Pardon for Sheriff Joe
Pres. Trump decides on pardoning Sheriff Joe for all of his community service work in Maricopa County Arizona.
What an achievement for a man who can be a racist, defy a Federal Court, and gain the support of a US Pres.
Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.
For people in AZ, Trump is easy to understand. He is Joe Arpaio. They are clear examples of the results of the end game of the Southern Strategy. The GOP rode that tiger for 50 years, now they find they cannot get off. Just like the GOP in AZ with Arpaio.
I moved here over a decade ago. One of the most surprising things to me was how the Rep leaders in Maricopa Country were doing everything they could to get rid of him. He was a disaster for the county long before he went totally off the reservation regarding his treatment of illegal immigrants. Every primary they tried to get rid of him, but that base was too strong.
Now the national GOP has trump.
Arpaio’s damage was restricted to one county, imagine what trump will do to the entire country. An example:
“Taxpayers spent $1,102,528.50 this year to settle another of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s lawsuits, New Times has learned through a public records request. The suit was brought by a man whom Arpaio framed in 1999 in a staged murder plot against the sheriff.
The payout, nine years after the wrongful arrest, is an indicaton that the aging lawman’s publicity-driven, unsavory antics may keep costing taxpayers big money well into the future. The county is already struggling with a huge budget deficit, and the excessive costs of Arpaio’s operation isn’t helping matters.
In 2004, victim James Saville’s family sued Arpaio for $10 million, after Saville was found not guilty of attempting to kill the sheriff. The county recently settled with Saville for an undisclosed amount. It only had to pay the above amount out of public coffers; its insurance policy covered the rest.
Before you wish that you could collect $1 million by getting framed for Arpaio’s murder, consider that Saville spent four years in county jail, awaiting trial as a result of the made-up crime.
In 1999, Arpaio’s staff rigged the entire fake assassination plot – just so he could get his mug on TV…..
In addition to the Saville payout, the county already has had to fork over more than $43 million in lawsuit settlements and expenses to the families of jail-abuse victims during Arpaio’s tenure as sheriff.
County Risk Manager Peter Crowley says there’s no way to tell how much the insurance company payed Saville — on top of the $1.1 million the county paid. Similarly, insurance companies have paid unknown millions on top of the more than $43 million the county has paid for the jail lawsuits.
That’s because the county typically pays a deductible, plus attorneys’ fees, and insurance companies pick up the rest of the bill. Because settlements are confidential, the county claims it doesn’t know how many millions have been covered by insurance policies.”
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/a-phony-murder-plot-against-joe-arpaio-winds-up-costing-taxpayers-11-million-6629798
My daughter’s in-laws are down in Phoenix and we would go visit my daughter near San Tan mountain. My son-in-law talked about the sheriff too. They could get off that tiger; but, everyone in the local gov would have to go or take years to correct. People keep looking for reasons why (on other sites) and it is staring them in the face. It is the Southern Strategy as proposed at Atwater and taken up by Republicans. I wonder at times whether some of the proponents understand how they are being used.
Run,
They cannot believe they are being used because the cannot believe they are racists. I have had grandmothers(and great grandmothers) call Obama “uppity” in normal conversation.
It is inbred.
EM:
That is funny in a sense if you set aside what they are really stating. “Stay in your place.”
It is great how bigotry brings out the voters. Could someone explain how misogyny brings out the voters? I like the idea that they do not believe they are racists and misogynists.
Heim:
Hypothetically, do you really think anyone would admit to being a racist or misogynist?
Hard to believe Arpaio couldn’t be prosecuted criminally for the phony murder rap. Maybe they just won’t because of his popularity?
Jack:
Can’t the Feds charge him for this and recharge him for the one he was pardoned for yesterday?
I wonder if some of it is that the locals wouldn’t prosecute him. Hence it goes on a long time until a federal charge is used… But then Trump negates the federal system.
That is the traditional system, right? Jim Crow era. Locals won’t arrest, charge, prosecute, convict, meaningfully punish lynchings, etc. Then eventually the feds stepped in to do it. This is like all the years before the feds took over. Trump has the feds stepping back out.
Run, I think the pardon covered all of his past transgressions. I could be wrong about that. Beyond that, the Trump DOJ isn’t going to touch him even if they can. The state clearly can go after him because Trump’s pardon only covers federal crimes. He has no power to pardon state crimes. Dubious if the state will take action.