Tucson speaks up: Letters to the editor for the week of May. 15, 2020
Our weekly round-up of letters published in the Arizona Daily Star.
- Herb Stark, Downtown
Entertainer Frank Sinatra left us twenty two years ago on May 14, 1998. First and foremost, his legacy will be his music and singing style that reflected the music of America for decades. That's more than enough for me and of course we can add acting, directing, dancing and philanthropic ventures both here and abroad to round out his extraordinary life! So here's a big 'Thank You' to Frank Sinatra for the joy and happiness he continues to bring to us via CDs, LPs, films and documentaries as we remember the unforgettable Francis Albert Sinatra!
Herb Stark
Downtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Ken Wright, East side
Donald Trump's pet project, the border wall, could end up costing more if Trump's wish to paint it comes to fruition. The estimated cost for the paint job is between 500 million and 3 billion, outrageous! Wouldn't it be ironic if the very person who is charged with the well-being of this country is responsible for bankrupting it!
Ken Wright
East side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Edward Heller, Northwest side
"We could lose control of the virus," Dr. Anthony Fauci, May 12, 2020. Wake up America! If you need a picture of what he's talking about, google images of the USA during the 1918 pandemic. In 1918 there were so many wakes held in home parlors, that after the devastation people changed the name to "living rooms," in order to emotionally heal. My grandmother was one of the unfortunate ones. 23 years old and pregnant. She was dead a few days after catching the illness, during the so called "second wave." To all of you, who proudly fly the "Trump" flag, please save them to cover the caskets of the dead, so those grieving a loved one's loss, will understand why it happened.
Edward Heller
Northwest side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Mark Wurz, Northwest side
The recent furor caused by the proposal of voting by mail is senseless. I have been voting by mail (absentee/early voting) for years. Anyone can do it. It is effective and easy. Apply to the county, they will make sure your registration is valid and send you a ballot. Any argument to he contrary is phony. If you don't want to stand in line and vote as America has for hundreds of years apply for your early ballot,
If you want to vote by mail, DO IT. Our elections are safe, secure and honest. A blanket Vote by Mail program is backed by those who want to cheat. Vote by mail is in place, workable and viable.
Mark Wurz
Northwest side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Rudy Van Renterghem, Oro Valley
America is number one again in the world, with more virus infections and deaths than all other countries!
Our current president stated "and one day, like a miracle, the coronavirus will disappear" and so will Trump!
Like him, I take no responsibility for the my statement, but will take full credit when it happens.
Rudy Van Renterghem
Oro Valley
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Paul Joy, Sierra Vista
Congratulations to President Trump for carrying out his promise to Make America Great Again.. We are now No. 1 in the world in coronavirus cases at just over 1.3 million, and No. 1 in the world in coronavirus deaths at just over 80,000 (both numbers as of May 11).
Who would have thought that Trump could have gotten us to No. 1 in any category? When he finally manages to eliminate science, truth, and education, think of all the other categories in which we might climb to the top. I’m pretty sure his next executive order will be to eliminate all educational instruction above the 5th grade so that no one in the country will be able to achieve a higher level of education than he has.
Paul Joy
Sierra Vista
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Sherry Steele, Foothills
Everyone has a constitutional right to not wear a mask. That right stops when it meets my constitutional right as a business owner to require anyone entering my establishment to wear a mask. This is simple you keep your right just don't impinge on mine by trying to enter my business without a mask.
Sherry Steele
Foothills
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Kit Egan, Midtown
Surely I’m not the only one confused by the acrimony, the outrage, on the right with regards to the Democratic response to the ever changing sexual assault allegations against Joe Biden. After all, wasn’t it the right who, during the Kavanaugh hearings, implemented a new rule whereby, in cases of unproven sexual assault allegations, the man is given a pass? And now the right is shocked that the left is willing to play by the right’s new Kavanaugh rule? I’m confused. OK, confused and amused. But then I have a Conservative nephew who, when asked if this or that particular act is moral or immoral, demands to know if the act was committed by a Conservative or a Liberal before he’ll render a judgement. Morals, it seems, can be tricky.
Kit Egan
Midtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- dennis davis, East side
A writer today seemed to complain about the tenor of recent letters. I will reply to points made:
Since the economy began reviving in mid-2010, and has been very strong since, it's false to credit the Trump with that. All he did was stand out of the way.
The Trump bellowed about increased border security, but this "wall" has no impact at all. Except, of course, the environmental damage.
The Trump claimed better trade pacts, but the end result is increased US prices due to the tariffs.
Now, the writer claims leaving the climate accord as a plus. Quite difficult to understand that as global warming makes life in southern Arizona more difficult.
And, the writer needs to understand how difficult it is to describe the Trump without the use of unprintable language. It would be better if he were a Republican - but he certainly isn't.
dennis davis
East side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Sheldon Metz, Northeast side
We are a Free Nation. I ask these “organized (by whom) protestors,” where are my freedoms and the freedoms of 80 percent of Americans, Blue or Red, who want the shut-down to continue? Where are the freedoms of people who have susceptible conditions and must remain safe? Extremists simply want to fight, emulating their leader. If one of their own came down with COVID-19, they’d demand to be at the top of the list for treatment.
These anarchistic “bullies” care not for you or me. If you’ve seen videos or photos of the protests, you’ll notice these people are obeying the social distancing rules. A few, even wear masks. Until today.
Ironically, these people, unaware of their own hypocrisy, demand a Free Michigan. If Michigan - if the U.S. - were not free, they wouldn’t be able to carry weapons in public or protest the Michigan State House. Michigan is trying to maintain the freedom of the vast majority of citizens who reject their premise.
Sheldon Metz
Northeast side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- David Burford, Northwest side
Business Insider reported today, 4/30, that before mid-March, Biden campaign operatives were sent to the University of Delaware's Library where Joe Biden's Senate records are archived. Tara Reade has accused Biden of sexual assault and asked for the opening of those archives to possibly show her complaint against him and perhaps others. A spokesperson for the university said Biden campaign operatives "rifled through" the documents on at least one occasion. The university had previously stated it would make the documents public, but now refuses to do so. The current Chairman of the Board at the university is John Cochran, a longtime Biden donor. He used to be an executive with Delaware credit card company MBNA and in 1992 purchased Biden's house at the asking price of $1.2 million. MBNA contributed heavily to Biden's Senate campaign and also hired his son Hunter as a consultant. At the time, Biden was supporting legislation proposed by the credit card industry and opposed by consumer groups. This all stinks about Biden!
David Burford
Northwest side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Alice Moreno, North side
I have read numerous Letters to the Editor from Democrats asserting that Trump's actions relating to the Corona virus resulted in unnecessary deaths. Well, now the same can be said, in my opinion, about their Corona virus hero NY Governor Mario Cuomo. Democrats have held up Cuomo as the beacon of greatness in addressing the virus pandemic, while attacking Trump. New York has had over 5,000 deaths to people residing in long term care nursing homes. The highest death toll in the country. A March 25 state health directive ordered nursing homes to take recovering elderly corona patients discharged from hospitals. Facility operators complained they were left defenseless as the virus spread among patients and staff. New York was not reporting the number of virus cases in nursing homes and there was lack of testing of residents. All of this created infections of seniors in nursing homes resulting in unnecessary sickness and death. Gov. Cuomo recently rescinded the March 25 directive, But the carnage has already been done.
Alice Moreno
North side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Bruno Rescigna, East side
Given the President's inept handling of the pandemic and his strange ideas on fighting the virus, let us pray that
Trump University doesn't open a medical school.
Bruno Rescigna
East side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Don Flood, Green Valley
Do you think that the flavor of news reporting and the apparent bias in the majority of the professional opinion writers has kept the public from seeking to understand current events? Or do they just follow the first few sentences and make up their mind. I bring this up based upon a letter “Relief money not given to those in need.” It is clear the writer does not understand the terms of the Payroll Protection Program. It takes company organization to employ people so they can earn a living for more than a month or two. Saying that the stimulus gave the money personally to the rich and to Trump’s companies is clearly a piece of information most likely learned from the first 2 or 3 lines of a news story describing an extraordinarily complex financial undertaking. This writer will go on with her mind set regardless of the facts.
