Arpaio could have been a modern day Hitler

[JI7]

if this country was not as diverse as it is. that's why he is limited to that one area that votes for him.

if he had the power he would do what Hitler did. and the ones who vote for him now would let him do it.

[msongs]

1. lol he's still young....ish nt

[havocmom]

2. I get emails from people all over the nation who think he is great

And I hit 'reply all' with some cold, hard facts

I throw in video links, like the one of his goons charging into an open meeting and arresting peaceful citizens responsibly participating in the democratic process at a County Supervisors' meeting.

There are LOTS of reason he is under a federal investigation. Sadly, it is not just some people in AZ who think he is wonderful.

[SDuderstadt]

3. I absolutely despise...

Arpaio, but I take exception to the comparison to Hitler and, especially, to the claim that "if he had the power he would do what Hitler did. and the ones who vote for him now would let him do it".

I don't, for a moment, believe that Arpaio voters would allow him to corral 6-8 million people into death camps, then gas them to death and cremate them. I don't, for a moment, even believe Arpaio would do such a thing, even if allowed.

Please.

[T Wolf]

5. You're probably correct. But there is always the possibility with the reich-wing types. nt

[backscatter712]

6. If Arpaio was allowed, he would.

Yes, he's that evil.

[JI7]

7. why don'tyou believe it ? from what i have seen he doens't view certain people as humans

[SDuderstadt]

8. Fucking unbelievable...

Arpaio is despicable, but they are not even on the same level. Who in the world would even assist him?

You're trivializing the Holocaust with such an absurd claim. Please.

[blondeatlast]

11. Who would assist him? Plenty of people, I'm afraid. nt

[backscatter712]

39. His deputies, among others.

The whole time he's been Sheriff of Maricopa County, he's filled his department with like-minded racist thugs. The entire Maricopa County Sheriffs Department is full of people with dead souls.

[JI7]

12. i didn't say he has done what Hitler did, but that he would if he could and th eones who vote for

him would let him do it.

[SDuderstadt]

15. This OP is becoming absurd....

This is as stupid as RWers comparing Obama to Hitler.

[SargeUNN]

51. You don't know Arpaio

I live where Arpaio is and I can attest he is as nazi as you could get. His support is strong among White Supremist and Neo Nazis like J.T. Ready. Really you should learn more about him and you would feel different.

[OJones]

29. Assist from FL Repub Marg Baker:

Post from Amerigo V. @ DU

Just sayin'.

It's so eerie hearing an audience clap for these proposals...

[pinboy3niner]

36. The craziness is getting crazier

And Baker isn't just some random teabagger--she's a GOP candidate for a state legislature. And she's proposing internment camps!

Between internment camps and "terror babies," how can we not wonder how far this extremism will go?

And welcome to DU, OJones! :hi:

[OJones]

49. Thank you!

I'm intimidated by political forums, so thanks x 100, p3n'er.

After watching Rachel's report tonight, and after having familiarized myself with The New Jim Crow, I'm convinced that these SB1070 leaders are swindlers led by private prison profit. And that kind of greed melds too perfectly with ideological extremism.

[blondeatlast]

10. I live in Maricopa County and I beg to differ.

His supporters are some hateful, vile excuses for human DNA, believe me.

[SDuderstadt]

13. Hyperbole is one thing...

but this OP is over the top. As I have said before, he is despicable.

But, I am no more comfortable when we compare RW political figures to Hitler, than when RWers compare Obama to Hitler.

Someone needs to dial this one back.

[JI7]

18. i'm not comparing what he has done so far to what Hitler did, but that he would if he could

and that his supporters would let him do it..

[blondeatlast]

20. It won't be me--I've encountered him and his supporters in real life. He really is

that paranoid and dangerous--and he has millions (literally) of fanboys and girls throughout the US.

[JonLP24]

43. He calls his own jail a "concentration camp"

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/bastard/2010/08/joe_arpaio_calls_tent_city_a_c.php

[pinboy3niner]

44. Wow! Joe broke Godwin's Law--on himself!

Thanks for the link, JonLP24--I hadn't seen that. How revealing is this (from your link):

Crusading independent journalist Valeria Fernandez (who's done work for CNN en Espanol and New Times, among many others) and cameraman A.J. Alexander captured our geezer lawman during an appearance in 2008 at the Arizona American Italian Club in Phoenix, where he calls Tent City a "concentration camp." You know, like the ones the Germans used back in the 1930s and '40s.

