# Joe Arpaio forms "posse" to investigate Obama birth certificate **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 20, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio-forms-posse-to-investigate-obama-birth-certificate/596956 "2011-09-20T15:45:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio-forms-posse-to-investigate-obama-birth-certificate/596956/1 "2011-09-20T15:45:45Z")
Here’s the story: [http://gawker.com/5841963/americas-sheriff-assembles-elite-team-of-five-to-investigate-obama-birth-certificate](http://gawker.com/5841963/americas-sheriff-assembles-elite-team-of-five-to-investigate-obama-birth-certificate) > [@](#): > > There’s a rumor going around Arizona about a black fellow claiming to be president, and Sheriff Joe Arpaio, is going to get to the bottom of it—even if it gets him tons of press kills him. > > But how can one man track down this impostor, especially when there are so many immigrants whose rights need to be violated? Don’t worry, citizen (you are a citizen, right?)! Arpaio (pictured above with Men’s Wearhouse model) has help: the “Cold Case Posse.” Glad to see “America’s Sheriff” is using taxpayer money wisely by beating a dead horse. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio-forms-posse-to-investigate-obama-birth-certificate/596956/2 "2011-09-20T16:06:37Z")
Apparently, as the Republican brain ages and atrophys, at some point you wake up in the morning and think “Damn, I sure would like some posse!” ---
**Author:** ![BigShooter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f07891/32.png) [@BigShooter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigShooter)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio-forms-posse-to-investigate-obama-birth-certificate/596956/3 "2011-09-20T16:22:05Z")
I live in Surprise, AZ., home to the Tea Party group that started this thing with Arapaio. Words can’t express how disgusted I am with this place. And people ask me all the time why I’d want to move away from the great weather in AZ - well, THIS IS WHY! If the market wasn’t so crappy right now and I wasn’t upside down on my mortgage, I’d leave for less batshit crazy climates in a heartbeat… ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio-forms-posse-to-investigate-obama-birth-certificate/596956/4 "2011-09-20T16:23:23Z")
Well, sure, but its a _dry_ crazy! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio-forms-posse-to-investigate-obama-birth-certificate/596956/5 "2011-09-20T16:29:06Z")
Aren’t there _any_ rules as to how he gets to spend the taxpayer’s dollars? ---
**Author:** ![BigShooter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f07891/32.png) [@BigShooter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigShooter)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio-forms-posse-to-investigate-obama-birth-certificate/596956/6 "2011-09-20T17:09:57Z")
Rules shmules - Arapaio doesn’t follow rules. He does what he wants. And when someone calls him out on it, he has them “investigated” and brings up false charges to shut them up and drain their bank accounts. It’s been working for him for years… ---
**Author:** ![BigShooter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f07891/32.png) [@BigShooter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigShooter)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio-forms-posse-to-investigate-obama-birth-certificate/596956/7 "2011-09-20T17:11:14Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Well, sure, but its a _dry_ crazy! Hate to see what a wet crazy feels like… ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio-forms-posse-to-investigate-obama-birth-certificate/596956/8 "2011-09-20T17:15:32Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Aren’t there _any_ rules as to how he gets to spend the taxpayer’s dollars? His posse is a charitable organization, and is not funded by taxpayers. Not to say he isn’t a liar, but officially he isn’t using taxpayer money. Still stupid though. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio-forms-posse-to-investigate-obama-birth-certificate/596956/9 "2011-09-20T17:19:48Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > His posse is a charitable organization, and is not funded by taxpayers. Not to say he isn’t a liar, but officially he isn’t using taxpayer money. Still stupid though. If he is participating in this at all while on the clock, it is the business of the taxpayers. