The Pink Flamingo :: Sheriff Joe's Busy Saturday

Sheriff Joe Arpaio had a very busy weekend. According to our new favorite liberal site, The Feathered Bastard, he was busy protecting Pruitt Furniture in Phoenix from those wascally wicket wild picketers who were threatening horrific horrors of Hispanic migrants unbound. (Sorry, got carried away). Now if you happen to check out the photos from The Feathered Bastard, it looks more like a three ring circus (minus the ACLU - ops, that was last week).

The Feathered Bastard reported:

"...PHX's M.D. Pruitt's Home Furnishings, the site of the ongoing day-laborer squabble, smells like cow caca. For real. Owner Roger Sensing recently had fresh manure laid down on his side of the sidewalk, next to where Salvador Reza and at least a hundred protesters were standing this past Saturday morning, in an apparent attempt at a little olfactory warfare. At one point during his walks through the sidewalk-bound crowd, Sensing, who has a speech impediment that rivals Jimmy's on South Park and who was dressed like a trailer park refugee, once even joked with Reza, asking Reza if he could get Sensing some day laborers to help him plant flowers in the turd trough he had set up...."

The AZ Central has a less tongue in cheek report.

"...Holding signs with messages like "We are not criminals" and "Arpaio, stop blowing the budget," protesters outside of M.D. Pruitt's furniture store said they are supporting the rights of undocumented immigrants to find work. But Pruitt's owner Roger Sensing and others in the area recently asked the Sheriff's Office for help removing day laborers from the area, saying their presence hampers business.

Despite a significantly larger crowd compared to previous weekends, the protest was more peaceful compared to last week, when Daniel Pochoda, an official of the American Civil Liberties Union, was arrested on charges of trespassing.

As in weeks past, Sensing hired off-duty Sheriff's deputies for security during the protests. He would not say how much he is spending on the off-duty deputies.

Cars driving by on Thomas Road honked their horns supporting protesters, but one driver who apparently didn't appreciate the protestors' views stuck his arm out the window and flipped off the crowd.

Gayla Franks stood nearby to document the protest with a camcorder. Franks said she knows Sensing personally and has been shopping at Pruitt's for the last 20 years. She used to live in the area but moved because she didn't like the "questionable, unknown characters" standing around the neighborhood. "I think it's a travesty of justice (that) the people who are not contributing to the improvement of this society can stand . . . in front of a business and intimidate and coerce a business owner because they're mad at the sheriff," ...

Sheriff Joe Arpaio said he would continue to support his deputies and enforcing immigration laws. Arpaio said he attended the demonstration to support his deputies...."

All of this brings up several questions, most of which revolve around everyone's favorite law and order conservative law dog himself, Joe Arpaio.

1. Did business owner Roger Sensing co-ordinate this whole mess with Sheriff Joe?

2. Why is Sheriff Joe, a Maricopa County law enforcement official, stomping on the toes of Phoenix Police?

3. Why has Sheriff Joe spent his entire over-time budget in just 4 months?

4. Why is Sheriff Joe openly endorsing Russell Pearce, a GOP (yep, Republican) member of the AZ House and a GOP Candidate for Congress? Pearce openly associates with JT Ready, a Neo-Nazi? For that matter, why is Minuteman founder Chris Simcox supporting a known Nazi supporter?

"...But in 2006, when Pearce was caught forwarding an anti-Semitic e-mail to his supporters -- an e-mail from the neo-Nazi National Alliance, even Republicans bagged on him. None other than ultra-right Congressman J.D. Hayworth withdrew his support for Pearce's reelection to the State House. Hayworth lost to Democrat Harry Mitchell, and Pearce was reelected, despite the e-mail eff-up and despite his previous endorsement of the Eisenhower administration's "Operation Wetback," a 1954 INS deportation program. The voters in Pearce's State House district apparently had no problem with his views...."

Maybe we should also ask if JD Heyworth's now withdrawn support for Russell Pearce have anything to do with his downfall at the polls?

MY MINI RANT
Why is Chris Simcox, founder of the Minutemen and close associate of Alan Keyes endorsing a man like Russell Pearce who openly flaunts his political relationship with JT Ready, an acknowledged Neo-Nazi? Why is Joe Arpaio supporting Pearce? Why isn't the Arizona GOP openly demanding Pearce switch to another party?