Don Flood
Green Valley
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Alan Barreuther, Foothills
In Orwell’s novel, “1984” it was, “Love is hate,” and “War is peace.” Today 60,000 Americans died and the Trump administration says, “It's a great success.” Is this the 2020 Newspeak?
Alan Barreuther
Foothills
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Michael Mount, Foothills
Re:Critics question flexible language of Ducey’s order. What we have is a politician equivocating. On one hand Ducey makes a stand for social distancing and on the other is allowing exceptions based on “constitutional protected activity”. Our constitution, written in 1787, has been changed over the years but never addressed limitations during a pandemic. And to make exceptions for religion and for protests defies common sense. We know that Covid 19 is spread through social contact, thus the need for six feet social distancing. We know people occasionally sneeze, cough and talk, thus the need for ALL to wear masks. I believe we know that God gave us brains with the expectation we would use them. Given that, people should understand the danger they place themselves and others in by ignoring social distancing. God did not give us protection from the virus and we should act accordingly.
Michael Mount
Foothills
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Tim O'Connor, Southeast side
It seems obvious to me that the only reason the President would speculate on the ingestion of disinfectants is because he has never held a bottle of one in his hands. If he had he might have noticed the poison label that is mandatory on all of them due to government regulations.
Tim O'Connor
Southeast side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Norman Patten, Midtown
I am taken aback by the believe that LTG Flynn was “tricked” or somehow treated unfairly when he confessed to lying to the FBI. I haven’t seen the released emails, I have seen the reporting. As a retired US Army intelligence officer who commanded several counterintelligence offices and who ran very sensitive operations, I think I have some credibility on source/witness/object interviews. Before such interviews agents routinely review available information, discuss how to tactically interview the subject and what the “line” of the interview should be. To conduct such an interview without a “strategic” plan would be incompetence writ large! Here is the true irony: LTG Flynn was a US Army Intelligence Officer! He led the Defense Intelligence Agency. I remember when he commanded the Brigade which trained US Army Intelligence soldiers at Ft. Huachuca. If anyone should have known what was to be expected in an interview with the FBI and what those conducting the interview would have “gamed” out prior to sitting down with him, it was LTG Flynn.
Norman Patten
Midtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- By Mort Rosenblum Special to the Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The following column is the opinion and analysis of the writer.
True enough, as one reader noted recently, the Daily Star’s morning crop of letters beats a double shot of espresso to get the blood flowing. Last week, however, one hit me like a Lysol margarita. The writer, objecting to a Leonard Pitts Jr. column, pronounced: “Journalism is dead in America.”
I’m pleased to confirm that journalism is not dead even though, increasingly, some brains seem to be. We now face a growing COVID-19 calamity. In the long term, climate collapse imperils humanity. This is no time to poke out our own eyes like some crazed Oedipus Rex.
In fact, solid, credible reporting and fact-based news analyses are better than they have ever been. But it takes some thought to find them among a towering slag heap of shoddy work tainted by outright propaganda. “Media” is as meaningless a descriptor as “food.”
Someone who stuffs a shopping cart with junk food and leaves nutritious options on the shelf can hardly blame the supermarket.
Technology changes by the week. Looking back, it seems as if we scratched out our stories with quill pens when I worked at the Star in the 1960s. But the basic tenet of American journalism remains the same: news stories are on news pages; opinion is labeled as such.
Pitts is a Pulitzer-winning, nationally syndicated columnist and a favorite at the Tucson Festival of Books. If everyone agreed with everything he wrote, he’d be out of work. If he is too “liberal,” whatever that means, there is are plenty of right-wing extremes elsewhere.
Why would intelligent voters not want to read viewpoints that differ from their own? Have we become so tribalized, narrow-minded and — OK, there’s no other word — ignorant that we refuse to compute anything that does comfort our own prejudices?
There is much to criticize about “the media,” but a general condemnation — “journalism is dead” — is preposterous, particularly at a time when journalists themselves are dying, killed while getting close to actual nonalternative truth.
We lost at least 134 colleagues in Syria over recent years, not counting those injured or held as hostages in stinking cells. Happily, the death toll dropped to “only” two dozen in 2019 — 10 of them just south of our border in Mexico.
That is the extreme. But it illustrates the fundamental crisis that news organizations face today.
In earlier days, beyond the three TV networks and radio, there were only newspapers. Readers subscribed, and advertisers bought space. Publishers paid skilled reporters a living wage, covered their expenses and still turned a decent profit.
Now, with so much “content” on TV and online, too many people think news should come for free. And that is often what it’s worth. It’s easy enough to make a car’s gas gauge read full. Use a garden hose. But then try going somewhere.
Foundations, public funds and private grants provide excellent work at no cost. But it takes commitment to separate that from partisan slant, outright propaganda or inept reporting that inadvertently gets things wrong. Mostly, it delves deeply into specific subjects.
Newspapers remain the basis for a grasp on local and global realities, that essential big picture, which gives a democratic society the common understanding of nonalternative facts. Good government is all but impossible without that.
Plenty of papers hang on. Too often, corporate owners starve them of resources to increase profits. A few wealthy owners buy them for personal or political reasons. But good ones survive by their credibility, supported by readers who trust them.
When a mysterious coronavirus suddenly hit America hard, it was baffling to see fist fights among people desperate for toilet paper. What matters in a crisis is newsprint, with reliable words and informed comment to help a society survive.
- Updated
If you’re gonna wear a mask, do it right
Please wear your mask correctly. I am a registered nurse with more than 40 years experience wearing masks in the operating room.
Pinch your mask at the bridge of your nose. Pull the mask firmly under your chin. If you are the rare person with a respiratory system so compromised you can’t breathe while wearing a mask, you should not be out in public with or without a mask.
Your mask should be on your face or off your person. A mask hanging around your neck is the equivalent of wearing a used tissue as a necklace.
It is not necessary to remove your mask to talk on your phone. Your voice carries just fine through a mask.
Don’t think you are clever if you remove your mask as soon as you pass the checkpoint at Costco. You aren’t clever. You are thoughtless, selfish and dangerous.
A mask if far more comfortable than an endotracheal tube connected to a respirator. We must do what we can to protect one another.
Ina Moreno
East side
Remembering Ol’ Blue Eyes
Entertainer Frank Sinatra left us 22 years ago today, on May 14, 1998. First and foremost, his legacy will be his music and singing style that reflected the music of America for decades. That’s more than enough for me!
Of course we can add acting, directing, dancing and philanthropic ventures both here and abroad to round out his extraordinary life! So here’s a big “thank you” to Frank Sinatra for the joy and happiness he continues to bring to us via CDs, LPs, films and documentaries as we remember the unforgettable Francis Albert Sinatra!
Herb Stark
Downtown
Confounded by the right
Surely I’m not the only one confused by the acrimony and outrage on the right with regards to the Democratic response to the ever-changing sexual assault allegations against Joe Biden. After all, wasn’t it the right who, during the Kavanaugh hearings, implemented a new rule whereby, in cases of unproven sexual assault allegations, the man is given a pass?
And now the right is shocked that the left is willing to play by the right’s new Kavanaugh rule? I’m confused. OK, confused and amused.
But then I have a conservative nephew who, when asked if this or that particular act is moral or immoral, demands to know if the act was committed by a conservative or a liberal before he’ll render a judgment. Morals, it seems, can be tricky.
Kit Egan
Midtown
No shoes, no shirt, no mask
Everyone has a constitutional right to not wear a mask. That right stops when it meets my constitutional right as a business owner to require anyone entering my establishment to wear a mask. This is simple — you keep your right, just don’t impinge on mine by trying to enter my business without a mask.
Sherry Steele
Foothills
Keep ’em coming
Re: the May 11 letter “Star’s letters to editor never fail to entertain.”
