# Joe Arpaio **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 28, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio/642398 "2012-11-28T19:37:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio/642398/261 "2012-12-06T18:48:13Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > You have presented no evidence that Arpaio’s methods are effective at reducing recidisvism rates, so just stop. Two of us have presented real world evidence, plus there’s the very obvious and well known human response to unpleasant or irritating stimuli, which often goes by the name of “avoidance.” Admittedly there are a lot of societal and enviornmental factors coming into play regarding a prisoner’s background and home life that encourage recidivism. Arpaio can’t overcome everything that might drive a person back into criminal behavior. But the fact of the matter is that the statistics you people are clinging to like liferafts in an ocean storm measure Maricopa county’s recidivism rate over a period of from 17 to 20 years ago. Arpaio’s methods have changed since then and so has the notoriety and reputation of his jail. So we don’t really know what the current rate of recidivism is and so we can’t say for a fact that it’s ineffective. What we can say is that our common sense and experience as human beings tell us that if we find something objectionable enough we take pains to avoid it. (How much sour milk do you drink? How quickly would you change the channel if an Anne Murray music infomercial came on? :D) Another factor to consider is how many people avoid breaking the law in the first place due to fear of winding up in Arpaio’s jail. I’d be willing to bet there’s a hell of a lot less ignoring of traffic tickets, drunk driving and petty crime than there would be were Arpaio’s jail not so notorious for its conditions. Everyone in Maricopa County knows about it and you can bet they take pains to avoid going there. So do anyway, but until you can accurately measure their number vs. how many would be getting arrested were a more typical jail in place you can’t really claim Arpaio’s jail is ineffective in this way either. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio/642398/262 "2012-12-06T18:50:11Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > The word “strawman” doesn’t come close to describing post #258. It was an appropriate response to the comment it answered. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio/642398/263 "2012-12-06T18:54:08Z")
And now kids we come to that inevitable part of the day when real life intrudes on our fun and I must leave you for a while. Bike rides are in the offing for one thing - I must keep myself healthy so as to keep fighting the good fight - and there are errands to run and things which require attention. So for now I must bid you adieu. Maybe I’ll be back, maybe I won’t. But if I am, don’t hold it against me [**Robin** ;)]. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio/642398/264 "2012-12-06T18:56:20Z")
… and besides, it’s \*\*NoLittlePlans’ \*\*turn to use the computer. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio/642398/265 "2012-12-06T19:19:16Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Two of us have presented real world evidence… Me and who else? PS: I don’t like when you reference me and some mystery person while using the word “us.” It’s really creepy. Like, paper towel tube sort of creepy. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio/642398/266 "2012-12-06T19:32:14Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > And now kids we come to that inevitable part of the day when … … paper towel tube ensues. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Dord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@The\_Dord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Dord)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio/642398/267 "2012-12-06T19:49:48Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > … and besides, it’s \*\*NoLittlePlans’ \*\*turn to use the computer. 😉 [Of course!](http://i0.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/005/116/BisonOfCourse.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio/642398/268 "2012-12-06T19:51:18Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I can tell you exactly what would happen. Being a conservative and therefore blessed with a reality-based outlook and philosophy. This is a silly, stupid thing you’ve said, and here’s why. Your fellow conservative James Inhofe says global warming cannot be happening because his invisible childhood friend promised there’d be no more widespread flooding. Another of your kind, the Texan Rick Perry, says the earth is around 4000 years old. It’s silly and stupid to claim that conservatives hold a reality-based outlook. As for the philosophy part, I give you the theory of trickle-down economics. You can have it. