Many of you who live in the Phoenix area and have a TV hooked up to Cox Cable are certain to have seen Joe Arpaio's latest TV spot in his quest to fend of challenger Dan Saban.
The ad gives him a grade of "A" or "A+" in many areas; let's look a little more closely at those -
Crime Clearance - The ad states that the MCSO's clearance rate is 75%; it's actually almost 20 points lower.
Response Times - The ad states that the MCSO's response times are lower. That may or may not be true (I really don't know), but response times are still 40% higher than what they should be (7 minutes instead of 5 minutes, according to the same story linked above).
Jail Management - The ad states that the Maricopa County jails are a "model of excellence" but ignores the fact that those same jails have lost their accreditation from the National Commission on Correctional Health Care because of the inadequate health care provided to detainees. In a flip-flop that deserves an award of the stinkiest Crappie sort, Arpaio is now blaming Correctional Health Services for the revokation of the accreditation; in 2004, he wrote that " 'delivery of health care services" is "the constitutional mandate of the sheriff'."
Deporting Illegal Immigrants - The ad claims that he has "deported nearly 20,000 illegals." No word about the 70000 outstanding warrants that his office is ignoring in order to carry out his anti-immigrant jihad.
Saving Taxpayers Money - The ad generically claims that Arpaio "saves taxpayers millions." Imagine how well he'd do in this area if he wasn't the "most sued sheriff in America," costing County taxpayers more than $40 million (and counting). Or if he didn't spend MCSO funds on junkets to Honduras for some of his favorite deputies.
Staying Within His Budget - Only when he's forced to do so, and even then, he tries to sacrifice detainee rights on the altar of his nativism (like trying to limit attorney access to detainees in Maricopa County jail.)
Another interesting aspect to Arpaio's spot is that he didn't actually campaign against his opponent Dan Saban. Didn't even acknowledge his existence (sort of like John McCain's demeanor toward Barack Obama during their televised debates).
Instead, he campaigned against the EV Tribune and the AZ Republic, urging people to throw their editions of those papers into the trash.
Guess he's still ticked off over their being ticked off that he went after journalists (the New Times' arrests) whose only crime was to report stories that were critical of Arpaio and his saddle partner, Andy Thomas.
Later!
The ad can be found here, courtesy ABC15.com or here, courtesy YouTube.
2 comments:
Um...well hmmm...
I wonder what the poll numbers are for the race.
Speaking as a former employee of Correctional Health Services, all I can say is damn, karma does come around, that is for sure. I fully support the NCCHC in their decision. There were many things I witness as an employee that i couldn't believe were happening. Because of my position on the totem pole, when i went to my nursing supervisor i was brushed off.
One time in particular I remember was an inmate who was complaining of hives. When we went to see him, he said they were giving him benadryl during med pass which hadn't happened. He lifted his shirt and sleeves and was literally covered in hives. The nurse, who i couldn't believe would do this, just told him to wait till med pass, that the hives weren't bad enough to be taken downstairs to the outpatient clinic. Another Correctional Health Tech and Myself(we were basically med assists) tried to reason and say he needed to see a provider(the docs) asap, but alas, the nurse wouldn't listen to us. Wouldn't you know, within 30 minutes of us seeing him, the inmate went into anaphylaxis shock and they ended up having to call 911 and transport him out to County Hospital.
They don't care about the inmates or what the inmates are complaining of. And most importantly, without sounding sour and disgruntled, they don't care about you as an employee or what you have to say unless you have an RN and 10+ years behind your name. Because of this mindset, they almost cost one man his life by ignoring the little people under them. Think of how many lives probably have been lost.
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