A Tale of Two Sheriffs
Oddly enough, I’ve never seen wingnuts react this way to any of Joe Arpaio’s briefings:
Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik thrust himself into the spotlight in the aftermath of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and 19 other people in Arizona on Saturday, decrying the heated political atmosphere and calling for more civility.“It’s not unusual for all public officials to get threats constantly, myself included,” he said on Saturday. “That’s the sad thing about what’s going on in America: pretty soon we’re not going to be able to find reasonable, decent people willing to subject themselves to serve in public office.”
Dupnik immediately angered some on the right, who took his words to be directed at the tea party and conservatives, as well as Arizonans who took offense to his depiction of Arizona as “a mecca for prejudice and bigotry.”
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) said he didn’t think the sheriff’s words “had any part in a law enforcement briefing.” Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) said he was “disappointed” in the sheriff. Conservative talk show host Neal Boortz said Dupnik was looking for political gain, and Fox News anchor—in an interview with the sheriff—wondered aloud why he would “inject political speculation” into the story.
Two quick notes for David Gergen and the “both sides do it” bullshit peddlers. First, there was nothing partisan about Dupnik’s statements. He pointed no fingers at any specific group- he merely pointed out that public figures are receiving a lot of threats and that as a lifelong resident of Arizona, he has noticed a change in the political atmosphere, which DIRECTLY impacts his ability to do his job, which is keeping the peace. Compare that to the overtly political statements Arpaio has made… well, forever.
Second, and this is a very key distinction, when liberals get up in arms about Arpaio, it is because they are disagreeing with him. Conservatives disagree with the Dupnik non-partisan remarks, obviously, but what is different is that they don’t think he should even be allowed to make them.
But this is all par for the course. The media and the Republicans have set up two sets of rules. One for right-wingers, and one for everyone else.
*** Update ***
Looks like Media Matters got there before me on this (barely), with a lot of quotes and the same title (damnit!).
when liberals get up in arms about Arpaio, it is because they are disagreeing with him. Conservatives disagree with the Dupnik non-partisan remarks, obviously, but what is different is that they don’t think he should even be allowed to make them.
It’s in the makeup of the groups, for sure. I started noticing this in my long-ago college days. Leftie and rightie campus groups would put up flyers for their events, and their opponents always responded. The hippies would mockingly vandalize the rightards’ flyers, and the rightards would tear the hippies’ flyers down completely.
January 10th, 2011 at 3:33 pm
Hell, politicians and sheriffs in AZ can blame immigrants for rising crime rates without being called on for politicizing events, let alone being called on the fact that crime rates seem to be falling.
January 10th, 2011 at 3:33 pm
And then people wonder why we consider right-wing rhetoric eliminationist and tending toward violence.
January 10th, 2011 at 3:34 pm
Well, that’s the way it is in a white-centered… excuse me, center-right country.
January 10th, 2011 at 3:37 pm
Interesting that conservatives see the message “Hate speech doesn’t belong in politics,” without any reference whatsoever to any party or ideology, and feel that they’re being attacked.
I guess we can dispense with this “Both sides do it,” argument right now, since the conservatives themselves seem convinced that a denunciation of hate speech and violent rhetoric in politics should be read as an attack on them.
January 10th, 2011 at 3:37 pm
Excellent post—this is exactly the issue. Gee, do you think we would have to work hard to find a clip of Meghan the Village Idiot Kelly drooling over Sheriff Arpaio? Doubtful.
January 10th, 2011 at 3:41 pm
That’s because Arpaio is a bad-ass on the side of the righteous, and Dupnik just hates America.
I wonder how many folks out there are arguing that someone should shoot Dupnik just to prove how wrong he is.
January 10th, 2011 at 3:41 pm
Various web sites – right wing – are now positing the claim that Dubnik’s department had numerous reports of death threats from Loughner to various locals. And did nothing to follow up, therefore not heading it off early.
January 10th, 2011 at 3:41 pm
Conservatives have unlimited rights. The rest of us have only two rights, the rights to sit down and shut up. Why do you hate them for their freedoms?
January 10th, 2011 at 3:42 pm
Ah, David Gergen – the man to call when regular bullshit needs the patina of even more bullshit.
January 10th, 2011 at 3:43 pm
@joe from Lowell:
I’m going to be using this.
thanks,
January 10th, 2011 at 3:44 pm
The right keeps insisting on pointing fingers at itself.