In this letter, the writer says that the people who submit letters to the editor are trying to change the world into their model of the way things should be. They are not at all; they are merely people who have the courage to express their opinions, conclusions and beliefs, to not only family and friends but to the public at large. I applaud them.
There are individuals and groups these days who think that everyone should believe only what they believe, á la George Orwell’s “1984.” To them, the only truth is their truth. This is dangerous, as proven by past despots of the world. Free expression of opinion by letters to the editor are one means of preventing this from happening.
So all of you do-gooders, nannies and know-it-alls, hit those keyboards! Keep those letters coming. I love ’em.
Tom Henderson
West side
Voting by mail works, shouldn’t be mandatory
The recent furor caused by the proposal of voting by mail is senseless. I have been voting by mail (absentee/early voting) for years. Anyone can do it. It is effective and easy.
Apply to the county, they will make sure your registration is valid and send you a ballot. Any argument to the contrary is phony. If you don’t want to stand in line and vote as America has for hundreds of years apply for your early ballot.
If you want to vote by mail, do it. Our elections are safe, secure and honest. A blanket vote by mail program is backed by those who want to cheat. Vote by mail is in place, workable and viable.
Mark Wurz
Northwest side
Senators, please extend school food programs
The coronavirus has caused both a catastrophic health crisis and an economic one, pushing thousands of families into poverty and hunger in Arizona.
Even in this crisis, Arizona has been able to feed kids. Nationwide child nutrition waivers issued by the USDA gave school districts and community groups the ability to reach kids by packaging meals for curbside pick-up and delivery.
Now these nationwide waivers are set to expire June 30, at the height of summer hunger. Without the flexibilities these waivers provide, schools and community organizations will not be able to reach kids with the food they need.
I hope Arizona’s representatives in Congress, Sens. Martha McSally and Kyrsten Sinema, will help feed kids this summer by urging the USDA to extend all nationwide child nutrition waivers through Sept. 30. The road to economic recovery begins with families in Arizona having the food they need for kids to thrive.
Erica Olmstead
Downtown
We’re No. 1, we’re No. 1!
Congratulations to President Trump for carrying out his promise to Make America Great Again. As of May 13, we are now No. 1 in the world in coronavirus cases at just over 1.4 million, and No. 1 in the world in coronavirus deaths at over 80,000.
Who would have thought that Trump could have gotten us to No. 1 in any category? When he finally manages to eliminate science, truth and education, think of all the other categories in which we might climb to the top. I’m pretty sure his next executive order will be to eliminate all educational instruction above the 5th grade so that no one in the country will be able to achieve a higher level of education than he has.
Paul Joy
Sierra Vista
I’ll take the credit, not the criticism
America is No. 1 again in the world, with more virus infections and deaths than any other country!
Our current president stated “and one day, like a miracle, the coronavirus will disappear,” and so will Trump!
Like him, I take no responsibility for my statement but will take full credit when it happens.
Rudy Van Renterghem
Oro Valley
Thank you, Star, for covering the reopenings
Re: the May 12 article “Restaurants have a slow start as doors reopen to customers.”
A really big thank you to the Arizona Daily Star reporters for interviewing restaurant, bar and hair salon owners and workers about the difficulties of reopening amid the COVID-19 pandemic. So many of us are clamoring to get back to normal, and we want our favorite hang-outs to open as soon as possible.
Your articles are sensitizing us to the challenges these business owners face. Reopening is not the magic bullet we fantasized about. Especially not for the business owners. I hope it will be better than being closed. Good luck to all!
Carol Evans
Midtown
The numbers don’t lie
Re: the May 12 article “ ‘Too Soon Arizona’ campaign calls reopenings premature.”
I am astonished by the relaxation of social distancing, stay-at-home orders and reopening of public places including restaurants, gyms and salons ordered by Gov. Doug Ducey. He clearly bowed to political pressure and ideology over scientific evidence and thereby is risking the health and welfare of our people.
Anyone with a basic understanding of math can see with their own eyes that the COVID-19 trajectory curve is going almost straight up as cases are increasing. Only 2% of Arizona’s population has been tested since the beginning of the outbreak, which is woefully inadequate based on the CDC guidelines of what we need to test, track and isolate safely in order to contain this virus.
Ducey is performing a profound disservice to Arizona residents by prematurely opening. Expect steep increase in infections and deaths from COVID-19 in Arizona.
Marilyn Orenstein,
retired physician
North side
14-day trend line would help in graphic
I appreciate the daily graphic on the Tucson and Region page, “COVID-19 in Arizona” that shows the number of cases by county each day and related data. However, understanding the evolution of the virus in our locality and making decisions for ourselves and our workplaces, requires a view of the daily and weekly trend.
Please print us a daily graphic showing statistics on COVID-19 cases and deaths over at least a 14-day period. And let’s remember that a steady decrease in these numbers over time is only one of the conditions that public health experts recommend must be met before it is safe to relax protective measures.
In fact, there are numerous new protocols and resources that must be in place before we even think about resuming social contact as we were previously accustomed, in order to protect ourselves and our community from the risk of further harm.
Monica Mueller
Midtown
Mayor, what about transportation workers?
Our newly elected mayor, Regina Romero, has disagreed with Gov. Doug Ducey’s recent COVID-19 regulations and wants to keep us at home rather than let us work as she ignores her public transportation workforce. My wife, who has created a team to provide free face masks, received a call last night from a bus driver who stated that they have received nothing from the state, their union nor the city.
The driver asked for at least 300 masks for drivers since no one has provided them with any. And not only for drivers, but mechanics and other staff as well. How is the city spending money during this pandemic? We should all demand a detailed report when this is all over. Will the city comply? I doubt it.
Mariano Rodriguez
Midtown
- Linda Petersen-Vargas, Northeast side
Bereaved Mother’s Day was May 3. Women whose children were ripped from them by gun violence, illness or accident, are remembered one day a year, though they feel the loss daily. Now, as the deaths by COVID-19 increase and the CDC warns us that the crisis is not over, the Trump administration and GOP leaders are telling us that the lives of our beloved are fodder for the economy. How many loved ones are they willing to sacrifice? With access to testing and medical care their privileged positions provide, they aren’t planning on losing any. It’s our children and parents that they are offering up on the altar of the economy. To riff on Leona Helmsly’s infamous statement, it’s only the little people who will die. Lives are acceptable losses to the rich and powerful hungering for more of both. Next May, we may feel the effects of a stronger economy, but, doubtless, we will feel the devastation of many more bereaved mothers.
Linda Petersen-Vargas
Northeast side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Janet Smith, Midtown
The reason why we dread the news of the day, yet are drawn to it, because we are trying to work our way through what the news is telling us. When guidance should be coming from the one who claims to be the leader, who has the power like Teddy Roosevelt said the advantage of the bully pulpit for the betterment or unfortunately in this case for the mockery of leadership by our president, who neither guides nor follows his own rules.
The truth is we must be smart enough and daring enough to figure out where the truth is and where it's coming from and by whom. Will the virus suddenly disappear like a bad dream or a hot wind in May? Can we imagine ourselves lucky enough that we won't get it while the numbers are increasing like the thermometer in my back yard? How long will it take to go from seventy-thousand to a hundred? Not that long I fear. Stay safe, Be smart.
Janet Smith
Midtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Phillip Davis, Oro Valley
Re: the May 11 article "Will virus put an end to spitting in sports?"
To make my point and show how easy it would be to put a stop to spitting would be to take a page out of my life. When I was drafted into the Army in 1961 and was in boot camp our drill Sargent put a stop to spitting in one day. If you spit on the ground and were caught doing so you were made to drop to the ground and lick it back up. The practice of spitting stopped very quickly. Maybe a sub set of referees to enforce the no spitting rules on and off the field of play. Maybe a fine as to a % of there pay would be a good way for them to get the message. Or maybe that if they just THINK about if they had to drop to the ground and lick it up might be enough for them to just stop spitting.
Phillip Davis
Oro Valley
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Stuart A. Ulanoff, Oro Valley
Afer President Trump's National Security Advisor Michael Flynn twice admitted he had lied to FBI investigators concerning his contacts with a Russian diplomat and after he had entered a plea of guilty to charges arising from that inestigation, the Department of Justice suddenly decided to abandon its case against Flynn.