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio-forms-posse-to-investigate-obama-birth-certificate/596956/10 "2011-09-20T17:34:55Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > His posse is a charitable organization, and is not funded by taxpayers. Not to say he isn’t a liar, but officially he isn’t using taxpayer money. Still stupid though. The story linked in the OP says: > [@](#): > > In the past few months, the Cold Case Posse has been inactive, largely because of budgetary limitations within the Maricopa County Sheriff’s office. > But in the past few days, Arpaio has assigned a 5-person group serving under the auspices of the Cold Case Posse to undertake the Obama birth certificate investigation. Wouldn’t “budgetary limitations within the office” indicate that the office’s budget is or was used to fund it in general? If it is a charitable organization they would be registered as such for tax reasons so that should be easy to determine. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio-forms-posse-to-investigate-obama-birth-certificate/596956/11 "2011-09-20T17:59:04Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Well, sure, but its a _dry_ crazy! It’s not the hate, it’s the stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio-forms-posse-to-investigate-obama-birth-certificate/596956/12 "2011-09-20T18:01:12Z")
An “elite team of five.” So I’m guessing… an explosives expert, a linguist who speaks fluent African, a guy in a ninja suit swinging _nunchaku_, a pilot (best goddamn flyboy there ever was, who’s gonna retire and settle down after this _one last job_), and a pyrokinetic who can ignite crosses with his mind. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio-forms-posse-to-investigate-obama-birth-certificate/596956/13 "2011-09-20T18:02:34Z")
From the linked story: > [@](#): > > Thinly-Veiled Racism’s Paper of Record, _World Net Daily_… Between that and the dry-crazy jokes in this thread, this has been the most laffs I’ve had all week. ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio-forms-posse-to-investigate-obama-birth-certificate/596956/14 "2011-09-20T18:03:16Z")
I just don’t get how the jurisdiction works for him. A county sheriff investigating (wait for it, oh that’s right, you already know) the President of the United States. Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio-forms-posse-to-investigate-obama-birth-certificate/596956/15 "2011-09-20T18:04:13Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > An “elite team of five.” So I’m guessing… an explosives expert, a linguist who speaks fluent African, a guy in a ninja suit swinging _nunchaku_, a pilot (best goddamn flyboy there ever was, who’s gonna retire and settle down after this _one last job_), and a pyrokinetic who can ignite crosses with his mind. _Fox ‘News’ Force Five!_ Which one will tell the jokes at the end of every episode? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio-forms-posse-to-investigate-obama-birth-certificate/596956/16 "2011-09-20T18:08:53Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > It’s not the hate, it’s the stupidity. Brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio-forms-posse-to-investigate-obama-birth-certificate/596956/17 "2011-09-20T19:03:26Z")
> [@BigShooter](#): > > Hate to see what a wet crazy feels like… I don’t…it sounds like… Fun! But, dry crazy is very chaffing. I think someone with a handle “BigShooter” would know what wet crazy is all about! ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio-forms-posse-to-investigate-obama-birth-certificate/596956/18 "2011-09-20T19:04:21Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > An “elite team of five.” So I’m guessing… an explosives expert, a linguist who speaks fluent African, a guy in a ninja suit swinging _nunchaku_, a pilot (best goddamn flyboy there ever was, who’s gonna retire and settle down after this _one last job_), and a pyrokinetic who can ignite crosses with his mind. I assumed that one of them might be an engineer whose expertise is in digging tunnels. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio-forms-posse-to-investigate-obama-birth-certificate/596956/19 "2011-09-20T19:53:17Z")
Obama: Rahm, next time I say, “Let’s go some place like Bolivia,” let’s go some place like Bolivia! ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio-forms-posse-to-investigate-obama-birth-certificate/596956/20 "2011-09-20T20:00:42Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > It’s not the hate, it’s the stupidity. Ain’t it just. You just know that if someone had a time machine and went BACK IN TIME TO WITNESS OBAMA BEING BORN IN HAWAI’I, the birthers and Tea Partiers would immediately start saying that the real Barack Obama died soon after birth and his mom then secretly adopted a Kenyan-born baby who she then passed off as her natural-born son. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio-forms-posse-to-investigate-obama-birth-certificate/596956.md?page=2)