The border wall blues
The length of the Southwest border with Mexico is approximately 1,954 miles. During our POTUS’s first term, roughly 400 miles of border wall was erected. Our illustrious former Governor Ducey decided to shore up the wall in Arizona using double-stacked shipping containers, which were removed after his term. The Biden Administration decided to halt the construction of the border wall and sell off remaining border wall materials with starting bids as low as $5 for sections of wall panels. Now 47 has resumed erecting the border wall at a total cost estimate of $25 billion-plus. Most recently, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday that the entire wall along the U.S.-Mexico border is going to be painted black to make it hotter and deter illegal immigration. The Commander in Chief has always maintained that Mexico will be paying for all of this. In stark reality, everything mentioned above was and is being paid for by U.S. taxpayers. Gloves are available in Mexico.
People are also reading…
Max LaPlante
Southeast side
Trump’s shameful policies
President Donald Trump likes to brag that he has done more in the short time he has been in office than all other presidents combined. Countless letters to the editor have chronicled the many executive orders he has signed and the demands he has made to public schools, colleges and universities, as well as other public and private entities, which have dramatically undermined this country’s core values and cherished ideals.
His policies have contributed to the dumbing down of America by restricting what students can read and say, by squelching healthy debate of controversial subjects, and by promoting the rewriting of history to ignore parts of America’s shameful past.
The president’s cruel immigration policies; his disdain for truth, science, and the rule of law; and his arrogant abuse of power for personal gain are unprecedented.
Yes, President Trump has done a lot in a short period of time. We can only hope the damage is not irreparable.
Michelle Brislance
Oro Valley
Nobel maneuverings
The Norwegian press reported that Donald Trump, in a call to the Norwegian Finance Minister, told him he wanted to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Probably, there was some attempted transactional wheeling and dealing over tariffs tied to his quest for the prize. Four of Trump’s predecessors, including Barack Obama, have received the award. No wonder Donald’s nose is out of joint. Do you think any previous award candidates or prize hopefuls ever called a member of the nominating committee to lobby for the prize? How incredibly vulgar and tawdry — but consider the askee. Trump seeing himself as Nobel Prize material is absurd — but it seems absurdity rules the day. This supremely unqualified individual managed to be elected President again. Should he receive a Nobel nomination or, God forbid, actually be awarded the Nobel Prize, it will forever be tarnished and rendered meaningless, as was the Presidential Medal of Freedom when awarded to Rush Limbaugh by Donald Trump.
Deb Klumpp
Oro Valley
Is there no justice?
Laura Conover’s predicament with the US Attorney charging an alleged murderer with lesser crimes and facing deportation is part of a larger trend of the politicization of the Department of Justice. Deportation will bring headlines for ICE deporting a “dangerous criminal” instead of his being tried for a capital offense.
Meanwhile, the man charged with the recent murder of the Minnesota State House Representative had a “hit list” of over 45 progressive politicians and abortion providers. This was clearly “domestic terrorism,” a federal crime requiring political, racial or religious motivation. Yet his federal charges include only murder and stalking.
These decisions come from the Dept. of Justice that has dropped prosecution against January 6 defendants and a President who has pardoned those convicted and termed them “patriots.”
Is this the state of American justice now, an instrument of political power? Sadly, the answer is “yes.”
Bruce Hilpert
North side
The deep state
Is there a “Deep State” functioning in our country? Look at the Epstein trial in Florida. Alex Acosta worked a plea deal for Epstein and as a result Epstein only received a 13-month sentence with work release privileges for sex trafficking minors. Trump later appointed Acosta as Secretary of Labor. Brad Edwards, attorney for several of the victims, later said, “We are left still wondering why Jeffry Epstein got the sweetheart deal he did and who exactly made the decision to transfer a lengthy sex trafficking indictment into a non-prosecution agreement”. Epstein was later arrested again for sex trafficking but died somehow while in prison. It makes you wonder, right? Then there is the case of Ghislaine Maxwell, who was interviewed at length by Trump’s Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche, who is also Trump’s personal attorney. As a result, Maxwell was transferred to the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas. This is a low-security prison with dormitory housing and limited perimeter security. Resist.
Peter Morales
Midtown
Cultural revolution, great leap forward
Thanks to Gerald Farrington’s recent Op-Ed comparing Trump’s policies with Mao’s Great Cultural Revolution. Earlier, Mao led the Great Leap Forward to increase agricultural and industrial outputs to meet unrealistic production quotas under peasant leadership, while truthful intellectuals and technical experts were banished to labor camps. The GLF ended with tens of millions of deaths. Their economic policy flipped after Mao’s death, but not the Communist Party (CCP). Under Xi, a new cultural revolution advances with latest surveillance technologies, e.g., all lectures are monitored, and professors warned on off-limits, i.e. historical facts, etc., while students are expected to report on strayed professors. All dictators, regardless of nationalities, races and ideologies, live in fear of losing control. To grab more power, they punish those who do honest research and publish their findings. Is anyone surprised that a person without medical training oversees our public health, and an oil tycoon protects our environment? The Chinese are powerless under the CCP; will Americans challenge the GOP?
Ke Chiang Hsieh
Midtown
The best money for Tucson
We hear much talk about growing Tucson with factories, data centers and industrial concerns that can be taxed and provide jobs. It seems that every time a business concern comes to Tucson, it is because of tax breaks and limited jobs. I think the best business development for Tucson is Tourism. We have the great weather when most of the country is freezing. We have such a rich Old West culture, Mexican culture and desert and mountain environment to present. Our history is exciting, and people want to visit here if we present it well. The best thing about tourism is that people come here to enjoy our town. They come here happy. They don’t destroy our environment. They come here to enjoy themselves and spend money. Then they go home happy, and we get to live here in a clean and happy community.
Richard Bechtold
West side
Medical breakthrough
As a senior Arizonan, I urge continued investment in mRNA vaccine research. Billions have benefited from these safe, effective vaccines, which can be quickly updated for new health threats. Cutting funding now would leave our nation — including Arizona —vulnerable in future pandemics and cause us to lose medical innovation leadership.
We need decisions based on science, not politics. I encourage policymakers and fellow citizens to support strong investment in public health and biomedical research. It’s critical for protecting our communities and economy now and for the future.
Roger Rutschman
Goodyear
Trump getting into heaven
Trump stated he wants to end the war in Ukraine so he can get into heaven. His press secretary said he wasn’t joking.
He’s the least Christian President ever. Maybe start acting like a Christian:
Stop the incessant lies, it is a commandment. Start treating the most vulnerable better. Christ said “what you do to the least of my brothers you do unto me”. Compassion and kindness were what Christ taught, not demonizing everyone who you don’t like.
Craig Miller
Northwest side
Front page photos
The front-page photos on Wednesday’s edition of the Daily Star of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt were troubling. To have a leader of an embattled country on equal footing with a talking head is unconscionable. President Zelenskyy is a head of state with authority; the other person serves as a mouthpiece. Instead, it would have been appropriate to have been a mug shot of President Trump, also a head of state.
Edward Weil
North side
