Joe Arpaio

Why Tom Horne might have thought he could get away with it

by

Crossposted at DemocraticDiva.com

Arizona’s top prosecutor, Attorney General Tom Horne, is in hot water yet again. This time it’s because of revelations by a former staffer in his state office that she was required to spend the majority of her time doing campaign work (which is illegal) and that Horne’s offices has been flagrantly using state employees and resources for campaign efforts. As Horne’s reelection chances grow ever dimmer, it may seem puzzling why he would have taken such a stupid risk with all the other problems (infidelity, hit-and-run, etc.) he has. My theory is that Tom Horne and his top aide Kathleen Winn are simply following the precedent set by Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who has been using taxpayer dollars to run a nonstop PR and reelection campaign for several years now, with impunity.

Arpaio Allen

Read more

Dealing with the Devil: Should Maricopa County Latinos ‘Play Nice’ with Arpaio? (video)

by

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Earlier in February, Maricopa County Latino leaders, organized by Phoenix City Councilman Michael Nowakowski, met with Sheriff Joe Arpaio and offered prayers and support– not protest signs or recall petitions.

Should Latinos play nice with Arpaio in hopes of winning him over, or should they work to recall the “toughest sheriff in the US”, stop deportations of hard-working, law-abiding people, and push for immigration reform?

If there is any doubt in your mind that we all should fight back against the racism that Arpaio embodies, check out this video by Dennis Gilman after the jump.

Read more

Arpaio is a chicken. Call him out! (video)

by

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio knows that challenger Paul Penzone is nipping at his dusty cowboy boots this election season– so Arpaio is taking the chicken shit standard Republican position of refusing to debate. Public pressure forced Republican Jeff Flake to debate Democrat Dr. Richard Carmona.

Maricopa County is a cesspool of corruption– election fraud, tent city jails, sheriff's deputies shooting citizens, intimidation of elected officials and citizens, people being murdered in jail, immigration sweeps through neighborhoods, racial profiling … need I go on? Arpaio is a big part of the problem. It's time for his retirement.

Let's put the pressure on Arpaio to debate Penzone. Here is a Facebook call to action from Randy Parraz.

 

Today is DAY 15 of Arpaio's NO DEBATE PLEDGE. On October 9th Sheriff Arpaio pledged to NOT debate Paul Penzone AND he thinks he can get away with it. Take action now – Call Arpaio's puppeteer, Chad Willems, at Summit Consulting and ask him why Arpaio is too chicken to debate Paul Penzone: (602) 235-9320. Please post your responses here.

Check out one of Penzone's early campaign speeches and a background video on Arpaio after the jump.

Maricopa County election fraud: Two official documents give Spanish speakers wrong election date (video)

by

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Those pesky typos! (Yeah, right.)

The Maricopa County Elections Department has admitted to a second instance of voter suppression… er… poor proofreading. You'll remember that last week ABC 15 and Blog for Arizona reported that Spanish speaking voters were given the wrong date for the election on a document that was included with new voter registration cards.

This week, the elections department says that a bookmark with election details gives English speakers the correct date for the election (Nov. 6) but gives Spanish speakers Nov. 8 as election day.

Giving groups that you don't want to vote the wrong date is a tried and true voter suppression tactic. I didn't believe the first instance was a mistake; giving Latinos the wrong date twice is definitely not a typo oopsy. Seriously, how dumb could they be? Or how dumb do they think the rest of us are?

The Maricopa County Elections Department should be investigated by the feds– now.

Here's the story from ABC Channel 15…

PHOENIX – A spokesperson for the Maricopa County Elections Department admits they once again gave voters the wrong date of next month's election.

Yvonne Reed confirms to ABC15 that bookmarks distributed by the elections department incorrectly listed the date of the general election in Spanish as November 8.

The flip side of the bookmark correctly lists the date in English as November 6.

Reed tells ABC15 the bookmarks were distributed at the three election counters throughout Maricopa County and that the department has no way of knowing exactly how many people received the bookmarks.

Randy Parraz, President of Citizens For A Better Arizona, says the blame lies squarely with Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell.

"It shows she's incompetent and not qualified," said Parraz.

For the rest of the story, go to ABC 15 here.

What's really tragic about this suppression of Spanish speaking voters is that there have been gargantuan efforts to get out the Latino vote. This is an important election for all of us, but for Latinos in Maricopa County, it is there best chance in years to oust renegade Sheriff Joe Arpaio. 

Check out the Adios Arpaio video by Phoenix videographer Dennis Gilman after the jump.