January 10th, 2011 at 3:44 pm
@joe from Lowell:
Bullseye. Nobody denies more quickly than the guilty.
January 10th, 2011 at 3:48 pm
@scav:
That’s not quite fair. Crime rates are only falling outside Joe Arpaio’s jurisdiction; they’re going up in his neck of the woods. Now you might suggest that the sheriff deserves some blame when crime goes up in his county while going down in the rest of the state, but let’s not go pointing fingers- at least not a white people.
January 10th, 2011 at 3:50 pm
To me it is interesting in that Sheriff Dupnik, unlike Neil Boortz and the rest of us, probably has had contact with the shooter, has probably interviewed him or has watched interviews of him, and would seem to be in a much better place than anybody at Foxnews to describe the intentions and reasons for what the shooter did.
I suppose we’ll learn more about it in the next few days.
January 10th, 2011 at 3:50 pm
@joe from Lowell: I guess we can dispense with this “Both sides do it,” argument right now, since the conservatives themselves seem convinced that a denunciation of hate speech and violent rhetoric in politics should be read as an attack on them.
True.
Compare to how they see Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity campaign as an attack on them.
January 10th, 2011 at 3:52 pm
it may surprise you to learn that there are some crazy politicians in Arizona.
January 10th, 2011 at 3:57 pm
Of course they’re all over Sheriff Dupnik, he’s a Dem. In good ol AZ where no one blinks an eye at State Legislators attending neo-Nazi rallies, Sheriff Arpaio is the toast of the state. I actually now worry for Dupnik’s security. At least this time, the victim will have a gun.
January 10th, 2011 at 3:59 pm
Yay Dupnik! I’m so glad he’s been making these comments. The atmosphere these past few years has been hideous—and all it does is make his job harder. I’ve always liked him and I have voted for him and will keep doing so. He’s also the sheriff who said he wouldn’t be enforcing SB 1070 and would just keep doing his job for the community, which he has. I’m sure he’s been getting his own share of threats. He asked the country to do some soul searching—and apparently kyl, etc aren’t comfortable with doing even that.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:00 pm
Never thought of that. But then, they are tetchy folk, aren’t they?
January 10th, 2011 at 4:01 pm
@Roger Moore: Because we certainly wouldn’t want to be politicizing strictly local trends and representing them as being globally applicable or anything, you’re right. Rhetoric (and statistics) is only non-political when aimed in certain directions.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:02 pm
Er, no. When liberals get up in arms about Arpaio, it is because he is a corrupt, racist authoritarian who routinely and unapologetically misappropriates public resources, violates the civil rights of American citizens, and terrorizes minorities.
Reducing this to “disagreeing with him” is a reduction to absurdity.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:03 pm
You may find this hard to believe, but there are some crazy politicians in Arizona.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:04 pm
@Felonious Wench: Yes, they seem to be outing themselves as hate-mongerers.
If the teabaggers can’t take the heat, they should stay out of the kitchen.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:04 pm
A sheriff in AZ is a political office. They are elected by the people here. Arpaio is a narcissistic showboat. He will do anything to get attention and has been very popular in Maricopa County. Recently, his star has fallen with the fallout from his failed attempt to indict various members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors on trumped up corruption charges. Hopefully, the guy will retire or get defeated next time he runs. We really need a competent sheriff here in Maricopa County.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:05 pm
I’m feeling pretty hopeless right now. Talked to a former co-worker. A rightie, but pretty moderate for one.
He’s one of the “let’s not politicize this” assholes. I tried to tell him that this is in itself politicizing things.
Then he said now was not the time to talk about it. To which I said: we didn’t talk about if after Eric Rudolph bombed gays bars, clinics, and the Olympics. We didn’t talk about if after OKC. We didn’t even talk about it after Scott Roeder, even though O’Reilly had been demonizing Tiller. So when do you think we will talk about it? How many bodies do you need? It isn’t my fault that when calling out violent rhetoric it seems to be equivalent to calling out the right. That in itself tells the disparity between the two parties.
But alas, he is a straight white Christian male, and I’m only a gaysian atheist. He’s on the win-win side. Because if the country is “taken back” , of the two of us, he’s the one who will lose nothing.
ETA: Oh, and tomorrow I have an appointment to euthanize my eldest cat, Simon. Crap.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:06 pm
@Bulworth:
when you call out racism, then you are the real racist.
when you call out hatemongering, then you are the real hatemonger.
when you criticize Sarah Palin, then you are taking away her free speech rights.
