Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio -- self-anointed Toughest Sheriff in America, other-people-anointed human rights-abusing blowhard -- received a hero's welcome in Overland Park on Tuesday night, at a packed rally for Kris Kobach.
And yes, as you probably heard, there was a bomb scare. But the only thing that blew up was the truth.
Kobach is running for Secretary of State, but you wouldn't know it from the rally, save for the occasional sign or T-shirt hollering about voter fraud. No, this was about illegals, a gaudy celebration of two heroes of the ship-'em-out movement -- the guy who writes the laws and the guy who enforces them at all costs.
While gushing fans packed the Ritz Charles conference center, Arpaio and Kobach smiled for photos with campaign donors ($250 per snap), and volunteers raffled off pink boxer shorts -- the very underwear Arpaio makes his prisoners wear.
The rally was about to start, but Arpaio got bored and wandered toward the parking lot, where conservative talk-show host Darla Jaye was broadcasting live.
"What kind of tent is this?" he asked her, a reference to the desert tents where Phoenix's small-time criminals go to die. "Get a real tent."
She missed the joke. But he had more.
"I want to see the illegals," he said, gesturing to the protesters -- a mix of NAACP conventioneers and local demonstrators -- who were waving signs across the parking lot. "Where are they?"
Curiously, Arpaio then bragged about a Department of Justice investigation into civil and human rights violations in his county.
"Whose civil rights are you violating?" Jaye asked. "Criminals?"
That got a nice rise out of the audience, but not as much as the one that came next, when Kobach showed up to fetch Arpaio and bring him inside for the rally.
"If you come to Arizona, call me," the sheriff said to the audience as he rose. "We won't ask for your papers."
Inside, it was more of the same, more standing ovations for the sheriff and for Kobach. Kobach praised Arpaio for his work fighting illegal immigration -- work that's been proven time again to be despicable and even deadly. Kobach -- the UMKC lawyer behind Arizona's controversial anti-illegal-immigrant legislation -- also trotted out bogus statistics about Phoenix being the world's No. 2 city for kidnappings. He then localized the fear-mongering, suggesting those kidnappings could just as easily happen here.
Arpaio returned the favor, urging the audience to vote Kobach to the Secretary of State's office and beyond: "He should be running for president."
(The ADL and Southern Poverty Law Center might disagree.)
Arpaio squeezed one more big ovation out of the crowd before heading back to Arizona. After proudly announcing that this month marks the 17th anniversary of his infamous tent prisons -- and that he planned to stock up in advance of Arizona's new law taking effect --- he ruminated sickly on the heat headed toward the desert.
"Tomorrow, it'll be about 140 degrees in the tents," he said, earning a wave of applause from the crowd. "Our men and women fighting, they're in tents. They never committed a crime. So quit complaining."
On the way out, as everyone filed toward the exit, several people agreed that there were at least 2,000 people there. They also agreed that the media -- which does nothing but lie, they said -- would report it to be far fewer.
Not quite, on both accounts.
By my math, there were probably 1,300 to 1,500 people on hand . The Star called it "at least 1,000," a pretty safe estimate. However many it was, they got exactly what they came for.
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It was really a shame that the hate filled, name calling, illegal alien protesters stooped so low as to plant a fake bomb.
Please self deport yourselves before you commit more crimes i our country.
Why the focus on the hispanic illegals? I cannot stand all the Irishmen that come on tourist visas then just never leave. We need to go block by block thru New York, Baltamore and yes- KC to locate and deport all of them. They are worse than roaches
I haven't heard anyone make a good case for granting amnesty to tens of millions of illegals. The welfare state will ultimately kill the middle class. Is that social justice? God help us!
CW says:
"The first murder in 2 years in Olathe was committed by an illegal immigrant.
Or maybe I'm just fear mongering by stating the facts."
I wouldn't exactly say any of that is fact. I sure couldn't find it mentioned anywhere that it was committed by an illegal immigrant. Additionally, it was actually the 2nd murder in Olathe this year. In the first murder, an African-American has been charged.
So I dont know what you were trying to prove, but you seem to have failed on both counts. At the very least, you are ill-informed and presumptuous.
The first murder in 2 years in Olathe was committed by an illegal immigrant.
Or maybe I'm just fear mongering by stating the facts.
Joe Tone you are a jackass.
We are in America and being that THE MAJORITY of Americans AGREE with the Arizona Law, a note to the protesters: Shut your pie holes!! Even though I agree that you still have your First Amendment Rights, ... NOBODY CARES!!
Joe, did you notice that no one came out and told the protest group there was a bomb threat? We saw the bomb squad van arrive. The people inside were told. The baseball fields across the street were evacuated. But the protesters - who were closer to the supposed bomb than the people at the baseball fields - were never told there was a bomb.
Just speaks volumes, IMO.
So... now others can hold up signs accusing Obama and Emanuel Cleaver of being Black Panthers?
Leave it to the libs to be racist against everyone else, yet still manage somehow instead to accuse everyone else of racism.
Liberals can't be bothered to care for their fellow Americans, but evidently care to the utmost for terrorists and law-breakers from other countries. Neat.
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