violence. The group had its origins in Great Britain fifty years ago. It later split into two distinct factions - the racists and the anti-racists - and both varieties crossed the Atlantic Ocean where they were able to infest America. And lucky Arizona - we got the "racist" version of these vermin!

Ten of the hate groups are Neo-Nazi: the White Knights of America (statewide), White Revolution (statewide), National Socialist Movement – NSM (Apache Junction), American Thule Society (Black Canyon City), National Socialist Movement (Cochise County), Aryan Nations (Goodyear – an All-American City!), American National Socialist Workers Party (Phoenix), Aryan Nations (Phoenix), and National Socialist Movement – NSM (Phoenix). The Neo-Nazis profess a love of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, and they are stridently vocal in their hatred of Jews. (Didn't we fight a big war against this type of scum?)

The remaining hate groups with Arizona chapters include: the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (General Hate – Colorado City), Remnant Outreach Ministries (Christian Identity – Cottonwood), Arizona White Pride (White Nationalist – Maricopa County), Nation of Islam (Black Separatist – Phoenix), American Border Patrol (Anti-Immigrant – Sierra Vista), and the United Northern and Southern Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK – Tempe).

Other reported hate groups in Arizona include the National Organization for European American Rights, World Church of the Creator (Florence and Tucson), Hammerskin Nation (Glendale and Mesa), and the National Alliance (Phoenix).

Arizona is truly blessed to have this many organized ways to hate. What could be sadder than a racist, moronic, gun-toting Neanderthal without a support group? New Hampshire must be a deep pit of putrefying prejudice to lure William Kostric away from this scorpion and rattlesnake-riddled, fascist nirvana!

Let us prey.

One final note: The President of the United States and Mrs. Obama - and their little girls - will be in Arizona this Sunday and Monday. So far his town hall meetings on health care have been polite and productive. That ain't gonna happen here. Tread with care, Mr. President. These bastards are seriously scary.

Arizona Government Buildings: For Sale by Owner

by Pa Rock
Amused Taxpayer

Let’s say that Claude and Maude, a well established married couple, have run into some serious financial difficulty. Their bills have been rising for the past few years, and they have cut their budget to the bone. This year the bills are still going up, and they can’t make any more cuts in spending.

What are Claude and Maude to do?

One option, of course, is to increase their income by one or the other taking a second job, but neither wants to make that sacrifice. It looks hopeless, but Claude, who is a product of the Arizona school system, suddenly has a brain fart. Their house, he points out to Maude, is paid for. Why not sell it and then rent it back from the new owners. Claude reasons that in a few years when times are better, they can buy it back – and meanwhile they will have enough ready cash to maintain their lifestyle – at least temporarily.

Okay, it doesn’t take a PhD in economics to see the gaps in logic of Claude’s proposal, yet that is exactly the course that the Arizona legislature seems hell-bent on pursuing.

The state is currently facing a budget shortfall of between three and four billion dollars, and instead of seriously looking for ways to increase revenue, such as through tax increases on corporations or the wealthy, they are pursuing a limited sales tax (one which will put the state’s financial burden primarily on the backs of the poor), and cutting business taxes. It has reached a point where even the dumbest members of the legislature, a quorum to be sure, realize that all of that nonsense (and all of their huffing and puffing) still won’t bring the budget into the black.

So here’s the new plan that is being bandied about the halls of the state legislature. (You might want to sit down and put your feet up before continuing, because this is a doozie!)

Members of the Arizona State Legislature are recommending that the state sell off its House and Senate buildings (and perhaps several other state buildings as well), and then lease them back from the new owners. The estimated cash influx from this scheme would be about $735 million, far short of the state’s projected deficit. When times get better, of course, they would buy their legislative chambers back.

And you know what, as a proud taxpayer of Arizona, I say “Go for it!” I just hope the new owners shop around for perspective renters. Those buildings would be far better utilized as flea markets or storage sheds. Sheriff Arpaio would probably be happy to rent a couple of his tents to the legislators for their meetings. Hell, he might even provide the catering.

Sorry, Senator. You cannot have Grey Poupon on your stale, green baloney sandwich! Only the guards, ...ur...uh...legislative pages, get condiments!

Murder on the Loop 101 (A Tale of Escalating Passions)

by Pa Rock
Enraged Citizen

The Valley of Hell is a strange place indeed. Most of the two-legged creatures who inhabit this craven place pride themselves on their ignorance. As an example, a local reporter covering last week's hate-fueled tea-bagger party at the state capitol interviewed a man who was advocating that all socialists should be killed. He further stated his belief that the President of the United States is a socialist. When the reporter asked for the man's name, the big talker declined to provide it. Unfortunately for society, the reporter also did not get a picture of this knuckle-dragger.

This is also a gun culture where sexually inadequate morons try to make up for their shortcomings by owning enough weaponry to storm a third world country. It is those guns that ensure their virility and independence - you betcha! And who is their enemy? Why, government, of course.

Add to that strange brew the fact that The East Valley Tribune recently ran a five-part series on how criminal activity is being ignored by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office because our sheriff, Joe Arapio, the self-proclaimed "toughest sheriff in America" is focused on immigration enforcement because 'those people' are easy marks and that's where the fame is. (BTW, The East Valley Tribune learned today that they received the Pulitzer Prize for local news for that series on Arpaio and crime in the valley.)

And then, just for good measure, take into consideration the yelling and screaming that a certain group of locals have been engaging in regarding the speed enforcement cameras that have gone up in the valley over the last few years. Libertarians, and Paulies, and gun crazies have been foaming at the mouth over that infringement of their "rights." John Law just ain't playing fair if he can catch them without a high speed chase!

Enter, stage right, Thomas De Stories. The cantankerous 68-year-old is the owner of a local adventure company that takes tourists on jeep tours of the Sonoran Desert. Last night, around 8 p.m., Mr. De Stories pulled up to a fully marked photo radar van on the busy Loop 101 near 7th Street and fired several shots into the van killing the operator, Doug Georgianni. Unbelievably, the arrogant murderer was driving one of his easily recognizable company vehicles!

Radar speed enforcement has now been suspended across the valley. Republican State Representative Sam Crump, a vocal opponent of the cameras, said he is aware of speculation that the murder resulted from "escalating passions" surrounding the public debate over speed cameras.

Ya think?

Welcome to Arizona, the land of cactus and scorpions and sand, the place where if you can't get your way through legal means, you always have the option of changing things through gun fire. It worked last night. Thomas De Stories is in jail, but the cameras are no longer interfering with the God-given rights of the local white trash to drive as fast as they want.

And it won't end there. As long as the radio loudmouths keep spewing their hate, as long as Fox "News" keeps sloshing their gas on the overheated yokels, as long as the NRA keeps encouraging everyone to buy more and more guns, as long as law enforcement officials worry more about their public image than they do about combating real crime, as long as fundamentalist preachers keep using fear to whip their congregations into a frenzy - as long as America stays crazy, we are all in deep, deep trouble.

God help and watch over Barack Obama.