The interminable internecine warfare between Maricopa County government officials and offices reaches a new low.

Maricopa County Manager David Smith is requesting that high-ranking employees in the County Attorney's Office tell him whether they have leaked confidential information about county business.

The request came late Monday in a two-page letter that asked eight employees to disclose whether they have leaked confidential information on Internet blogs or to reporters. Smith wants a response within five days.

The letter went to County Attorney Andrew Thomas, six of his top attorneys and his public-information officer. Smith wants to know whether they posted information on blog sites under pseudonyms or released information to conservative Web sites or media outlets such as The Arizona Republic.

"I have never in 42 years of (legal) practice seen such an outrageous demand," said Barnett Lotstein, a special assistant to Thomas and one of the employees to receive a letter. "Who does he think he is? He's the county manager, not king. He's not dictator of Maricopa County."

The Republic glides over the real targets of Smith's letters – Arizona's conservative bloggers. While based in Arizona, Exurban League's focus has always been on national and international issues. However, several other Arizona blogs tenaciously focus on state and local politics – and obviously ruffle quite a few feathers. Our friends at Sonoran Alliance, Cactus Alliance and Intellectual Conservative Arizona were specifically targeted by Smith's missive.

Obviously, Smith's demand for names is a revolting attack on freedom of speech and of the press. He has apparently never learned the maxim not to pick fights with those who buy ink by the barrel. Even worse, he doesn't recognize that in the New Media, pixels are free. I'm glad that his intended chilling effect is already backfiring in a big way.

But for the uninitiated in the klusterschtupp that is Maricopa County governance, this action is only the latest in the sordid back-and-forth hair-pulling that has occurred betwixt County officials:

Smith reports to the Board of Supervisors and has been the point man for the county in a year of public disputes between the board and both Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The fights have centered primarily on control and budget issues.

The county attorney and sheriff also have pursued criminal investigations of Supervisors Don Stapley and Mary Rose Wilcox involving possible financial crimes. No one has been charged.

This past summer, Thomas joined six other county department leaders to complain to the board about Smith, saying he has overstepped his authority. Earlier this year, the board severed its ties with Thomas' office as its legal representative and created its own civil-litigation department.

This War of the Poses has also featured Sheriff Joe busting into County offices to seize computer data, Arpaio and Thomas arresting unfriendly reporters, lawsuits by County supervisors against Arpaio and Thomas, countersuits by... forget it, I can't even keep track anymore. And frankly, I'm tired of trying.

As a long-time taxpayer in Maricopa County, let me speak frankly to every official in that dysfunctional governmental entity:

WOULD YOU DUMB #%@*ING #%@*BAGS STOP YOUR MUTUAL #%@*ING P1$$ING MATCHES FOR ONE #%@*ING MINUTE AND START #%@*ING SERVING THE #%@*ING CONSTITUENTS WHO ELECTED YOU? OUR COUNTY IS #%@*ING FALLING APART AND ALL YOU #%@*ING #%@*HEADS CAN SEEM TO DO IS THIS #%@*ING BUSH-LEAGUE, JUNIOR HIGH #%@*#%@*. FOR ONCE IN YOUR PATHETIC #%@*ING LIVES COULD YOU THINK ABOUT THE #%@*ING CITIZENS OF THIS COUNTY INSTEAD OF YOUR OWN #%@*ING EGOS? WELL, CAN YOU? #%@*!

Ahem. Thank you for letting me get that off my chest.

More about this story at Blue Collar Muse. And Hot Air.