by By E. J. Montini, Republic Columnist - Mar. 1, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
In the days before its march through central Phoenix on Saturday, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network sent out an appeal under the heading, "Stop Immigrant Bashing in Arizona. No More Bull Connors!"

They were speaking about Sheriff Joe Arpaio, comparing him with the one-time Birmingham, Ala., lawman and segregationist who became notorious in the civil-rights movement for turning fire hoses and police dogs on demonstrators in his town.

Joe Arpaio is no "Bull" Connor.
Saying so is not only inaccurate. It's stupid. It diminishes the credibility of those who make the claim.

It would be a good thing to stop immigrant bashing in Arizona, but you can't do so by Arpaio bashing, particularly if your rhetoric doesn't match the facts.

On its Web site, the day-laborer group described Arpaio's decision to parade illegal-immigrant inmates in front of TV cameras to a special section of his Tent City Jail this way: "And last week, the nation witnessed the ritual humiliation of migrants in a spectacle evocative of some of the most horrific episodes of human history."

Humiliation. Yes.

But "evocative of some of the most horrific episodes of human history"?

That's just silly.

An honest critic of the sheriff does not need to exaggerate. He does not need hyperbole. He does not need embellishment.

Arpaio is a target because of his department's partnership with the federal government when it comes to immigration law enforcement. Opponents want to eliminate the federal program that permits such partnerships. I get that.

And I agree with those who believe that Arpaio's law-enforcement decisions always are tempered (and sometimes completely determined) by how much publicity they will bring him.

That does not make the sheriff evil. It only makes him wrong.

Late last week, in writing about this online for azcentral.com, I rhetorically asked: Can't a person simply be wrong anymore?

The answer is, "No."

One e-mailer who supports the sheriff wrote: "You are talking about criminals. . . . Run them out, parade them in chains, whatever. But most of all, get rid of them like you would the lice that they are. The shame is that they are detained instead of being trucked to the border and booted out of this country. I don't look the other way. I look directly at it and applaud Sheriff Joe for every step he takes to round up these criminals."

On the other side, a reader wrote: "Montini, feel free to comment on Arpaio's place in history as one of the worst violators of civil rights AFTER you have been racially profiled, AFTER your immediate family has been separated in some cases permanently, AFTER you have been paraded in chains with other people who have not yet been convicted of any crimes simply because you all speak the same language or have the same color skin . . . "

I should know by now that if you try to tone down the discussion on the Internet you get shouted down.

All I meant to say was that there is no "Bull" Connor in Arizona, but there is a lot of bull. As if to prove it, an enthusiastic reader responded to my rhetorical question by writing:

"'Can't a person simply be wrong anymore?' Yes, Montini. YOU are wrong. Sooner or later you will be victimized by the illegal-alien criminal scum that you adore. You or a family member will be killed by an illegal-alien drunk driver. One of your loved ones will be raped by an illegal alien animal . . . Maybe then you will GET IT. And maybe not, you poor deluded sap."


Reach Montini at 602-444-8978 or ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.



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