That’s how we roll in right-wing bizarro world.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:07 pm
and don’t you forget it.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:07 pm
He mentioned Sarah Palin and Sharron angle—by name—and said the vitriol is coming from one side of the political sphere, not the other.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:07 pm
@azlib: Sheriff A-hole cost the county around 6 million fighting with the County Board of Supv. Now former County Atty Thomas is up for censure and possible disbarment by AZ State Bar. It’s about damn time. Now all we need is for the state to wake up and vote A-hole out.
PS: if you’re into AZ news and blogs, I have one at http://drangedinaz.wordpress.com/
January 10th, 2011 at 4:09 pm
My heartfelt sympathies. That last night with them really really sucks.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:10 pm
Something for all the rightwingers screaming all over the interwebs that Loughren is clearly a liberal Democrat – the shooter’s voter registration information:
http://img171.imageshack.us/i/jllrsc.jpg/
I admit, I haven’t done any cross-checking on the validity of this . . . but it sure looks real.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:11 pm
Very sorry to hear this. I know how hard it is.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:12 pm
@gex: I’m sorry to see that about Simon. My condolences.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:13 pm
@Jim, Once: Registration aint the same as voting. There are a lot of “Democrats” in the south. Not that this level of nuance would gain traction.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:14 pm
@Jim, Once: I’ll only say that the Tucson shooter and the reloading Palin-Teabaggers seemed to have the same goal regarding his district’s congresswoman.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:14 pm
Yeah – I’m trying to figure out how the “everyone needs to chill the fuck out” talk going around the last couple days is being interpreted as an attack on conservatives. That seems like a… rather stunning admission, doesn’t it? It goes like this:
PERSON: Hey, maybe people should be less of assholes sometimes.
ASSHOLE: How dare you say such a thing! You are my political enemy forever!
PERSON: Wait, what?
January 10th, 2011 at 4:14 pm
@Jim, Once: Cue the emails claiming a liberal photoshopped that.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:14 pm
@IrishGirl: Awesome. I’m in Chandler and am just so damn full of sadness right now about the political state of affairs here. Glad to know I’m not alone.
Side note: a former employee of my mother’s is embroiled in a lawsuit against Sheriff Fuckwad. She got a DUI, and notified the judge before she went in that she had certain mental health issues for which she was taking medications. The judge authorized her to bring the medications with her to the jail. When she got there, she wasn’t permitted to take them.
Joe Arpaio makes me wish I still lived in Tucson, and I ***hated*** living in Tucson.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:16 pm
@Jim, Once: I have my doubts. You can’t look up voter registration at the AZ Sec. of State’s site without knowing either the voter ID # or the driver’s license # of the person you’re trying to look up.
But feel free to check it out yourself.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:16 pm
@Jim, Once:
FWIW, one can’t do that search without knowing either his voter registration ID or his driver’s license #.
see also, r€nato
January 10th, 2011 at 4:20 pm
@gex:
Hilarious. It is a photoshop. Local Registrar confirmed he’s registered independent. Not everything on the interwebz is true.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:22 pm
I will point out though. Voter Registration is public record in most states-and-you should definitely not put the registration of a party on the persons politics. Fred Phelps of Westboro Baptist fame is registered Democrat.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:23 pm
I just want to check the rules: Are we considering, as you say, glibertarians as conservatives? If so, I do propose this.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:24 pm
@WereBear:
He’s not a republican till they find the long form registration for voting. No websites or photocopies allowed, only the vault record!
January 10th, 2011 at 4:24 pm
It would be rancorous and contemptible partisanship, up with which the public is sick, to use this tragedy to criticize registered independents! Especially crazy ones.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:25 pm
@gex: So sorry to hear about Simon. That’s a dreadful crossroads to come to, a choice between the awful and the worse. My thoughts are with you.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:26 pm
@evinfuilt: Well, now I’m annoyed. That’s a dumb thing to do; there’s enough crap out there without adding to it.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
Dupnik called for civility…
...Limbaugh responded today by lambasting the Sheriff.
I figured Limbaugh would tone it down a bit now; sadly, I was wrong.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:28 pm
Hey, let’s focus on what’s important here. What are his counter-tops made of?
January 10th, 2011 at 4:30 pm
@gex: In case it helps.
I wrote an article:
How to handle the final appointment
With some tips that might help.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:30 pm
@Felonious Wench: That was my thought, guilty consciouses immediately respond in defense.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:31 pm
@WereBear:
True – sorry I posted. Really.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:32 pm
@The Dangerman:
this is exactly what bullies and sociopaths do.