President Trump appointee Attorney General Barr, head of the DOJ, has thus officially lowered the bar for integrity, giving total credence to British Historian Lord Acton's observation that "...absolute power corrupts absolutely..."
Stuart A. Ulanoff
Oro Valley
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Joseph Miceli, Sierra Vista
The nightly Trump political reassurance and massaging of the President’s ego is getting really old. I believe DR. Fauci and find him more trustworthy than our own President.
I am witnessing the president neglect in real time in his duties in organizing and providing the needed logistics the first responders, the men and women on the front line in the medical field.
While the president was neglecting to provide (PPE) personal protective equipment, ventilators, and genuine funds to purchase these items. The president is being vindictive with local state governors as they are requesting and saying their states are not getting federal support. The President exclaims he wants to be appreciated or will not communicate with these leaders. All the while the president is utilizing extra funds available to build his Mexican border wall and fire political enemies who had previously done their civil duties. To report complaints IAW written directives. Trump then said, “when we have 100,000 deaths in the pandemic, he has done a good job”.
Joseph Miceli
Sierra Vista
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Greg Lewis, Midtown
Re: the may 9 article "Carbon-tax bill before Congress comes with unacceptable trade-off."
I was delighted to see Dr. Barbara Warren’s guest opinion.
In the fall of 2018 William Nordhaus won the Nobel Prize in economic science for his carbon pricing model: using market forces to lower greenhouse gas emissions.
This came amidst frightening new reports of imminent danger from global climate change, and offered hope of a powerful first step toward mitigation of that threat.
Nordhaus told the NY Times that “he’d like to see (carbon pricing) understood, embraced, and endorsed ... something that is talked about and worked out as a policy proposal.”
My understanding is that HR763’s EPA restrictions are quite narrow, specific to emissions’ warming potential. EPA retains full authority to regulate all other pollution.
Crafting an effective carbon pricing bill is the goal of both supporters and opponents of HR763. So let’s keep talking. William Nordhaus would approve.
Greg Lewis
Midtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Merry Mungo, Green Valley
After what I saw yesterday, I think now would be a good time to remind us about the purpose of those annoying facial masks. I went inside Fry’s to quickly pick up something I forgot to put on my grocery pick-up order. First I heard and then saw a person, not wearing a mask, sneezing numerous times without covering his mouth and then putting back the packages of bacon he had in his hand. I would have said something but just didn’t know where to begin. I did get the meat counter person (who also wasn’t wearing a mask!) to remove those packages. That mask doesn't protect you from someone else’s coronavirus germs, it protects others from yours. Because the virus can be asymptomatic, you can be infectious and not even know it! Let’s all show respect by working together to keep each other safe so we can get back to normal as soon as we can.
Merry Mungo
Green Valley
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Frank Flasch, North side
Frustration, lies and deceit are the words that come to mind when I refer to Trump in the White House. I always thought we could rely on someone in the White House to show the skills of a leader during a national crisis. Instead we get someone who shows none of the characteristics of a leader but rather a wiener who is more interested in blaming others for his lack of actions in a dire situation. Good leaders do the work of guiding others to a place they've never been before and want to get to. They see the future possibilities and clear the way forward so others can see those possibilities, too. Good leaders don't leave people behind. But in Trumps's case, he has taken to heart a quote from Joseph Goebbels: "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." Is that what we want in our leader, I think not.
Frank Flasch
North side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Andrew Gullo, Three Points
When I was a kid I contracted Mumps, Measles and Chicken Pox. At the time there were no vaccines available. Nor was there a vaccine for Polio which everyone really feared. TV PSAs said to “avoid crowds to avoid polio.” Good luck with that in NY. I am in a high risk category for the Coronavirus. I wear a mask and face shield when I go grocery shopping about every 10 days. The rest of the time I stay home. I am retired so I don’t have to worry about a paycheck but a lot of people do. Let businesses open and let me decide where I want to go. We don’t close the country waiting for a flu vaccine that is 100% effective. According to the CDC 80,000 people died last winter alone due to the flu. NY Governor Cuomo said recently that 66% of the new virus cases were contracted at home. Let’s open for business.
Andrew Gullo
Three Points
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Jack Garner, Southeast side
Re: the May 10 article "Georgia man's death raises echoes of US racial terror legacy."
I wonder if it was purposeful or coincidental that the article printed immediately adjacent told the story of a sheriff’s deputy who, in search of a missing teen aged girl, led a group of armed white men to break in to the home of a black man. The girl was later found safe elsewhere.
Racism in America is not a thing of the past that echoes in our ears. It is an ever present thunder clap that reverberates loudly to all but those who are purposely deaf to it.
Jack Garner
Southeast side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- James Nesci, East side
Murder Hornets? Perhaps. But I'll bet that a good criminal defense attorney could get them down to Manslaughter Hornets.
James Nesci
East side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Mike Dai, Midtown
It should not be surprising that republicans, again, oppose a free and fair national election. The RNC just announced that they are putting considerable resources (financial) into fighting the mail-in vote. There is absolutely no evidence that this is a ‘fraud ridden’ process, but the Republican Party wants to suppress this form of voting, because it (and I quote from the top republican) “.....vote by mail is bad for republicans.” I believe that the vast majority of republican voters can see through this un-Democratic ploy, but will you continue to vote for a party that disregards true democracy.
Mike Dai
Midtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Helen Murphy, Sierra Vista
During President Trump's recent visit to an Arizona mask factory he urged Americans to be warriors. Being a warrior means having the willingness to lay down your life for the cause. Its ironic that during the Vietnam war Donald Trump, with his five deferments, was willing to lay down the lives of those who went in his place. Now this cowardly, bone spurs man calls himself a war president.
Helen Murphy
Sierra Vista
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Dan Gipple, Southeast side
Trump’s disregard for the life of anyone else is again on full display. No one should be surprised. Cadet bone spurs was too afraid to fight in Vietnam, as millions of us did. Now that two White House aides have COVID-19, he reportedly became “lava level” angry and took steps to protect himself.. Apparently this germaphobe is terrified that he’ll contract it.
He constantly exhorts people to return to work while little or no testing and contact tracing is provided. Yet anyone in proximity to Trump is given a test with results in 15 minutes, tests that are unavailable to most. Many aides must now wear masks, although Trump refuses because it might make him look “ridiculous”. This means that he is less likely to be infected from others, but he could asymptomatically infect them.
This lack of leadership is his hallmark – a man who is incapable of dealing with the pandemic and the job in general.
Dan Gipple
Southeast side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Updated
GOP once again comes out against fair voting
It should not be surprising that Republicans, again, oppose a free and fair national election. The RNC just announced that they are putting considerable financial resources into fighting the mail-in vote. There is absolutely no evidence that this is a “fraud ridden” process, but the Republican Party wants to suppress this form of voting. I believe that the vast majority of Republican voters can see through this un-democratic ploy, but will you continue to vote for a party that disregards true democracy?
Mike Dai
Midtown
Murder hornets need a strong defense team
Murder hornets? Perhaps. But I’ll bet that a good criminal defense attorney could get them down to “manslaughter hornets.”
James Nesci
East side
Some COVID testing not what it appears
Arizona’s Department of Health Services recently began a “testing blitz” campaign wherein they hope to test 10,000 to 20,000 Arizonans over the next few weeks. This is great news, considering Arizona is 45th in testing, at 16.5 tests per 1,000 people. As both a father and first responder, I thought it not only prudent but incumbent upon me to get tested in order to best protect my family, my crew and the citizens I serve.
But Arizonans must also be circumspect when getting tested. While some agencies and institutions provide COVID-19 testing and anti-body testing for free, others have begun to practice predatory medicine, charging inflated fees for tests of dubious reliability while falsely promising the costs will be covered by insurance. Sadly, I fear that such carpetbagging clinics are more prevalent than we suspect. I’ve experienced it first-hand. Caveat emptor.
