Where do I sign? Anyone who says that Arpaio won his last election “fair and square” and therefore his recall from office is unnecessary, unjustified or just plain sour grapes, either doesn’t understand, or care to understand, the corrupting and distorting influence of campaign financing, especially when such a large proportion of the funding support for Arpaio comes from out of state. Or perhaps his apologists have decided to simply live with the fact that it’s alright that we elected a man as our sheriff who apparenty believes that “serving and protecting” the people of Maricopa County includes the right to blatantly abuse the authority of his office to intimidate his critics; waste tens of millions in taxpayer money defending lawsuits that could have been easily avoided; allow a shocking number of inmates to die while in custody in his jails, which led to several lawsuits; direct his deputies and investigators to set aside actual crime-fighting duties–such as trying to solve hundreds of sex abuse cases–and instead spend their time chasing down completely discredited claims that President Obama was not born in the United States or raiding car washes and restaurants in pursuit of undocumented immigrants whose greatest crime is their fierce desire to live the American dream. I don’t know if Arpaio will be recalled, but I do know that the State Constitution allows for Arizonans to petition for his recall, so Respect Arizona has a legal, constitutionally sanctioned right to try. And because I personally believe that Mr. Arpaio is one of the most ethically bankrupt and politically opportunistic, self-serving elected officials in the nation, I will sign the petition and hope and pray that if he runs again for the post (and he likely will) that a clear majority of the good people of Maricopa County will finally come to know how the sheriff’s practices affirm his seemingly low regard for the core principles that inspire and undergird the U.S. Constitution–namely, the belief that all men are created equal and that the implicit duty of our elected public officials is to preserve “liberty and justice for all”, not just a powerful few.