They double down just to prove that they were right and have nothing for which to apologize.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
Methinks someone doth protest too much.
It’s all been said before, but I’ll say it again. I’ve never understood the rightwing concept of civility. Isn’t saying “With all due respect” before calling someone a terrorist-loving traitor just a little…um…disingenuous? Or is that just Real America talk that we Unreal Americans simply don’t understand?
January 10th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
yeah, dupnik was candid and courageous and made a point not to point fingers. megan kept probing him to do so until she finally had to be the one to … point out that he’s a democrat. as if that means a damn thing here.
except that the dems are the ones being targeted yet fox and all their friends want to make dems the culprit.
fascinating.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:34 pm
@The Dangerman: yeah, no, Limbaugh doesn’t know how to tone it down. He’s the guy that splits 10s, doubles down on 13, or moves all in with a weak draw (yes, I am referring to two different games, the analogy still holds). I use to listen to him a lot, but got tired of everything being a plot by the Democrats to destroy the nation. And nothing but name calling
January 10th, 2011 at 4:34 pm
@gex: RIP Simon. Sorry you have to go through this Gex.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:35 pm
@joe from Lowell: @joe from Lowell:
“I guess we can dispense with this “Both sides do it,” argument right now, since the conservatives themselves seem convinced that a denunciation of hate speech and violent rhetoric in politics should be read as an attack on them. ”
Beautifully put! Thanks for saving me the botheration of struggling to express that idea so succinctly.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:37 pm
@Campionrules: I was not claiming it was true. That is just what my response would be if the registration were true.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:40 pm
“Bigotry” is apparently a left-wing dog-whistle. Then why are the righties howling?
To quote Guru: If you don’t like it, take it personal.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:42 pm
This is to alert John to Adam Serwer’s post at the Plum Line. Very, very nice job. Articulated well that the issue is making violence acceptable. Even if a crazy person trying to avoid an emptiness of meaning in general is the first to act on it, a sane person listening to enough of this could believe that he or she is besieged against evil forces. The referred post is better than anything I can babble.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:43 pm
@WereBear: Thanks! I’ve been through it twice before so I know what I’m into. I’ve got it down, I think.
You get 15 – 20 awesome years and two weeks of emotional hell at the end when you lose them. You can’t beat that benefit to cost ratio.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:44 pm
If anyone argues with you that both sides do it, give them this link.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:44 pm
@KG: you forgot about the raging misogyny. Hard to imagine how this ladies’ man is on his fourth marriage.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:45 pm
@WereBear: I love the Rainbow Bridge. When one of my cats died I got a sympathy card from the Vet with the Rainbow Bridge included, and I’ve always appreciated it.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:47 pm
The Right Wing Noise Machine lacks a volume control, as well as common decency.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:48 pm
@You Don’t Say: Edit time ran out. Link is via James Fallows, btw.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:49 pm
I’m just trying to figure out if this Erik Ericksen is the same one who posts here.
http://1boringoldman.com/index...../felt-sad/
January 10th, 2011 at 4:50 pm
@gex:
So sorry to about your Simon. My thoughts and condolences are with you.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:56 pm
Oh, yes, Beck followed that up by rededicating himself, in the wake of this attack, to being a “progressive hunter,” invoking “Israeli Nazi hunters” as he did so.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:58 pm
Thank you so much everyone for your sympathies. There’s a reason why I can’t quit this blog.
January 10th, 2011 at 5:00 pm
How dare John Green, the father of nine-year-old Christina Green, who was killed in Saturday’s Tucson shootings, not use his Absolute Moral Authority to advance progressive causes
!!
January 10th, 2011 at 5:00 pm
@slag: I am writing something about this for the blog I post on and had already written my title – “The lady doth protest too much”.
Cole beat me to this, as did MM. I have a feeling we will see a lot more about this in the next couple of days.
January 10th, 2011 at 5:04 pm
@Moonbatman:
Wow. The man’s child has been murdered and all you can think is, “Ha, in your face, lefties!”
And you wonder why we keep accusing you of having no empathy or human feeling for anyone but yourself.
January 10th, 2011 at 5:10 pm
We have more than one right wing sheriff in Arizona. Babeau of Pinal County, not far from where the Giffords shooting took place is a rabble rouser who ventured far from his own territory to join John McCain in a tv ad along the border (two counties south of his territory.) Former Sheriff Mack of Graham County who left office to pursue his right wing militia and minuteman connections and make money on the hate and violence circuit was another.