Stephen Sweat
Midtown
Racism in America still alive and well
Re: the May 10 article “Georgia man’s death raises echoes of US racial terror legacy.”
I wonder if it was purposeful or coincidental that the article printed immediately adjacent to the story of a sheriff’s deputy who, in search of a missing teen aged girl, led a group of armed white men to break in to the home of a black man. The girl was later found safe elsewhere.
Racism in America is not a thing of the past that echoes in our ears. It is an ever present thunder clap that reverberates loudly to all but those who are purposely deaf to it.
Jack Garner
Southeast side
Some ways you can help those who are vulnerable
Our daughter is a single mom who barely made ends meet when working full-time in the hospitality industry. She has no health insurance. The business closed due to the pandemic. She applied for unemployment and public benefits immediately. Seven weeks later she has seen nothing and she qualifies for help. She is worried.
Individuals who earn low wages and don’t qualify for government benefits are more worried. Essential workers like undocumented farm workers, citizen grocery workers with an undocumented spouse and DACA residents who are frontline health-care workers will get no government benefits.
Solutions? We can open businesses cautiously, we can ask legislators to promote living wages for all workers, we can share our blessings by donating to organizations offering direct help to worried workers: The Mobile Health Program, a UA program for the uninsured and under-served, and MHC Healthcare (which are patient-centered clinics with a sliding fee scale); Movimiento Cosecha’s Undocumented Worker Fund, which was established by immigrants, and the Arizona Undocumented Workers Relief Fund.
Susie Sanders
Green Valley
Masks protect you and me
After what I saw yesterday, I think now would be a good time to remind everyone about the purpose of those annoying facial masks. I went inside Fry’s to quickly pick up something I forgot to put on my grocery pickup order. First, I heard and then saw a person, not wearing a mask, sneezing numerous times without covering his mouth and then putting back the packages of bacon he had in his hand.
I would have said something but just didn’t know where to begin. I did get the meat counter person (who also wasn’t wearing a mask!) to remove those packages. That mask doesn’t protect you from someone else’s coronavirus germs, it protects others from yours. Because the virus can present as asymptomatic in some carriers, you can be infectious and not even know it!
Let’s all show respect by working together to keep each other safe so we can get back to normal as soon as possible.
Merry Mungo
Green Valley
People should decide when business opens
When I was a kid I contracted mumps, measles and chickenpox. At the time there were no vaccines available. Nor was there a vaccine for polio, which everyone really feared. Television PSAs said to “avoid crowds to avoid polio.” Good luck with that in New York.
I am in a high risk category for the coronavirus. I wear a mask and face shield when I go grocery shopping about every 10 days. The rest of the time I stay home. I am retired so I don’t have to worry about a paycheck but a lot of people do.
Let businesses open and let me decide where I want to go. We don’t close the country waiting for a flu vaccine that is 100% effective. According to the CDC 80,000 people died last winter alone due to the flu. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said recently that 66% of the new virus cases were contracted at home. Let’s open for business.
Andrew Gullo
Three Points
Fitz’s Mother’s Day column was sweet
Re: the May 10 opinion “A Mother’s Day shrine filled with Polaroids, memories.”
As a mother and a certified Graphologist (Handwriting Analyst) I read the sweet tribute by David Fitzsimmons, a card written by his mother, Artha, on his college graduation in blue cursive words. Handwriting reveals your conscious thoughts, but how it is done reveals your subconscious motivation.
The fact that is was in cursive, not printed, showed the writer (mom) wanted to be socially connected to the person. The fact that she used blue ink (as opposed to black ink) showed her message was loving, not harsh. Too bad I couldn’t see the small letter “p.” If it showed a spoke going up, it would show a pride she felt in her son, the college graduate. Do not give up your cursive writing.
Joan Belzer
Northeast side
President Trump can’t stop lying
“Frustration,” “lies” and “deceit” are the words that come to mind when I refer to President Trump in the White House. I always thought we could rely on someone in the White House to show the skills of a leader during a national crisis. Instead we get someone who shows none of the characteristics of a leader but rather a whiner who is more interested in blaming others for his lack of actions in a dire situation.
Good leaders do the work of guiding others to a place they’ve never been before and want to get to. They see the future possibilities and clear the way forward so others can see those possibilities, too. Good leaders don’t leave people behind.
But in Trumps’s case, he has taken to heart a well-known sayings: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” Is that what we want in our leader? I think not.
Frank Flasch
North side
Carbon pricing policy must be thought out
Re: the May 9 opinion piece “Carbon-tax bill before Congress comes with unacceptable trade-off.”
I was delighted to see Dr. Barbara Warren’s guest opinion.
In the fall of 2018, William Nordhaus won the Nobel Prize in economic science for his carbon pricing model: using market forces to lower greenhouse gas emissions.
This came amidst frightening new reports of imminent danger from global climate change, and offered hope of a powerful first step toward mitigation of that threat.
Nordhaus told the New York Times that he’d like to see carbon pricing understood, embraced, endorsed and worked out as a policy proposal.
My understanding is that HR763’s EPA restrictions are quite narrow, specific to emissions’ warming potential. The EPA retains full authority to regulate all other pollution. Crafting an effective carbon pricing bill is the goal of both supporters and opponents of HR763. So let’s keep talking. Nordhaus would approve.
Greg Lewis
Midtown
Entertained letter writer displays lack of dignity
Re: the May 11 letter “Star’s letters to editor never fail to entertain.”
This letter, ironically, was written to condescendingly denigrate those writers. It calls them “Buttinskies, do-gooders, nannies and wannabe managers of the universe,” implying their concerns, fears and advice is a humorous joke to the writer, which he will ignore .
But how smart is he to treat the advice of several medical doctors’ letters as a joke, treat the advice of former state department worker as humorous nonsense, or the “greatest generation” writers’ advice as something to make fun of? I suspect he has a hard time justifying the actions and inactions of his political icon so in a “shoot the messenger” approach, he demeans the writers who point out the facts and truths.
Of course this letter should provide him with uproarious entertainment.
John Kuisti
West side
Fauci is doing a great job leading us through crisis
The nightly President Trump political reassurance and massaging of the his ego is getting really old. I believe Dr. Anthony Fauci, and find him more trustworthy than our own president.
I am witnessing the president neglect, in real time, his duties in organizing and providing the needed logistics for first responders, the men and women on the front line in the medical field.
The president is neglecting to provide personal protective equipment, ventilators and genuine funds to purchase these items. He is being vindictive with local state governors as they are requesting and saying their states are not getting federal support.
The president exclaims he wants to be appreciated or will not communicate with these leaders. All the while he is utilizing extra funds available to build his Mexican border wall and fire political enemies who had previously done their civil duties.
Joseph Miceli
Sierra Vista
Enforcing spitting rules for sports
Re: the May 11 article “Will virus put an end to spitting in sports?”
To make my point and show how easy it would be to put a stop to spitting, I’ll take a page out of my life. When I was drafted into the Army in 1961 and was in boot camp our drill sergeant put a stop to spitting in one day.
If you spit on the ground and were caught doing so, you were made to drop to the ground and lick it back up. The practice of spitting stopped very quickly. Maybe a subset of referees can enforce the no spitting rules on and off the field of play.
Maybe fining players a percentage of their pay would be a good way for them to get the message. Or maybe if they just think about if they had to drop to the ground and lick it up, it might be enough for them to just stop spitting.
Phillip Davis
Oro Valley
Sacrificing lives for the economy
Bereaved Mother’s Day was May 3. Women whose children were ripped from them by gun violence, illness or accident, are remembered one day a year, though they feel the loss daily. Now, as the deaths by COVID-19 increase and the CDC warns us that the crisis is not over, the Trump administration and GOP leaders are telling us that the lives of our beloved are fodder for the economy.
How many loved ones are they willing to sacrifice?
With access to testing and medical care that their privileged positions provide, they aren’t planning on losing any. It’s our children and parents that they are offering up on the altar of the economy.
