Piling on Arpaio

The daily has long held Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in contempt, going after him repeatedly for his no-nonsense approach to illegal immigration enforcement. News articles, columnists and editorials have habitually condemned his patrols, reconstructing the language of one article to fill the column inches of another.

Today the assault continues. In a headline that cites “critics claims,” the old becomes new once again.

Then columnist Robert Robb swoops in, as upon carrion, with his piece titled, Joe’s worthless sweeps. (The title has been changed in the web edition. The newspaper’s title is as noted)

Oddly, the usually reasoned Libertarian Robb appears unable to articulate a cohesive opinion. Swaying erratically on the topic,  he credits the sheriff with effectively cross-training a significant sector of his officers to enforce federal immigration laws, while stating he is not making a dent in the numbers of illegal aliens in the valley and accusing him of ethnic profiling.

In January, the newspaper did a full-blown article on hard-line illegal proponent and protest organizer, Salvador Reza, titled, A man of the (indigenous) people, Reza fights for Native rights. A four-column by 8-inch bandana-wrapped head shot of the pony-tailed Reza accompanied the glowing piece of the man who has incited raucous demonstrations outside a family-owned furniture business where illegals congregated and impeded traffic to the store.

Reza, a Reconquista, owns a work center catering to illegal laborers. He describes them “not as illegal immigrants, but migrants returning to their ancestral homeland.” Reconquistas, it should be noted, believe in erasing American’s borders, claiming the southwest United States is land that belongs to, and should be reclaimed, by Mexico.

For a bit of background and a short course in Reconquista 101 watch Michelle Malkin on Vent.