Fogbow

Arizona Right Watch (@azrww.bsky.social) @az_rww wrote: Local media softball interviewing Arpaio over his run for Mayor like he’s just a sweet lil old man who “still wants to give back to his community” and not a violent racist who ran a concentration camp in the middle of the Phoenix

azfamily 3TV CBS 5 @azfamily wrote: Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, 91, back on campaign trail https://azfamily.com/2024/01/12/former- ... ign-trail/

Dr. Ken wrote: ↑Fri Jan 12, 2024 1:42 pm Dude has lost the last few elections he's tried running in. Give it up joe.

Dirty Dozen: Meet 12 of the worst politicians in Arizona history
From Joe Arpaio to Russell Pearce, Kari Lake and Paul Gosar, the state boasts a rich history of disreputable and dastardly people.
By Stephen Lemons - January 17, 2024

Joe Arpaio
At age 91, former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is the Norma Desmond of Arizona politics, reliving the glory days of six terms in office by selling autographed pink underwear — the kind he made his prisoners wear in the jails — at local gun shows, craft fairs or anywhere they’ll let him set up a booth. On the nonagenarian’s Facebook page, he posts old photos of himself with celebrities of yore, such as Lou Ferrigno and Dennis Miller.

In 2022, he ran for mayor of the city he lives in, Fountain Hills. He told Phoenix New Times he wanted to “fire” Sheriff Paul Penzone, the dude who beat him like a rug in 2016, by canceling the Maricopa County Sheriff Office's contract to provide law enforcement services to the town. Arpaio lost the election, but he’s running again in 2024. Penzone recently resigned as sheriff, leaving Arpaio loyalist, Chief Deputy Russ Skinner, in command for now. Seems Arpaio’s outlived his chance at revenge.

Not that Arpaio lacks a legacy. Currently, it’s best represented by the more than $250 million Maricopa County has shelled out because of Melendres v. Arpaio, the lawsuit brought on by Arpaio’s racial profiling sweeps of Hispanic neighborhoods. Arpaio’s past tense politically, but Melendres drags on, in no small part due to the institutional intransigence of the “House that Joe Built.”

Arpaio was once one of the most feared men in Arizona, retaliating against his political enemies, arresting the former owners of New Times and investigating mayors, judges, county supervisors and more. His jails were renowned for their cruelty, incurring millions of dollars in lawsuit payouts for deaths and maimings. Now all that’s left are pink boxers, bad memories and an ever-increasing bill.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio @RealSheriffJoe wrote: My Surprising Connection to RFK Jr.:
When I was the head of the U.S. Bureau of Narcotics (now known as the DEA) for the Washington D.C. field office, I was personally asked by the Kennedy family to assist meeting their vehicle at Arlington National Cemetery and walking the family to Robert F. Kennedy’s final resting place on June 8, 1968, the only late-night burial in Arlington National Cemetery’s history. In my 1968 personal diary, I wrote: “2PM- 12MID TO Arlington Cemetery assisted in BURIEL” and “12MID- 2AM at Arlington Cemetery and with CARMINE BELINO.”

In a strange coincidence, on May 11, 1968 (3 weeks earlier from when then-Senator Robert Kennedy was shot and killed on June 6, 1968), two drug suspects took me, while I was on duty, to a rural area of Virginia and attempted to rob me. A long violent gun battle ensued between me and the suspects in a vehicle resulting in a written commendation given to me from the then-U.S. Attorney General, Ramsey Clark, dated May 15, 1968.

It was an honor assisting the Kennedy family including Robert Kennedy Jr., who is now a candidate for president. I remember when his father, who was a revered attorney general, was asked by Italian organizations to cease using the word ‘Mafia’ to avoid ethnic stereotyping. He listened and ordered that the word “Mafia” not be used, and substituted “organized crime.”

Unfortunately, in the current climate, some media, political figures, and prosecutors still use the word ‘Mafia’ or RICO (Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations), which is synonymous with the word ‘Mafia.’ RICO is now wrongly being used to prosecute President Donald Trump.

Final note: I endorse Donald Trump for president, not Robert Kennedy Jr. I have been with President Trump from day one even when I served as Sheriff of Maricopa County, AZ (for 24 years), and have mentioned many times he is my one and only hero in my lifetime.