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio/642398/269 "2012-12-06T19:56:31Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Is it against board rules to hope that, someday, **SA** gets picked up by the cops for a crime someone else committed, and then held in [del]prison[/del] jail while awaiting a trial that keeps being moved back indefinitely, eating food that could very well kill him, in temperatures that would cook a ham, all while fearing being beaten by the guards? When the boys on the cell block (tent camp?) started calling him [Brawny White](http://dm61q01mhxuli.cloudfront.net/images/c67/image2/45481.jpg) and demonstrating all the ways a paper towel tube can be positioned, the guards and moldy sandwiches would be among the least of his concerns. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio/642398/270 "2012-12-06T20:00:43Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Pretty much OK if you happen to be a bear. You get the bare necessities. Go to your Room. No, wait, that’s where you usually go to think up crap like that, isn’t it? Go to **Starving Artist** ’s Room. And bring this paper towel tube with you. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio/642398/271 "2012-12-06T20:03:44Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > I’m just trying to figure out which horrible person Starving Artist will defend next. > > Mike Vick? No, definitely not. > Bernie Madoff? Closer, but he’s been off the radar for a while. Also, he’s Jewish. > Fransisco Franco? Maybe, but he’s been dead for decades. What, STILL? ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio/642398/272 "2012-12-06T20:06:27Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Being a conservative and therefore blessed with a reality-based outlook and philosophy Warning: failure to find this absolutely hilarious is usually linked with either delusion or severe depression. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio/642398/273 "2012-12-06T20:12:48Z")
… so talk to _ **your** _ doctor, today. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio/642398/274 "2012-12-06T20:29:49Z")
**SA** is truly an exemplar of conservative thought. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio/642398/275 "2012-12-06T20:43:23Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > …Oh, I don’t know. Embarrassing and demeaning people is a time honored way of trying to get people to change their thinking and behavior. Agree. He should have them all fucking a Paper Towel Tube[sup] **®** [/sup] with their pink underwear down by their ankles – and perhaps carry it live on PPV. That ought to fix 'em. ETA: Paterno, Zimmerman and now, Arpaio. Must admit, you sure know how to pick your ‘friends.’ ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio/642398/276 "2012-12-06T20:50:14Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Maybe I’ll be back, maybe I won’t. The interesting thing is, I still don’t believe him. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio/642398/277 "2012-12-06T20:50:15Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > So when you consider all that we already inflict upon anyone who gets arrested and charged with a crime, I think the additional irritations of Arpaio’s jail are just that - irritations - and that in terms of having any particularly harmful effect that the other consequences of being arrested don’t already engender, they are actually pretty benign despite their effectiveness. I snipped this part because it makes my point. For people who have not been convicted of a crime, or convicted of minor misdemeanors Arpaio PURPOSEFULLY irritates these people (with the moldy food, pink underwear, and living in tents). If I’m arrested and charged with say, cocaine possession, and can’t make bond, Arpaio’s only job is to keep me in custody until my trial. If I have to be double bunked in a small cell, well, that’s the way the cookie crumbles because the county only has so much money. But to fuck with me deliberately by making me watch the Disney Channel, listen to Sinatra music while I wear pink underwear and live in a tent in 120 degree weather and eat moldy 20 cents per meal food? That’s unnecessary taunting bullshit. 20 cents X 3 X 30. $18.00 per month. Okay, say Joe has a quantity discount and I’ll double it for you. SA, try to feed yourself on $36.00 per month and come back to me in 30 days and tell me you aren’t starving to death. And this is for simply being accused of a crime or committing a misdemeanor. I support the death penalty, but not slow starvation for even murderers, let alone the accused.. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio/642398/278 "2012-12-06T21:14:03Z")
Guess that whole “innocent until proven guilty” thing was just a crock of shit, huh? ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio/642398/279 "2012-12-06T21:26:50Z")
Double-posting because I just [found this over in MPSIMS](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=674689)and it seemed … timely? Appropriate? Heart-breaking? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio/642398/280 "2012-12-06T21:32:44Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > What, STILL? Glad to know that I’m not the only person who cannot see or hear that name without hearing the appropriate tagline in my head. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio/642398.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-arpaio/642398.md?page=15)