Sheriff Joe Arpaio Pulls Shaquille O’Neil’s Badge – For Racist Rap

Shaquille O’Neil has made quite a stir with his open desire to not only be a law enforcement officer, but to eventually be a county sheriff.
It seems there’s one small problem, however. You can’t make rap vodeos like this and say thinks like, “It’s like a white boy trying to be more nigger than me.” At least, not when you hold a badge from Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona:

PHOENIX (AP)-Shaquille O’Neal will lose his special deputy’s badge in Maricopa County because of language he used in a rap video that mocks former teammate Kobe Bryant.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said the Phoenix Suns center’s use of a racially derogatory word and other foul language left him no choice. Arpaio made Shaq a special deputy in 2006 and promoted him to colonel of his largely ceremonial posse later that year.
“I want his two badges back,” Arpaio told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “Because if any one of my deputies did something like this, they’re fired. I don’t condone this type of racial conduct.”

Shaq says it was all in fun. Yeah, well, try using that excuse if you’re on the other side of the racial coin and use the same terms in the same way. It won’t fly, especially not in law enforcement. They’d kick you to the curb faster than you could say, “David Duke.”
And Joe Arpaio agrees:

“Maybe I’m old fashioned, but I don’t think that either conduct should be out there publicly, even if media wasn’t there,” Arpaio said.

I’m with him. Either the conduct and the language are acceptable or they’re not. No excuses.
Way to go, Joe.