I mistakenly thought we’d seen the last of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio when he lost his race to former Phoenix cop Paul Penzone. The cranky bigot’s huge drubbing was one of the brighter bright spots on Nov. 8. After nearly a quarter century of racism, cronyism, bullying, ineptitude and downright criminality — all of which cost county residents more than $140 million in lawsuits — Maricopa County, Arizona, and the nation, were rid of “America’s Toughest Sheriff.”
Arpaio will remain a news item, since he’s still facing a criminal contempt of court charge stemming from a guilty verdict for racial profiling, which could land his butt in the clinker. I thought, though, that Sheriff Arpaio had danced his last crazy dance as an elected official, until his office issued this announcement:
"Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Chief Investigator Mike Zullo will be presenting their newest revelations to the years long investigation of the birth certificate presented by the White House in 2011 of President Obama."
After a gaggle of tea party nitwits in Surprise, Arizona, asked the sheriff to investigate the president’s birth certificate, he sent deputies to Hawaii in 2012. State health officials there told his investigators what they told the national media: Obama’s certificate is legit. Unfrazzled by facts, Arpaio said, "We feel that that document is a forgery," and he hooked up with Donald Trump and other frauds to push the racist scam for more than five years.
Although Trump conceded in September that Obama was born in the U.S., Sheriff Arpaio said he did not agree with that assessment, so he’d continue his investigative boondoggle, which was led by World Nut Daily screwball Mike Zullo. He’s the guy who said in 2013 that his team had uncovered “shocking” evidence in Hawaii that “is beyond the pale of anything you can imagine” (not linking to WND).
Then we heard … crickets. Nothing, nada, zilch. Just like Donald Trump, who said his investigators in Hawaii were turning up “absolutely unbelievable” shit, then he never said what that shit was. Trump began his campaign with that Big Lie and hundreds more have followed.
Thursday afternoon Sheriff Arpaio and Mike Zullo will tell us what all the “shocking” and “unbelievable” evidence is! Dang, I’ll be on the road and won’t be able to monitor the earth-shaking press conference, so please take notes. Hey Congress! How ‘bout exerting even half the effort investigating foreign meddling in our presidential election that a county sheriff spent looking into a racist lie.