Hey Joe
| I totally forgot to post this: I met Sheriff Joe when I was in Phoenix. He was at that fundraiser at my parents' house that I wrote about. I even got him to autograph one of his posters for me. I had to spell out my name for him: Me: Could you make it out to Wee? The Sheriff: Who? Lee? Me: No... Wee. As in "Wee are the world, wee are the chiiiillllldren... Wee are the ones who make a brighter day..." The Sheriff: Huh? Who do you want it made out to? Me: My name is Wee. W-E-E... Wee. The Sheriff: Huh. Ok. (The Sheriff signs.) Here you go, Wee. Me: Thanks, Sheriff Joe! Anyway, I hung the poster up on my wall. The picture's at right. It's my reminder not to sell tobacco to minors. Which is probably a very lucrative business model... He was a pretty outspoken guy and if the crowd there was any indication, a real hit with the older Republican demographic. I felt kind of bad for the guy whose fundraiser it was because Sheriff Joe was stealing all the attention. But He gave a little speech while he was there in which he said that he wouldn't run for Governor of Arizona. That was the prevailing rumor, and everyone wanted him to. But during the speech, he said that even "the liberals" wanted him to run because (he felt) that would mean he'd be mired in politics instead of reducing crime. And I guess I see his point. The sheriff's office is publicly elected, and the sheriff answers only to the voters. So he has the freedom to do what he wants to do and doesn't have to waste all his time arguing with committees. The funniest thing he said was that instead of run for Governor, he's going to instute the first juvenile chain gangs in the the history of the world. Yep, violent kids wearing striped uniforms over pink underwear chained together picking up trash on the side of the highway. I don't know what it says about society or civil liberties, but if you've ever been to Arizona in the summer, the last thing you'd want to have to pick up trash on some desert highway all day wearing a thick jumpsuit. I could see it being a deterrent for sure. I never committed any crimes, but if I was so inclined, the thought of a chain gang would surely de-incline me. Of course, I saw Cool Hand Luke when I was a kid, too, so I know all about chain gangs. I bet none of the kids in Maricopa County's jails have seen Cool Hand Luke. |
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