Joe giving the oldsters a thrill at the recent Scottsdale booksigning.
One thing I like about these ongoing protests of Sheriff Joe signing his book Joe's Law at Barnes and Noble stores throughout the Valley, is that they strip away the veneer of bullshit that overlays everything to do with our corrupt top constable, revealing the puss-filled sore beneath.
A protester braves 115-degree heat to get the message across.
Saturday's demo at the B&N in Scottsdale was no different. A small army of anti-Joe folks weathered the merciless 115-degree weather, waving placards equating Joe with the KKK, or a lot more accurately, a clown named "Arpayaso," payaso meaning "clown" in Spanish. And though they were stationed on the sidewalk far from the bookstore, their presence was felt inside, with Arpaio making mention of them more than once during his speech to the whitebread, and spiritually blind Joe supporters who had assembled to hear his blather.
Alleged public urinator Buffalo Rick Galeener, beady eyes glued to his hero.
In the bookstore, one anti-Joe dood got booted for holding up a sign blasting Joe as he was speaking. Another was kicked out for asking Joe a question about Scott Norberg. After the Norberg question, Arpaio went on a rant about how Norberg came into his jail high, and, "We had to subdue him." In other words, Arpaio rationalized Norberg's murder by MCSO personnel. It was a murder that ended in a then-record $8.25 million settlement for Norberg's family.
An anti-Joe protester, after being kicked out of B&N for holding up this sign.
Aside from the few young, anti-Joe faces, the crowd listening to Joe's pre-booksigning bull was full of obnoxious, a-hole geezers. When the one guy tried to follow-up on his question about Norberg, the fossil yard went ape on him, even though he was generally polite and soft-spoken. I know all senior citizens are not as bad as this nasty bunch, but a better argument for a Logan's Run-type society I never did see. Also in the mix was Buffalo-pee-boy Rick Galeener, who is still facing public urination charges from an incident at the Macehualli Work Center a couple of months back. Nice to see the "law and order" crowd in attendance, eh?
Arpayaso the clown on a protester's signage.
Surprisingly, the protesters, inside and outside the venue, got a lot of positive press for their activities from local media. Fox 10 did an especially cool report, showing a certain local reporter we all know and love sparring with our aged top constable. I only wish they'd captured more of it.
Now there's an idea...
The press received and the level of aggravation caused Joe and his supporters made this a very successful day for the anti-Joe demonstrators, and an instructive one. A small, dedicated force can make their voices heard by exercising their First Amendment rights and showing that there is dedicated opposition to the Sheriff's reign. Otherwise, the Sheriff's propaganda is disseminated to the public unimpeded and he wins the day by default.
A waitress from Uncle Sams handing out H2O to anti-Joe demonstrators.
Kudos to the restaurant Uncle Sams, BTW, which kindly sent out pizza and water to the protesters, gratis. It was a nice gesture, one that makes me more inclined to eat at the joint in the future.
You can watch video of previous anti-Joe actions at his booksignings here, and here.