To riff on Leona Helmsley’s infamous statement, it’s only the little people who will die. Lives are acceptable losses to the rich and powerful hungering for more of both. Next May, we may feel the effects of a stronger economy, but, doubtless, we will feel the devastation of many more bereaved mothers.
Linda Petersen-Vargas
Northeast side
- Thomas Brennan, Southwest side
Re: the April 25 article "The left's all-mail voting fantasy must be put to rest."
Despite Mr. Eppihimer’s claims that voting by mail is not the answer, the truth is exactly the opposite.
In April, a 60 year old poll worker in Chicago died from the coronavirus. Because the Wisconsin Supreme Court refused to delay the recent vote in that state, 7 voters in Wisconsin caught the virus, despite the fact that most people were wearing masks and maintaining proper distances. THAT is the reason mail in voting (with no excuses necessary) should be mandatory in every state.
Standing in line to vote is not the same as going to the grocery store simply due to the fact that going to the grocery store does not involve standing in line for extended periods of time The most recent example of ballot harvesting fraud was actually committed by a Republican strategist (Leslie McCrae Dowless Jr) in North Carolina in February of last year
Sorry, Mr. Eppihimer, your arguments do not make sense.
Thomas Brennan
Southwest side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- David Vernon, East side
Get real. Human beings need air, water, food and shelter, without which they will die. Nobody dies from lack of a haircut, or a tattoo, or entertainment. The economy does not consist of the stock market, the unemployment rate, or the public pronouncements of government, local, state, or federal. The economy is the sum of all transactions: people buying things like food, clothing, energy and toys. If people cannot go buy things without catching a deadly disease, they will not go. We have food and goods delivery, and people who will deliver them, so all a person needs is the cash on which to live and shelter until the disease is defeated by vaccines and treatments. All any closed business needs to survive is cash to pay their fixed costs. If their unemployed workers are getting government cash, businesses do not need to meet payrolls. The Federal government can borrow all the cash needed, pay people and businesses directly, and repay it over 50 years. What we lack is leadership!
David Vernon
East side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Harry Peck, Tubac
A FABLE
Once upon a time many nations were ruled by Kings. They lived in palaces and were surrounded by others, generally family members, called royalty. When the nation faced danger, the king was called upon to lead the fight for his nation. Battles were fought and the King led the troops. He was at the front of forces leading the charge against the enemy. A king generally welcomed this role as it allowed a public display of his courage, and leadership.
Today this nation has a leader who thinks he is a King. We face a battle with a mighty virus that can destroy us. Unfortunately the “King” has no courage, no competency and no leadership. He sits in his castle and sends his people into battle without the necessary weapons and armor as casualties and deaths increase.
Soon the people will have an opportunity to depose this king and save the Country. Let us hope we do so.
Harry Peck
Tubac
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Gordon Hamilton, Midtown
In 1842 Edgar Allan Poe published The Masque of the Red Death. In the story, Prince Prospero and 1,000 of his nobles lock themselves in an Abby to protect themselves from a plague that is devastating the surrounding countryside. Living in luxury and with callous indifference to the death and suffering surrounding them, they revel in their personal security until a mysterious stranger shows up at a masquerade ball with fatal consequences. Now that the coronavirus has breached the walls of the White House, it is hard not to draw parallels. Let’s just hope, for the sake of the Country, that President Trump’s hubris is not as costly as that of Prince Prospero.
Gordon Hamilton
Midtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Jan Freed, Downtown
- Updated
Re: the May 9 article "Carbon-tax bill before Congress comes with unacceptable trade-off."
In a recent Column, Barbara Warren correctly lays out the dangers of climate change.
One cannot overstate these dangers. Recent studies show billions of us unable to live in future heat zones, just one consequence of soaring past a climate virtually unchanged for 8 thousand years until now.
Unfortunately, she attacks a powerful remedy, HR763, which puts a fee on carbon and rebates these fees monthly to citizens, basically ‘paying’ us to go green. Emissions fall more sharply than by an effective Clear Air Act and EPA, achieving carbon reductions of 90% by 2050.
Yes, it would put the EPA on pause for ten years. But, the EPA has been gutted; no loss there. HR763 has safety nets, increasing fees if emissions do not fall rapidly enough. It leaves protections against other forms of pollution intact.
The EPA and Clear Air Act were ‘undone’ by the unfortunate Trump Administration, but try to take away monthly rebates!
Jan Freed
Downtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Judy Davidson, Foothills
Are you in one of these hater camps? This pandemic has thrown the world into chaos, and instead of being supportive and encouraging many have jumped into the Hater Camps. Social media, ridiculous headlines, talk shows and negative journalism. Put your tiny little feet into the huge shoes of President Trump or Governor Cuomo; look into a mirror, and be honest. Could you make the decisions they face? Are their decisions perfect? No, but they are in the trenches fighting the horrific fight. It’s easy to be a negative, loud mouth arm chair quarterback, and past judgement on what should have, could have. It’s another thing to try and lead through disasters. By the way, hating is bad for your health too.
Judy Davidson
Foothills
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Karin Militello, Northwest side
Why are there so many people not respecting protocols in place for this deadly Coronavirus disease? Do they think they are invincible? Do they not take this deadly disease seriously? Do they not care that they might be carriers without symptoms, only to spread their germs? Obviously not, because some local businesses don't require their employees to wear masks. More people than not don't wear masks! Nor, do they respect policies in place about social distancing. We ALL need to work together and help each other by wearing masks in public and being respectful. All people are vulnerable to this disease! Don't think you aren't.
Karin Militello
Northwest side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Ann Nichols, Foothills
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have received excellent guidance from scientists who work within our public health system. Some, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, have joined the Administration’s briefings and provided accurate information and advice. Others have worked behind the scenes reviewing data and creating models to analyze disease progression and resource needs. As a retired professor who taught social policy, I’ve been impressed by their effective and helpful work.
It was shocking to read that the Trump administration has refused to distribute a 17 page report from CDC experts on “Guidance for Implementing the Opening Up America Again Framework.” It provides science-based recommendations for the steps states and cities could take as they lift restrictions and re-open facilities. Suppression of a work designed to protect the public and assist states in carrying out the responsibilities the President has delegated to them is deeply disturbing. Thanks to the courageous official who released a copy. Our communities will be helped and lives may be saved.
Ann Nichols
Foothills
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Bill Smith, Green Valley
I am self employed and was determined to be "ineligible" despite being approved by DES staff after applying for unemployment benefits. This is a total fraud and I will not be voting for Ducey or any other politician who lied to us about this scamdemic.
Bill Smith
Green Valley
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Dennis L. McKiernan, East side
If everybody wears a mask, the number of new COVID-19 infections falls dramatically.
As an example, virtually everyone in Japan wears a mask. Japan did shelter in place, but Tokyo is bustling, mass transit jammed, bars open, and other activities are running full blast.
Japan population 126 million; Covid cases, 15798 (about 16 thousand)
US population 326 million; Covid cases, 1380000 (1.38 million)
So Japan’s population is about 40% (4 tenths) that of the USA, so you would expect that for every 10 USA Covid cases that Japan would have 4 Covid cases.
In other words, the USA rate would be about 2.5 times that of Japan.
But guess what:
US Covid cases are 86 times Japan’s cases.
But practically *everybody* in Japan wears a mask in public.
But practically *no one* in the USA wore a mask for months from the beginning of the the pandemic.
We screwed up.
Dennis L. McKiernan
East side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- cliff Moulton, East side
No one needs to create questionable comments by Trump. He does plenty by himself. But it’s sad when the media purposely misrepresents what he actually says.
Trump NEVER said the coronavirus was a hoax. Go to Google for the facts. Enter: Trump-virus-hoax-statements.
Here, both FACTCHECK and SNOPES agree. During a February rally Trump likened the Democrats' criticism of his administration's response to the coronavirus outbreak to their impeachment efforts, saying "this is their new hoax."
Trump used the word “hoax” but he makes it clear he was talking about attacks on his administration’s handling of the outbreak, not the virus itself.
