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Recently, Sheriff Joe Arpaio was crowned some kind of racist folk hero, keeper of the Barack Obama Birther theory and all-around example of an abusive cop. So of course, our president thought him a man deserving of a pardon.




Whether you believe Donald Trump pardoned Arpaio because he wanted to divert attention from the umpteenth staff member who was stabbed in the back quit or because he really believes that Sheriff Cotton-Eyed Joe (my nickname, because redneck) speaks to his “base” (base paint is white, right?), Arpaio represents that type of bigot who will not be restrained by decency, humanity or the law.


But the Phoenix New Times has receipts. Lots of them. The alt-weekly, which should win a prize for staying on top of this maniac’s exploits, has been covering the embattled sheriff for more than 20 years and laid out a “couple of things you should know about him,” and it is even worse than you thought:

There’s more, unfortunately, including investigating the judge who found him in contempt of court, trying to destroy evidence in said investigation and spending millions in taxpayer funds to settle lawsuits during his reign.



For this and so much more, Trump deemed this man who, for all intents and purposes, seems a lot like him (racist, clueless, bad at his job, dangerous) “worthy” of a pardon. I can think of a million other things that he’s worthy of.



Read more at the Phoenix New Times.