The facts of Sheriff Arpaio’s career are beyond dispute
OPINION – A recent opinion attacking “America’s Sheriff” says more about the progressive mindset than about Joe Arpaio. In it, the writer sneers that Arpaio’s career shows a “turgid disregard for humankind” and belongs “in the ashcan of history.”
For 24 years, Maricopa County voters repeatedly chose Arpaio to enforce the law, not to host a spa. Tent City, bologna sandwiches and pink underwear sent one clear message: jail is punishment, not a lifestyle upgrade. That offends progressive sensibilities, but it is not moral failure. It’s a refusal to pretend consequences are “cruel.”
The letter-writer airbrushes out basic facts. Arpaio spent decades fighting narcotics as a federal agent, then was elected sheriff six times. He took illegal immigration seriously when Washington preferred press conferences to border control. He also championed laws against animal cruelty and supported measures to improve livestock conditions, hardly the portrait the letter describes. Arpaio sided with the victims, not the criminals, exhibiting a strong regard for people — not a “turgid disregard” as claimed.
You must be a member to read this story.
Join our family of readers starting at $5 for your first month and support local, unbiased journalism.
Click here to see your options for becoming a subscriber.
Register to comment
Click here create a free account for posting comments.
Note that free accounts do not include access to premium content on this site.
I am anchor
Opinion
The facts of Sheriff Arpaio’s career are beyond dispute
Posted
By Gregg Dudash | Fountain Hills
OPINION – A recent opinion attacking “America’s Sheriff” says more about the progressive mindset than about Joe Arpaio. In it, the writer sneers that Arpaio’s career shows a “turgid disregard for humankind” and belongs “in the ashcan of history.”
For 24 years, Maricopa County voters repeatedly chose Arpaio to enforce the law, not to host a spa. Tent City, bologna sandwiches and pink underwear sent one clear message: jail is punishment, not a lifestyle upgrade. That offends progressive sensibilities, but it is not moral failure. It’s a refusal to pretend consequences are “cruel.”
The letter-writer airbrushes out basic facts. Arpaio spent decades fighting narcotics as a federal agent, then was elected sheriff six times. He took illegal immigration seriously when Washington preferred press conferences to border control. He also championed laws against animal cruelty and supported measures to improve livestock conditions, hardly the portrait the letter describes. Arpaio sided with the victims, not the criminals, exhibiting a strong regard for people — not a “turgid disregard” as claimed.
What truly seems to bother today’s critics is not brutality, but clarity. Arpaio drew a hard line: citizens and legal residents deserve protection; criminals and repeat offenders deserve consequences. This boundary is intolerable to a worldview that treats lawbreakers as victims and those who enforce the law as villains. That is the woke mindset.
A single partisan narrative cannot erase decades of service or the support of thousands of Arizonans, including many here in Fountain Hills, who still respect Sheriff Joe’s dedication.
We can debate policies without rewriting history. The facts of his career are beyond dispute. Arpaio was honest about crime, serious about borders and unapologetic about consequences. If that is now considered unforgivable, the problem is not with the sheriff. The problem is with the standards of progressive Democrats.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here