David Fitzsimmons continues to mislead his readers on this. On May 7th and 11th, he intimated that Trump had called the Coronavirus a hoax.
It is interesting that Trump’s actual statement is TRUE. The media spins a hoax instead of factually covering the truth. Fitz peddles the hoax. Trump’s statement was correct. Fitz proved that twice in one week. How ironic, twice.
cliff Moulton
East side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Peter Seidl, Midtown
I’ve been drafted into GeneralIssimo Stable Genius’ Army, but I don’t know if I’m qualified morally or intellectually to serve. To wit:
Trump is so smart that he has been able to outwit COVID-19 and avoid the embarrassing prospect of wearing a mask, which his many enemies could use against him. Moreover, he has outwitted the Constitution and done away with troubling details that might slow lesser intellects while greasing the wheels for his many thuggish buddies to get out of jail free. Truly a Very Stable Genius;
and we can’t overlook the Chosen One’s stranglehold on the Code of Hammurabi. His moral superiority allows him to Ignore the niceties of behavior that we of the great unwashed called “norms”. By virtue of His Virtue he can label critics “Scum” and accuse a former president as perpetrator of the “ biggest political crime in the history of the country”.
I’m neither good nor omnipotent. This is one draft I have to dodge.
Peter Seidl
Midtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Donald Vandine, Sierra Vista
The Star's fact check page "Trump is not credible on US death toll from virus." Why is that news? Trump obviously has a truth problem. He has been cited for telling thousands of lies in 3 years.
In Obama's 8 years only one statement stands out and it was more likely an error. It had to do with the ACA.
Trump's lies cause problems with other governments, legislation and in November, probably his election. We need to ask ourselves why we even bother to televise or prints what he says.
We especially need a reliable leader in such a time as this virus. Thanks to Trump we do not have one. We really need facts to get us through this tough time, but we have a habitual liar.
How have we gone from a president who could not tell a lie to one who cannot tell the truth?
Donald Vandine
Sierra Vista
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Emily Morrison, Midtown
Time and again I ask my Republican friends to enumerate their 'Facts' that support the idea of "missing analysis' and 'blind following, by Democrats, such as suggested by the Star writer.
As a life lone, registered, voting republican, I fear it is 'our' Party, that of my parents and grandparents, that has been tragically overtaken by 'Believers' with shallow thinking - who yield to the claims (and propaganda) of FOX (not) News. To a person what I get, instead of specifics to back their views, are deflections and denials.
Time and again FOX has been shown to present very biased reporting, and it is the mainstream media that presents "Vetted and Verified" Facts - or their reporters would be fired !
Emily Morrison
Midtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Rosalie Wright, Oro Valley
Hmm – since the dead are receiving stimulus checks - wonder if they’ll also receive mail-in ballots to vote in the November presidential election.
Rosalie Wright
Oro Valley
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
More like this...
- Herb Stark, Downtown
Entertainer Frank Sinatra left us twenty two years ago on May 14, 1998. First and foremost, his legacy will be his music and singing style that reflected the music of America for decades. That's more than enough for me and of course we can add acting, directing, dancing and philanthropic ventures both here and abroad to round out his extraordinary life! So here's a big 'Thank You' to Frank Sinatra for the joy and happiness he continues to bring to us via CDs, LPs, films and documentaries as we remember the unforgettable Francis Albert Sinatra!
Herb Stark
Downtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Ken Wright, East side
Donald Trump's pet project, the border wall, could end up costing more if Trump's wish to paint it comes to fruition. The estimated cost for the paint job is between 500 million and 3 billion, outrageous! Wouldn't it be ironic if the very person who is charged with the well-being of this country is responsible for bankrupting it!
Ken Wright
East side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Edward Heller, Northwest side
"We could lose control of the virus," Dr. Anthony Fauci, May 12, 2020. Wake up America! If you need a picture of what he's talking about, google images of the USA during the 1918 pandemic. In 1918 there were so many wakes held in home parlors, that after the devastation people changed the name to "living rooms," in order to emotionally heal. My grandmother was one of the unfortunate ones. 23 years old and pregnant. She was dead a few days after catching the illness, during the so called "second wave." To all of you, who proudly fly the "Trump" flag, please save them to cover the caskets of the dead, so those grieving a loved one's loss, will understand why it happened.
Edward Heller
Northwest side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Mark Wurz, Northwest side
The recent furor caused by the proposal of voting by mail is senseless. I have been voting by mail (absentee/early voting) for years. Anyone can do it. It is effective and easy. Apply to the county, they will make sure your registration is valid and send you a ballot. Any argument to he contrary is phony. If you don't want to stand in line and vote as America has for hundreds of years apply for your early ballot,
If you want to vote by mail, DO IT. Our elections are safe, secure and honest. A blanket Vote by Mail program is backed by those who want to cheat. Vote by mail is in place, workable and viable.
Mark Wurz
Northwest side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Rudy Van Renterghem, Oro Valley
America is number one again in the world, with more virus infections and deaths than all other countries!
Our current president stated "and one day, like a miracle, the coronavirus will disappear" and so will Trump!
Like him, I take no responsibility for the my statement, but will take full credit when it happens.
Rudy Van Renterghem
Oro Valley
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Paul Joy, Sierra Vista
Congratulations to President Trump for carrying out his promise to Make America Great Again.. We are now No. 1 in the world in coronavirus cases at just over 1.3 million, and No. 1 in the world in coronavirus deaths at just over 80,000 (both numbers as of May 11).
Who would have thought that Trump could have gotten us to No. 1 in any category? When he finally manages to eliminate science, truth, and education, think of all the other categories in which we might climb to the top. I’m pretty sure his next executive order will be to eliminate all educational instruction above the 5th grade so that no one in the country will be able to achieve a higher level of education than he has.
Paul Joy
Sierra Vista
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Sherry Steele, Foothills
Everyone has a constitutional right to not wear a mask. That right stops when it meets my constitutional right as a business owner to require anyone entering my establishment to wear a mask. This is simple you keep your right just don't impinge on mine by trying to enter my business without a mask.
Sherry Steele
Foothills
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Kit Egan, Midtown
Surely I’m not the only one confused by the acrimony, the outrage, on the right with regards to the Democratic response to the ever changing sexual assault allegations against Joe Biden. After all, wasn’t it the right who, during the Kavanaugh hearings, implemented a new rule whereby, in cases of unproven sexual assault allegations, the man is given a pass? And now the right is shocked that the left is willing to play by the right’s new Kavanaugh rule? I’m confused. OK, confused and amused. But then I have a Conservative nephew who, when asked if this or that particular act is moral or immoral, demands to know if the act was committed by a Conservative or a Liberal before he’ll render a judgement. Morals, it seems, can be tricky.
Kit Egan
Midtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- dennis davis, East side
A writer today seemed to complain about the tenor of recent letters. I will reply to points made:
Since the economy began reviving in mid-2010, and has been very strong since, it's false to credit the Trump with that. All he did was stand out of the way.
The Trump bellowed about increased border security, but this "wall" has no impact at all. Except, of course, the environmental damage.
The Trump claimed better trade pacts, but the end result is increased US prices due to the tariffs.
Now, the writer claims leaving the climate accord as a plus. Quite difficult to understand that as global warming makes life in southern Arizona more difficult.
And, the writer needs to understand how difficult it is to describe the Trump without the use of unprintable language. It would be better if he were a Republican - but he certainly isn't.
dennis davis
East side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Sheldon Metz, Northeast side
We are a Free Nation. I ask these “organized (by whom) protestors,” where are my freedoms and the freedoms of 80 percent of Americans, Blue or Red, who want the shut-down to continue? Where are the freedoms of people who have susceptible conditions and must remain safe? Extremists simply want to fight, emulating their leader. If one of their own came down with COVID-19, they’d demand to be at the top of the list for treatment.
These anarchistic “bullies” care not for you or me. If you’ve seen videos or photos of the protests, you’ll notice these people are obeying the social distancing rules. A few, even wear masks. Until today.