Responding to some crackpot from the audience who wonders when Joe'll start using concentration camps, Arpaio gives the following response.

"I already have a concentration camp," he snarks around 2:52 in, with nativist GOP politicians Don Goldwater and then Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas chortling along. "Andy, you gonna cover me on this, too? It's called Tent City."

[pinboy3niner]

4. He may be more sadistic

He seems to derive personal pleasure from the suffering of his internees at Tent City, bragging only a day or so ago in San Diego that the temps in the tents reach 135 degrees. And his reaction to Judge Bolton's decision was that it would have been a nice "twist" to be able to be able to confine more immigration violators to his Tent City for SB 1070 crimes, rather than having to hand them over to ICE.

And his abusive investigations and attempted prosecutions of political opponents reveal how vindictive he is. The New Yorker reported that when one of his courtroom spies told him that the Mesa mayor's wife said on the stand that she didn't think much of "Sheriff Joe," his response was that we need to do some more (immigration) sweeps in Mesa.

[SDuderstadt]

9. He may be more sadistic than Hitler????

Fucking unbelievable.

[blondeatlast]

14. Underestimate him at your own peril. You don't live here, I take it.

For him, the Constitution is a useful idiot.

[SDuderstadt]

19. How do you know where the fuck I live?? n/t

[blondeatlast]

21. I don't--but if you lived im Maricopa County, I doubt you'd be so quick to poo-poo the comparison. n

[SDuderstadt]

22. Really???

How do you know I don't live in Maricopa County? Beyond that, I am very familiar with Arpaio and hope the federal investigation brings him down. However, the comparisons to a mass murderer who herded 6-8 million people into death camps, then gassed and cremated them is way over the top.

[JI7]

24. Hitler hadn't herded 6-8 million people into death camps before he became national leader either

as i said, HE WOULD IF HE COULD.

[SDuderstadt]

25. Which you have absolutely no way of knowing...

as I said before, this OP has descended into absurdity.

[JI7]

26. i know from his current treatment of people and his shit supporters

[SDuderstadt]

27. You should really study Hitler...

the Third Reich and Nazi Germany before you shoot your mouth off more.

[JI7]

31. Arpaio thought it was great to stuff a bunch of people in a tent that was 140 degrees

[SDuderstadt]

32. Dude...

I already said he is despicable. But that doesn't equate to what Hitler did, even well before the Final Solution.

Please.

[JI7]

33. i didn't say what he has done so far has equated to what Hitler did, i said that he WOULD IF HE

COULD.

[SDuderstadt]

34. Again, which you have NO way of knowing...

which is why this OP is stupid. I think it's despicable when RWers compare Obama to Hitler. We're classier than RWers, aren't we?

[JI7]

35. the Obama to Hitler comparisons make no sense, the Arpaio to Hitler does

[SDuderstadt]

37. And the RW says the same thing with respect to the...

Obama to Hitler comparisons. I really hate it when we seem to adopt RW ways.

[JI7]

38. i didn't adopt rw ways, i wouldn't compare Bush to Hitler, but i compare Arpaio to him

based on the things Arpaio has done. like thinking it's ok to stuff a bunch of peole in a tent in 140 degrees

[emilyg]

47. No it does not. I know. I was born

in Poland and lived through it all.

[JI7]

48. and yet you lump all Muslims together on blame for 9/11 attacks

[emilyg]

50. Absolutely not true.

[JI7]

56. very true

[emilyg]

57. Do we know each other.?

[IntravenousDemilo]

28. All right then...

Do you live in Maricopa County?

[LanternWaste]

59. Actions are not being compared. Intent and personalities are.

Actions are not being compared. Intent and personalities are.

[pinboy3niner]

17. I dont know if Hitler took personal satisfaction from the suffering of his victims

I don't believe sadism was the motivation for his policies.

[backscatter712]

41. Hitler wasn't just some hyperbolic figment of the imagination that no mortal man can match.

Hitler was indeed real, and a member of the species Homo sapiens.

People can indeed be that utterly evil.

And yes, I do believe that Arpaio can be compared directly to Hitler. He's that evil. Lots of people can be as evil as Hitler.

People make the mistake of believing that nobody can repeat the evils of Hitler - thinking he was some aberration from outer space, and no real human being could act like that. They couldn't be more wrong.

[SDuderstadt]

42. Interesting scale you have there....n/t

[backscatter712]

46. Whoops, see post 45 just below.

I meant for post 45 to be a reply to your post.

