'The Arizona sheriff who bills himself as 'America’s Toughest Sheriff' said he was 'a little disappointed' in his visit Saturday night to Harrison County to raise money for local Republican political candidates. 'Wherever I go I have demonstrators. I haven’t had any demonstrators [BL--Yeah, I bet, this is because this area of Indiana was dominated by the KKK in the 1920s],' Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said while meeting with reporters at the First State Office Building in Corydon.
Arpaio, who often speaks around the country, made sure reporters understood how to pronounce his name: 'It’s Ar-pie-o, none of this Ar-pay-o.'
Arpaio began his Corydon visit with a $500-a-person reception at the office of attorney Maryland Austin, which was closed to the media. That was followed by a reception at the office building, where about 250 people paid $120 each to meet and have their picture taken with Arpaio and attend a dinner at St. Joseph Catholic Church, where he was the featured speaker.
Arpaio has received a lot of national attention recently for his hard stance on immigration. He had his deputies check the immigration status of people they think might be illegal aliens long before Arizona passed a controversial state law requiring such checks. The law was slated to take effect last month but a U.S. District Court judge issued a preliminary injunction stopping its most controversial features from being enforced.
The 78-year-old Arpaio, who wore a gold-colored Glock pistol tie tack with his dark suit, proclaimed with a smile that he was under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for possible racial profiling for his enforcement of immigration laws.
He encountered only admiration at the event.
New Albany resident Sarah Spivey was typical of those who approached Arpaio.
'You are my hero. May I shake your hand?' Spivey said as she made her way toward the sheriff. 'My sons and I follow your life and history as much as we can.' Spivey’s friend, Virginia McGuirk, told Arpaio, 'I wish we had a bunch of sheriffs around here like you.'
The present sheriff of Harrison County, Democrat Mike Deatrick, is under indictment for sexual battery and criminal deviate conduct against two sheriff’s department dispatchers. Deatrick has pleaded not guilty. Rod Seelye, the Republican nominee in the November race to replace Deatrick, is one of the candidates who will benefit from the money raised by Arpaio’s appearance.
'I think some of the models that he’s set in Arizona will play well here,' Seelye said.
Arpaio has long been controversial for his hard attitude toward jail inmates. Among other things, he’s known for housing some jail inmates in tents, starting a female chain gang and making all inmates wear pink underwear. Seelye declined to endorse any specific policies of the Arizona sheriff, saying only, 'I think he runs a tight ship. … I’m talking about running a very professional law enforcement agency.'"
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These Hoosiers can get themselves a Sheriff like Joe Arpaio--move to Phoenix. Apparently dumb white folks are needed down there, in force, as an antidote to everyone else with an IQ slightly above simian.
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