Along with Sheriff Dupnik though there are two more sheriffs, Estrada of Santa Cruz County and Sheriff Ogden of Yuma County, who opposed SB 1070, and who spoke out about the climate of violence.
January 10th, 2011 at 5:11 pm
[...] Of course, if "both sides do it", as many on the Right are now claiming, why are they so angry at Dupnik for his comments? He didn't say anything about either the Right or the Left, as John Cole points out. [...]
January 10th, 2011 at 5:11 pm
@WereBear: WereBear, just went to your link and was transported back to the final appointment for my sweet quiver a year ago.
I had been through this 3 times before with my dogs and I thought I knew what to expect, but with my kitty it was nothing like it had been with my dogs. So I was completely unprepared for what happened.
I am sobbing, and lamenting, not for the first time, that I was not able to read what you wrote before what turned out to be the worst day of my life.
January 10th, 2011 at 5:12 pm
Let’s see. A generic call to calm down is in fact a political incitement. Hmm, maybe that explains why they consider the pathologically centrist, “both-sides-do-it” media to be “liberal”.
Leaving aside all the other issues, the institutional right-wing’s extreme defensiveness about this is interesting.
January 10th, 2011 at 5:15 pm
@gex: So sorry, gex. The last night is so draining—you know what morning brings and dread it, but also don’t want their suffering to go on any longer.
Knowing it is what’s best doesn’t make living without them any easier. Condolences.
January 10th, 2011 at 5:20 pm
@Moonbatman:
Have you noticed yet that not a single person reading this is the slightest bit bothered by either your comment, or poor Mr. Green’s comment?
That means you missed your target by a mile.
Congratulations, son. Your aspiration was to be an internet troll, and you’ve even failed at that.
January 10th, 2011 at 5:32 pm
@WaterGirl: Ah, crap. Sounds awful.
But thank you for reminding me my article does help others.
January 10th, 2011 at 6:01 pm
[...] then Moulitsas tells his followers to see this blog post – which derides Dupnik (fine) — but they, too, just don’t have the facts. [...]
January 10th, 2011 at 6:50 pm
As my dear departed ole pappy used to say, When you throw a rock at a pack of dawgs, it’s the hit dawg that hollers.”
January 10th, 2011 at 7:34 pm
I made it a point yesterday to go to the Pima County Sheriff’s website and send a supportive email to Dupnik.
I hope some of you did, too, to counteract all the batshit craziness that I’m sure has come down on his head.
January 10th, 2011 at 8:28 pm
@efgoldman:
I sent a paper letter to the county supervisors and the sheriff’s office. I hope people do write in support.
The fuss over what I consider fairly obvious and innocuous comments by Dupnik is telling. And the guy will get flack.
Witness the link @83 from a blog run by somebody named Tony Gatto. Gatto links to an interview Dupnik made in response to a specific question by the goofball Rivaldo, whatever his name is (I cannot keep the names all straight, I don’t watch enough TV), and conflate that with the press conference.
Note that the Fox interviewer AGREES with Dupnik that the environment created by reactionary and extremist campaign rhetoric may have played a role.
So, the obfuscation in service of a smear begins.
January 10th, 2011 at 9:04 pm
Phoenix would like to trade for Dupnik, in exchange for Joe Arpaio, an undisclosed amount of cash, and three sheriffs to be named later.
January 10th, 2011 at 9:11 pm
@Moonbatman:
Worst troll effort I have ever seen. At least put some effort into it. Pathetic.
January 10th, 2011 at 9:23 pm
Neal Boortz’s middle name is Adolph.
Not joking.
January 10th, 2011 at 11:13 pm
Have people seen this? http://thechollajumps.wordpres.....ks-office/
Provides another possible foundation for Sheriff Dupnik’s totally disinterested analysis of this tragedy.
January 11th, 2011 at 10:38 am
I agree with much of this post, but let’s face it:
“Second, and this is a very key distinction, when liberals get up in arms about Arpaio, it is because they are disagreeing with him. Conservatives disagree with the Dupnik non-partisan remarks, obviously, but what is different is that they don’t think he should even be allowed to make them.”
The Zonies I know, like myself, want Arpaio fired, trialed, and jailed. We don’t just merely disagree with him. (However, our upset with Arpaio is about behavior not speech.)
January 11th, 2011 at 12:24 pm