Joe Arpaio: I Love Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. I Can No Longer Support Them.

By Joe Arpaio October 14, 2018 at 3:11pm

Known as “America’s Toughest Sheriff,” Joe Arpaio had a long and decorated career in law enforcement before being elected sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, in 1992. He is now a Special Contributor to The Western Journal.

Cherry Garcia. Chunky Monkey. Phish Food.

These are just some of the flavors that Ben & Jerry’s fans have grown to love over the years. And why shouldn’t they? It’s good ice cream.

For years, I’ve considered myself a fan of their ice cream.

That is officially no longer the case.

Why? Because of partisan politics.

Before I get into that mess, let’s go back to March 2016. Bernie Sanders’ wife, Jane O’Meara Sanders, was visiting the Tent City Jail.

Bernie, in typical leftist form, was none too pleased with Jane daring to give an opposing view the time of day. For the record, Jane and I were totally professional and cordial with each other.

Sanders’ ire eventually manifested in the form of a veiled threat against me.

Do you agree with Sheriff Joe?

“It’s easy for bullies like Sheriff Arpaio to pick on people who have no power, but if I’m elected president, the president of the United States does have the power,” he said. “Watch out, Joe!”

Obviously, Sanders never became president. But you know what he got for threatening to use presidential powers against an American citizen?

He got an ice cream flavor named after him. Shortly after the Tent City Jail incident, Ben & Jerry’s introduced “Bernie’s Yearning” ice cream flavor. That’s not exactly a major surprise considering how close Bernie and the Ben & Jerry’s founders, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, are.

NEW Bernie's Yearning Ice Cream by @benandjerrys 🍦🍦 pic.twitter.com/mc0LIJlkoC

— Kari Steele (@karicsteele) September 25, 2018

Unfortunately, for Ben & Jerry’s, that was just the tip of the political iceberg.

Now, the Burlington, Vermont-based ice cream company is introducing seven new flavors, touting liberal Democratic candidates in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Colorado and California (as reported by USA Today).

On the one hand, it’s a pretty clear indictment of the Democratic party that they need to rely on ice cream to help campaign.

On the other hand, it’s a little sad to watch the maker of an ice cream I enjoyed so much delve into hackneyed partisan politics.

Just to be clear, I am not calling for a boycott of Ben & Jerry’s. I’m calling for accountability and fairness.

You know what would be fair? If Ben & Jerry’s introduced ice cream flavors also supporting conservative candidates.

I’ll even help them out by offering an ice cream flavor for me. How about pink peppermint swirls with a liberal helping of nuts? They could even call it “Watch Out Joe!”

If Ben & Jerry’s takes me up on this, it won’t be for free. But I would reroute any money I receive to charitable conservative causes.

If not, I’ll simply find another ice cream company to compete with Ben & Jerry’s.

Fair is fair, even in business. After all, Republicans buy ice cream, too.

That’s all I’m asking for. Fairness.

The leftist media has already lost any shred of fairness when it comes to covering politics. I don’t want to see something as bipartisan as dessert follow the same suit.

It’s impossible to turn on a television show or watch a sporting event in 2018 where partisan, liberal politics are not being stuffed down our throats.

Now I have to deal with partisan, liberal politics being stuffed down my throat with ice cream? No thank you.

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Bernie Sanders, Joe Arpaio, Liberalism, Liberals

Joe Arpaio

Special Contributor to The Western Journal

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@RealSheriffJoe

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Known as “America’s Toughest Sheriff,” Joe Arpaio had a long and decorated career in law enforcement before being elected to Sheriff of Maricopa County in 1992.

After serving in the U.S. Army from 1950 to 1953, and as a Washington, D.C., and Las Vegas, NV, police officer, Arpaio went on to build a law enforcement career as a federal narcotics agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). For almost a decade, Arpaio was stationed in foreign countries where he headed the DEA combatting the drug trade in which, even by today’s standards, are highly volatile and dangerous in Turkey, the Middle East, Mexico and Central and South America. He was also a diplomatic attaché. In his last years with the DEA, Arpaio also gained invaluable expertise on border issues and enforcement as the head of the DEA in the border states of Arizona and Texas. He concluded his remarkable federal career as head of the DEA for Arizona.

In 1992, Arpaio successfully campaigned to become the Sheriff of Maricopa County, becoming the head of the nation’s third largest Sheriff’s Office which employs over 3,400 people. He served an unprecedented six 4-year terms. During his tenure as Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arpaio consistently earned high public approval ratings.

In August, 1993, he started the nation’s largest Tent City for convicted inmates. Two thousand convicted men and women serve their sentences in a canvas incarceration compound. It was here that Arpaio launched his get-tough policies for inmates. He banned smoking, coffee, movies, pornographic magazines, and unrestricted TV in all jails. It is a remarkable success story that has attracted the attention of government officials, presidential candidates, and media worldwide.

Of equal success and notoriety were his chain gangs, which contributed thousands of dollars of free labor to the community by picking up litter, painting over graffiti and burying the indigent in the county cemetery.

Another program Arpaio was very well known for is the pink underwear he made all inmates wear. Years ago, when the Sheriff learned that inmates were stealing jailhouse white boxers, Arpaio had all inmate underwear dyed pink for better inventory control.

As chief law enforcement officer for the county, Arpaio continued to reduce crime with hard-hitting enforcement methods. He began an all-volunteer posse of 3,000 members, making it the nation’s largest volunteer posse. Posse men and women help in search and rescue and other traditional police work as well as in special operations like rounding up deadbeat parents, fighting prostitution, patrolling malls during holidays, and investigating animal cruelty complaints. The posse’s contributions are invaluable and essentially free to taxpayers.

In addition to these tough measures, the Sheriff launched rehabilitative programs like “Hard Knocks High,” the only accredited high school under a Sheriff in an American jail, and ALPHA, an anti-substance-abuse program that has greatly reduced recidivism.

He is now a Special Contributor to The Western Journal.

On a personal note, Sheriff Arpaio and his wife Ava have been married for over 56 years and have two children, both residing in the Phoenix area. The Arpaios have four grandchildren.

Birthplace

Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Topics of Expertise

Drug Enforcement, Law Enforcement, Politics