Sorry Sheriff Arpaio, Trump wants Russell Pearce for VP

I was wrong. I thought that since Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was running his campaign out of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's anti-immigrant playbook that the sheriff was a cinch to be Trump's running mate.

It turns out that Arpaio, who is in trouble with the Justice Department and a federal judge for the way his department treats Latinos, and who was a national symbol of the most vitriolic anti-immigrant segment of society is actually way too...soft...for Trump.

The Donald has decided instead to use his huge national pulpit to preach the gospel of Russell Pearce, former Arizona state senator, author of the ugly SB 1070 and a politician who once proudly announced to me that he would like to bring back a mass deportation program from last century called Operation Wetback.

Trump apparently has fallen in love with the idea.

He said in a CNN interview that when president he plans to deport all all undocumented immigrants and then allow the "good ones" to apply to come back.

"We got to move 'em out, we're going to move 'em back in if they're really good people," Trump said.

Trump is nearly 10 years behind the times with that idea. Consider this excerpt from a column I did about Pearce in 2006 (when Arizona was several centuries behind the times):

State Rep. Russell Pearce can't understand all the fuss over his suggestion that the U.S. government embark on a mass-deportation program of undocumented immigrants similar to one called "Operation Wetback" that was undertaken during the 1950s.

"My critics don't like history," Pearce told me. "They want to rewrite history. I didn't use the term (wetback). I quoted a successful program. The far left always tells you, Russell, you can't deport 12 million people. I say, yes you can, if you have the will. But I never used the term or referred to anyone like that."

Concerning Republicans who question his blunt language, Pearce said, "These are the same sissies that backed away from Propo

Doesn't that sound like Trump?sition 200. People are tired of that. They're tired of the games. (Politicians) don't even know their own constituents. It's about time somebody started stepping forward and recognizing the damage to America. The rule of law has to count for something."

Sorry, Sheriff Joe, there's a new (old) extremist in town.

It's Trump/Pearce in 2016.

Or is it 1816.

Or 1716.

Or 1616.

Or...