“People can be out there taking photos of the sunset and then go home and murder their spouse,” Sponsel said in response to a question from her attorney. “Does that necessarily mean they were innocent of murdering their spouse because they were taking pictures of the sunset earlier in the day? No.”
She's certainly proven herself guilty of being WAY too insane to be fit for public office!
Edit: Oh, it's Maricopa county? Pretty standard for the hellhole that kept re-electing Arpaio as Sheriff until they were no longer allowed to, I guess..
The hit parade on Joe Arpaio is pretty long. He is pretty famous for tent city and the racial profiling, but there is so much more. This one is probably my favorite, when he put out a hit on himself as a publicity stunt. The systemic refusal to investigate reported rapes is also particularly nasty.
I know people who wanted to vote for him again, but just said that he was too old. This was after he was convicted of a felony contempt in court and then was pardoned by trump for no reason. The dude truly is an American villain.
Yeah, I wasn't being hyperbolic when I said that supporting him is a sign of insanity, it literally is. The kind that comes from decades of targeted brainwashing by the party itself as well as the reality-averse far right media echo chamber 😮💨
I think a lot of generally racist people got caught up in the fantasy. He successfully portrayed himself as a lawman - a western Sheriff modeled after Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp. Writing wrongs, forming posses... etc. Of course, he didn't do any actual police work, and tent city is was pretty much a child's sense of justice. But tons of people collectively ate it up.
I remember having a conversation with someone and him saying proudly that his dad was in the "Sheriff's Posse" back when Arpaio was still in charge. I was pretty disgusted, but he loved it. Right over his head.
The politics in Maricopa county has luckily shifted, thanks in no small part to a lot of dedicated political organizers getting out the vote to non-traditional voters. Joe still runs for positions - outside candidate for republican senator nomination, mayor of fountain hills... But he doesn't really have a chance to win. I guess he is too proud to stop. Even his fans - and they are fans, not supporters - just kind of want him to retire at this point. He is in his 90s.