[backscatter712]

45. Just my opinion.

Having read through a bit of Mein Kampf (I could only stomach reading a fraction of the book - not only is that piece of literature utterly evil, it's also very badly written, Sarah Palin quality prose...) I've come to the conclusion that Hitler's not much different from other racist right-wing yahoos - the difference is that Hitler had significant talent in public speaking and politics, thus he, unlike so many others that think like him, got into a position of power where he had the opportunity to murder millions, and took it.

Arpaio's also just another right-wing racist yahoo, who also has talents in public speaking and politics. He didn't get the opportunities like Hitler did to lead a nation and murder millions, but in his little Maricopa County fiefdom, he's done plenty of damage, including quite a few acts of murder.

[rucky]

16. Sheriff Godwin, here. I'm going to have to bring you in.

[pinboy3niner]

30. Godwin's law is silent on the validity of the reference

It's a humorous predictive statement, with the implication that it's not a good idea to introduce any comparison to Hitler into a discussion.

Godwin's law is often cited in online discussions as a deterrent against the use of arguments in the widespread reductio ad Hitlerum form. The rule does not make any statement about whether any particular reference or comparison to Adolf Hitler or the Nazis might be appropriate, but only asserts that the likelihood of such a reference or comparison arising increases as the discussion progresses. It is precisely because such a comparison or reference may sometimes be appropriate, Godwin has argued that overuse of Nazi and Hitler comparisons should be avoided, because it robs the valid comparisons of their impact.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law

Yes, it's a leap. But that leap is growing smaller when RW pols are are going after "terror babies" and proposing internment camps for illegal immigrants, and an AFA official calls for a ban on building permits for mosques in America.

Arpaio's history, and his alliances with pols having connections to nativist and white power groups, makes him a natural target for this kind of hyperbole. It may be over the top--but not that far over.

[proteus_lives]

23. Godwin explosion.

[LanternWaste]

60. Hitler's not even allowed to be compared to Hitler anymore...

Hitler's not even allowed to be compared to Hitler anymore, else one will bring up a "law" written on the internet.

[Beacho]

40. He's A Bull Conner

Nothing more, nothing less. Besides I think he would've been Ernst Rohm AT BEST and you know what happened to him.

[KeepCongressBlue]

52. he can't speak in public without getting a sea of protestors

the people who are opposed to him are doing a good job of making his life (or at least his life in public) a living hell which is good in my opinion.

[SargeUNN]

53. I am very disturbed

that people here could argue about Arpaio being nazi-like considering his record. It is especially disturbing when people who live in Maricopa County post here and someone outside of Maricopa Co. would disagree about Arpaio.

I also find it very disturbing that anyone who would unrec this thread here because there has been more than enough posted here about Arpaio's heavy handed methods and investigations as well as numerous violations of human rights. I have to wonder if these people are just misinformed, of the Arpaio mindset, or just morons.

[emilyg]

58. Perhaps the comparison to

Hitler brought on all the unrec's.

[SDuderstadt]

66. "someone outside of Maricopa Co. would disagree about Arpaio."

How do you know where people live???

[seattleblue]

54. The people who compare elected politicians in the U.S. with Hitler

are intellectually lazy to the degree they have any intellect. They also trivialize the Holocaust and insult the victims who went through the suffering of WW II.

[pipi_k]

55. It's always amazing...

when people sit around claiming to know what someone would do.


Like it's a statement of fact instead of an opinion.

Well, it's NOT a statement of fact. It's your opinion...which, no matter how many people think is silly, you are fully entitled to.

[Canuckistanian]

61. I agree and it's not because of "diversity"

It's because he's constrained by the Constitution and it's laws against improper arrests and "cruel and unusual punishment" in his jails.

He's pushed the boundaries on BOTH, but still has manged to avoid jail time himself.

[JI7]

62. good point, i guess Canada which is probably less diverse

than USA would be less likely to have someone like this i power, even if it's limited to a small area.

[Canuckistanian]

63. I would say that Canada is MORE diverse

But only in the cities. Outside of the cities and it's only two groups -whites and aboriginals.

And we don't have such a great reputation with our treatment of aboriginals.

[JI7]

64. i agree with the treatment of aboriginals

have things improved there ? would someone like Arpaio get away doing what he has done here so far in canada ?

[Canuckistanian]

65. An Arpaio couldn't exist in Canada

We're much more controlled in our laws. Our individual provinces have MUCH less say in felony laws than individual states in America.

In other words, he would have been imprisoned LONG ago.