For anyone in need of a good laugh, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio issued a press release this morning with the headline "Sheriff Arpaio Says His Office Enjoying Exceptional Times."

We'll say...

2011 has proven to be quite "exceptional" for the MCSO -- it's not often a sheriff's office costs TAXPAYERS nearly $750,000 in two separate lawsuits in less than 24 hours. It's also rare for a law enforcement agency to have to fire two of its male top deputies after they exchanged love letters while also discussing a way to launder scads of money for a sleazy attack ad targeting the sheriff's political opponent.

Even more "exceptional" is Joe Arpaio's claim that he had no idea how poorly/illegally his office has been run for the past several years, or for one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the country to misspend nearly $100 million in TAXPAYER MONEY on things like rounding up stock boys at the Burlington Coat Factory.

Adding to Arpaio's "exceptional" 2011 is the fact that a drug/human-smuggling cartel has infiltrated his office. Even more exceptional/unbelievable is the fact that one of his detention officers is pregnant with a Mexican drug "kingpin's" illegitimate child.

Then there's the churching up of illegal immigrant roundups by using language like "employer sanctions operations" to describe them, all while not arresting a single "employer.

But all that stuff aside, the 79-year-old sheriff thinks "the headlines portray a different picture."

By "different picture," Arpaio must mean the facts.

We'll spare you the entire press release to avoid having whatever beverage you may be consuming from gushing out of your nose.