Gascón for sheriff: Enjoyed your piece on George Gascón's dominance over Sheriff Joke ("Staredown," also titled "El Jefe," Ray Stern, July 10). It really portrayed Joe Arpaio for what he is: an inept, cowardly blowhard.
The only thing I wish is that Gascón was running against Arpaio for sheriff. He's a professional lawman, not some horrible political hack, and he's what we need to clean up the mess that Joe and his stooges have made.
I like Dan Saban. He's a hell of a nice guy and somebody who deserves the revenge of beating Joe's ass in the election, as payback for what Joe and his creeps did to him (smearing him as having raped his mother, when the opposite was true). But he isn't the name candidate that we need to defeat this ancient ogre.
That said, I wish Saban the best. I can only hope that, as sometimes happens in Arizona, voters who are pissed off at a candidate rally together and vote the bozo out. It's happened in the past, and it could happen with Joe.
While a lot of people agree with Joe's immigration "sweeps," they also are worried about the amount of money they are costing. Joe has been proved to be wasting money on several fronts, including this one. That's something that we simply cannot tolerate in these tough economic times.
That is, you may not care that Joe's policies have led to so many deaths in county jails, but you damn sure ought to care about the amount of money they've drained out of tax coffers — $43 million, and counting ("Inhumanity Has a Price," John Dickerson, December 20, 2007).
L.C. Jackson, Phoenix
Gascón is out of touch with Mesa: While I hate Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his unconstitutional misbehavior, I have to disagree that George Gascón is what Mesa really needs.
If he wanted to keep Joe out of his city, he should have instituted a policy to rid the city of the illegal aliens that Joe's forces seek to remove. He could have done it humanely, without resorting to the SS tactics that Joe employs.
That Gascón is an immigrant with an immigrant's bias is not an excuse for failing to control illegal immigration within the city's corporate limits. His stance may look good in liberal Los Angeles, where he hopes to return, but not in Mesa.
Also, it shouldn't be forgotten that several legislators asked Arpaio to show up in Mesa, despite what Gascón or Mesa's mayor think.
I'm a conservative who'd like to see this county rid of Arpaio, but arguing through a guy with leanings that are out of touch with the community and county is not very persuasive.
James Withers, Phoenix
He ate Joe's lunch: Beaten at his own game, I'll say! Look at poor old Joe in the face of a police officer who really knows how to use the media effectively, George Gascón: a "professional" cop, unlike gasbag Joe.
"Outmaneuvered," outflanked, stared down, whatever you want to call it, Gascón ate Joe's lunch!
Polly Davidson, Tempe
Not worth sacrificing civil rights: I'm very pleased with new Mesa Police Chief George Gascón. He has a very levelheaded approach to this whole illegal immigrant thing. Though I do not believe people should come to this country illegally, I don't believe we can give up civil rights to solve a problem.
Leslie Brabandt, Gilbert
Another oldster leaves the dark side: What a contrast between George Gascón and Joe Arpaio! A tall, handsome professional versus a short, fat law-enforcement incompetent. Franklin Delano Roosevelt versus Adolf Hitler (I'm plenty old enough to remember them both, well.)
I realize that Gascón isn't running for sheriff, but I wish he were. But maybe it won't matter who runs against Joe this time; maybe his time as sheriff is coming to an end. So many people my age are turning against him that it gives me hope.
I, and a lot of other "blue hairs," will be voting for Dan Saban, despite his foster mother's allegations (he's not responsible for what an adult did to him as a young boy).
Larkin Brown, Phoenix
Too far for too long: Thanks for your article on Chief Gascón and the big sheriff. Keep up the good work. You can count me in as one who thinks the sheriff has gone too far for too long.
John Rogers, via the Internet
He's just another L.A. asshole: Just what we need . . . another L.A. asshole coming over here and telling us how we should do business. George Gascón should go back to where wetbacks like him are appreciated.
He may be a citizen legally, but he's just another part of the problem. Somebody who should never have been allowed to come here, and now who's here in a position of power and telling us white people what to do. Screw him!
Tim Stevenson, via the Internet