Stephen Colbert/Associated Press
As you’ve probably seen or at least heard by now, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was in New York City on Monday to appear on “The Colbert Report.” It wasn’t a particular good experience for either the sheriff or the comedian, which I believe is confirmed by the fact that Comedy Central didn’t post the interview as a separate video clip this morning.
Of course, Colbert makes his living doing a nightly spoof of conservative talk show hosts. He’s so popular, especially among young adults, that even obvious targets of his humor (such as Arpaio) feel compelled to go on Colbert’s show in the hope of getting their message out to his audience.
As a Colbert fan, I was disappointed that he wasn’t prepared for this interview. He spent the first 30 seconds reading word-for-word a summary of Arpaio’s record and then verbally flopped around, unable to phrase a question that Arpaio could even attempt to answer.
Meanwhile, the sheriff was caught off-guard when Colbert mentioned that two reporters had won a Pulitzer Prize Monday for their investigative work on Arpaio’s illegal immigration enforcement practices. I wonder if Arpaio’s PR staff was afraid to tell him about it before he went to the taping. Colbert could have helped to clue in Arpaio if he had bothered to mention the newspaper that won the Pulitzer or the name of the series that received journalism’s highest honor. Trust me, Arpaio is quite familiar with both.
Once Colbert found his footing, the exchange was cordial with Arpaio basically sticking to stock sound bites such as “I enforce all of the laws.” My guess is Arpaio’s goal was to get through the six minutes or so without engaging in actual conversation with Colbert. Mission accomplished, although Colbert contributed mightily with his mistakes.
Colbert’s best line (which he said twice to good laughs from the audience): “I want to see your identification.”
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The Pulitzer Prize lacks credibility, as it usually given to reporters who toe the P.C. Line or left wing causes. The prize was given surely because it was one sided and went along with the La Razda, open borders advocates. That is why this paper went to four days for free and then I understand three days a week and soon nothing a week. I notice these Dog and Pony shows put on for the public under the guise of border security get all their testimony from public officials who violate their oaths of office when it comes to encorcing laws. the real expert and the real law man who is doing his job in this state is Sherriff Arpiao and all the crying and wringing of left wing idiots out there doesn’t undo the fact that when it comes to Sheriff Arpiao he is re elected with huge majoritys that Phil Gordon and Goddard could only wish for.
The night I read 80 year old Joe Arpaios OBITUARY will be a good night.
Temoc, you a hater.
I missed the Colbert Report with Arpaio and was also unsuccessful trying to find it on YouTube, so I appreciate learning that it was a bomb all the way around, that I didn’t miss anything worth watching.
“Reasonable Doubt” was an outstanding series — dedicated, well-researched journalism at its finest. Ron’s clueless remarks about the Pulitzer Prize, in this case for Local Journalism, are pathetic. He’s obviously equally clueless about the fact that the newspaper industry across the country is hurting.
The only one “crying and wringing” here is ignorant Ron