Cowboys

"Getting pretty tired of these guys walking around in cowboy hats and cowboy boots. You ever see these jack-offs? Can’t we kill some of these motherfuckers? Walking around in a fucking cowboy hat. Grown men. It’s not even Halloween for christ-sakes. I say “hey Tex grow up and get yourself a wardrobe consistent with the century you’re living in”. Why do certain men feel the need to dress up as mythic figures? You don’t see anyone walking around in a pirate costume do you? When was the last guy you ran into who had on a viking outfit? Make-believe cowboys… the closest they ever got to a cow, is when they stopped to take a piss at an Arby’s." George Carlin

The Delusion Is Great In This One

Delusional [dəˈlo͞oZH(ə)nəl] (adjective)

1) characterized by or holding idiosyncratic beliefs or impressions that are contradicted by reality or rational argument, typically as a symptom of mental disorder.

2) based on or having faulty judgment; mistaken.

Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke has been in the news lately. His grandstanding, threats and all-around odd behavior has been increasingly troubling.

Clarke's response to the attention he has received was pure delusion:

In an act of political grandstanding, the political witch hunt continues by democrat politicians and operatives. This is nothing more than an attempt to harass and bully Sheriff Clarke. This is fake news. He remains undeterred and unfazed as he has been dealing with this for more than a decade. These fake news stories from the Sentinel Journal and their dweebs at the editorial board are so transparent that the casual observer can see this for what it really is.

The latest political stunt by County executive Abele is a waste of time. He does not have the authority to investigate the Sheriff’s Office, and the sheriff is making it very clear that personnel responsible to him will not be talked to by anybody from the county executive’s office. County executive Abele knows he does not have the authority, but can’t resist the opportunity to politically grandstand. This is the same little man who spent $263,000 of his personal wealth in an attempt to defeat the sheriff in his last election. Abele failed. Since he has failed, he has continued his political attacks. 

Abele supported Mrs. Bill Clinton for president and Russ Feingold for US Senate. These attacks have everything to do with the sheriff’s support and the role he played in helping Donald Trump become the 45th President of the United States. The election is over. Donald Trump has been sworn in, and it is time for everybody to join Sheriff Clarke in helping make America great again, and to make America safe again.

So, Clarke harasses and bullies a fellow airline passenger and when he's called out for it, he claims he's being bullied and harassed? And, as always, Clarke had to include some Trump talking-points -- "fake news" and "make America great again".

He states that he has been dealing with "fake" news stories for decades and then resorts to name-calling the Journal Sentinel editorial board. What a dignified public servant. Can Clarke name even one thing he has done to improve the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department? Has he made the department greater? Has he made Milwaukee County safer? It seems over the last two years, Clarke has spent the majority of his time advocating for Donald Trump, not so much for Milwaukee County.

Clarke paints this investigation into his behavior and professional conduct as a political retaliation of County Executive Chris Abele's doing. Abele is a Democrat and has supported candidates other than David Clarke, therefore, that's the only story here for Clarke. Somehow, Clarke being called out for being a bullying jerk is really just Abele and Democrats being sour because Trump won? Is any sane person following any of this reasoning?

And, talk about the pot calling the kettle black. What topic or photo opportunity doesn't David Clarke turn into a partisan tirade? David Clarke couldn't be more of a tool if he had a hammer for a head. Clarke is the one making this (along with everything he talks about) political by trying to drag everyone around him into it. And, of course, he's full of all those Trump-esque platitudes. If anyone is making this a political stunt, it's Clarke. That's really all he's ever done.

The Republican party is always looking for a good little soldier to spout outrageous, reprehensible, attention-grabbing invective. Clarke has been more than happy to be that useful idiot.

Unfit For Office

Since we're already talking about being unfit for office, someone has to mention Sheriff David Clarke.

Sheriff David Clarke, Poll Denier

During a segment on Donald's 'rigged election" comments, Trump supporter Sheriff David Clarke told Fox News' Outnumbered panel that he doesn't believe in any of the polls and said, "I don't know the methodology that's why I don't trust them."

Sheriff Clarke took a lot of heat when he used violent rhetoric and proclaimed via The Twitter that the election was rigged and called for "pitchforks and torches."

During their panel discussion, Sheriff Clarke applauded the handling of the Trump campaign and supported his calls of a rigged election. "You guys are doing well, keep doing what you're doing." ...

Clarke said, "If you believe the polls. If you want to believe the polls"

Harris Falkner asked, "Sheriff, you're not buying polls?"

Clarke replied, "No, I'm not, not at all. I don't know the methodology.

He doesn't know the methodology? Really? Well, statistician Clarke, most polls footnote their methodology or at the very least you could contact the organization (CNN, NY Times, 538, etc.) for an explanation.

Here's the MRG Michigan Poll explanation of methodology, listed directly below the candidates, on their webpage.

The survey was conducted by Marketing Resource Group with 600 likely Michigan voters by live interview October 16-19, 2016. The sample was randomly drawn from a listed sample of all registered voters and stratified by city and township to reflect voter turnout. In addition, quotas for gender and cell phone interviews were met within each geographic area, and extra efforts were made to reach African Americans. Thirty percent of the interviews were conducted with cell phone only homes.

A sample of 600 likely voters in Michigan yields a sampling margin of error of ±4 percent with a 95 percent confidence interval. The sampling margin of error for subgroups may be higher depending on the size of the subgroup.

And, regardless of this, we've all seen Clarke's handling of the budget for the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department. So we know Clarke isn't a numbers guy. Which leads to a few questions: Who cares if Clarke knows the methodology or not? Why does anyone care what Clarke thinks about the presidential election? Does anyone believe that Clarke could actually explain how to operationalize and formulate a meaningful survey?

This guy should really be relieved of his duties immediately. Come on, Milwaukee County, wake up! (Aside: how does this guy get to keep claiming he's a Democrat?)

From pitchforks and torches, to rigged elections, this isn't the language anyone with a public platform should be spouting, especially a County Sheriff.

For Further Reading: 

Five Thirty Eight 2016 Election Forecast

HuffPost Pollster Recent Polls

David Clarke: Extremist, Bombastic, Incompetent

The Basics of Social Research