Sheriff Joe Plays the Media for Fools—Again

The headlines have been cropping up in the RSS feeds of political junkies: Sheriff Joe Arpaio—the self-anointed tough guy in Arizona who doesn't like illegal immigrants—is going to New Hampshire Sunday and pointedly not ruling out a 2012 presidential run. CNN rounds it up here. All this coverage makes Stephen Lemons marvel at the Phoenix New Times: "Amazing, just amazing how our septuagenarian (soon to be octogenarian) sheriff plays the media—both national and local—like a two-bit plastic ocarina."

Lemons has seen it time and time again in his home state. Arpaio toys with a run for governor, teases the media, soaks up the attention, then withdraws from consideration. "And so once more, with all the fake coyness of an aged divorcée on the make, Arpaio and his minions float his name for a candidacy the hapless alter kocker has no intention of pursuing. All because the jefe likes to see his name scribbled in news articles, typed up online, and bandied about on the TeeVee." (More Joe Arpaio stories.)