Ironically, these people, unaware of their own hypocrisy, demand a Free Michigan. If Michigan - if the U.S. - were not free, they wouldn’t be able to carry weapons in public or protest the Michigan State House. Michigan is trying to maintain the freedom of the vast majority of citizens who reject their premise.
Sheldon Metz
Northeast side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- David Burford, Northwest side
Business Insider reported today, 4/30, that before mid-March, Biden campaign operatives were sent to the University of Delaware's Library where Joe Biden's Senate records are archived. Tara Reade has accused Biden of sexual assault and asked for the opening of those archives to possibly show her complaint against him and perhaps others. A spokesperson for the university said Biden campaign operatives "rifled through" the documents on at least one occasion. The university had previously stated it would make the documents public, but now refuses to do so. The current Chairman of the Board at the university is John Cochran, a longtime Biden donor. He used to be an executive with Delaware credit card company MBNA and in 1992 purchased Biden's house at the asking price of $1.2 million. MBNA contributed heavily to Biden's Senate campaign and also hired his son Hunter as a consultant. At the time, Biden was supporting legislation proposed by the credit card industry and opposed by consumer groups. This all stinks about Biden!
David Burford
Northwest side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Alice Moreno, North side
I have read numerous Letters to the Editor from Democrats asserting that Trump's actions relating to the Corona virus resulted in unnecessary deaths. Well, now the same can be said, in my opinion, about their Corona virus hero NY Governor Mario Cuomo. Democrats have held up Cuomo as the beacon of greatness in addressing the virus pandemic, while attacking Trump. New York has had over 5,000 deaths to people residing in long term care nursing homes. The highest death toll in the country. A March 25 state health directive ordered nursing homes to take recovering elderly corona patients discharged from hospitals. Facility operators complained they were left defenseless as the virus spread among patients and staff. New York was not reporting the number of virus cases in nursing homes and there was lack of testing of residents. All of this created infections of seniors in nursing homes resulting in unnecessary sickness and death. Gov. Cuomo recently rescinded the March 25 directive, But the carnage has already been done.
Alice Moreno
North side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Bruno Rescigna, East side
Given the President's inept handling of the pandemic and his strange ideas on fighting the virus, let us pray that
Trump University doesn't open a medical school.
Bruno Rescigna
East side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Don Flood, Green Valley
Do you think that the flavor of news reporting and the apparent bias in the majority of the professional opinion writers has kept the public from seeking to understand current events? Or do they just follow the first few sentences and make up their mind. I bring this up based upon a letter “Relief money not given to those in need.” It is clear the writer does not understand the terms of the Payroll Protection Program. It takes company organization to employ people so they can earn a living for more than a month or two. Saying that the stimulus gave the money personally to the rich and to Trump’s companies is clearly a piece of information most likely learned from the first 2 or 3 lines of a news story describing an extraordinarily complex financial undertaking. This writer will go on with her mind set regardless of the facts.
Don Flood
Green Valley
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Alan Barreuther, Foothills
In Orwell’s novel, “1984” it was, “Love is hate,” and “War is peace.” Today 60,000 Americans died and the Trump administration says, “It's a great success.” Is this the 2020 Newspeak?
Alan Barreuther
Foothills
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Michael Mount, Foothills
Re:Critics question flexible language of Ducey’s order. What we have is a politician equivocating. On one hand Ducey makes a stand for social distancing and on the other is allowing exceptions based on “constitutional protected activity”. Our constitution, written in 1787, has been changed over the years but never addressed limitations during a pandemic. And to make exceptions for religion and for protests defies common sense. We know that Covid 19 is spread through social contact, thus the need for six feet social distancing. We know people occasionally sneeze, cough and talk, thus the need for ALL to wear masks. I believe we know that God gave us brains with the expectation we would use them. Given that, people should understand the danger they place themselves and others in by ignoring social distancing. God did not give us protection from the virus and we should act accordingly.
Michael Mount
Foothills
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Tim O'Connor, Southeast side
It seems obvious to me that the only reason the President would speculate on the ingestion of disinfectants is because he has never held a bottle of one in his hands. If he had he might have noticed the poison label that is mandatory on all of them due to government regulations.
Tim O'Connor
Southeast side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Norman Patten, Midtown
I am taken aback by the believe that LTG Flynn was “tricked” or somehow treated unfairly when he confessed to lying to the FBI. I haven’t seen the released emails, I have seen the reporting. As a retired US Army intelligence officer who commanded several counterintelligence offices and who ran very sensitive operations, I think I have some credibility on source/witness/object interviews. Before such interviews agents routinely review available information, discuss how to tactically interview the subject and what the “line” of the interview should be. To conduct such an interview without a “strategic” plan would be incompetence writ large! Here is the true irony: LTG Flynn was a US Army Intelligence Officer! He led the Defense Intelligence Agency. I remember when he commanded the Brigade which trained US Army Intelligence soldiers at Ft. Huachuca. If anyone should have known what was to be expected in an interview with the FBI and what those conducting the interview would have “gamed” out prior to sitting down with him, it was LTG Flynn.
Norman Patten
Midtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- By Mort Rosenblum Special to the Arizona Daily Star
The following column is the opinion and analysis of the writer.
True enough, as one reader noted recently, the Daily Star’s morning crop of letters beats a double shot of espresso to get the blood flowing. Last week, however, one hit me like a Lysol margarita. The writer, objecting to a Leonard Pitts Jr. column, pronounced: “Journalism is dead in America.”
I’m pleased to confirm that journalism is not dead even though, increasingly, some brains seem to be. We now face a growing COVID-19 calamity. In the long term, climate collapse imperils humanity. This is no time to poke out our own eyes like some crazed Oedipus Rex.
In fact, solid, credible reporting and fact-based news analyses are better than they have ever been. But it takes some thought to find them among a towering slag heap of shoddy work tainted by outright propaganda. “Media” is as meaningless a descriptor as “food.”
Someone who stuffs a shopping cart with junk food and leaves nutritious options on the shelf can hardly blame the supermarket.
Technology changes by the week. Looking back, it seems as if we scratched out our stories with quill pens when I worked at the Star in the 1960s. But the basic tenet of American journalism remains the same: news stories are on news pages; opinion is labeled as such.
Pitts is a Pulitzer-winning, nationally syndicated columnist and a favorite at the Tucson Festival of Books. If everyone agreed with everything he wrote, he’d be out of work. If he is too “liberal,” whatever that means, there is are plenty of right-wing extremes elsewhere.
Why would intelligent voters not want to read viewpoints that differ from their own? Have we become so tribalized, narrow-minded and — OK, there’s no other word — ignorant that we refuse to compute anything that does comfort our own prejudices?
There is much to criticize about “the media,” but a general condemnation — “journalism is dead” — is preposterous, particularly at a time when journalists themselves are dying, killed while getting close to actual nonalternative truth.
We lost at least 134 colleagues in Syria over recent years, not counting those injured or held as hostages in stinking cells. Happily, the death toll dropped to “only” two dozen in 2019 — 10 of them just south of our border in Mexico.
That is the extreme. But it illustrates the fundamental crisis that news organizations face today.
In earlier days, beyond the three TV networks and radio, there were only newspapers. Readers subscribed, and advertisers bought space. Publishers paid skilled reporters a living wage, covered their expenses and still turned a decent profit.
Now, with so much “content” on TV and online, too many people think news should come for free. And that is often what it’s worth. It’s easy enough to make a car’s gas gauge read full. Use a garden hose. But then try going somewhere.
Foundations, public funds and private grants provide excellent work at no cost. But it takes commitment to separate that from partisan slant, outright propaganda or inept reporting that inadvertently gets things wrong. Mostly, it delves deeply into specific subjects.
Newspapers remain the basis for a grasp on local and global realities, that essential big picture, which gives a democratic society the common understanding of nonalternative facts. Good government is all but impossible without that.
Plenty of papers hang on. Too often, corporate owners starve them of resources to increase profits. A few wealthy owners buy them for personal or political reasons. But good ones survive by their credibility, supported by readers who trust them.
When a mysterious coronavirus suddenly hit America hard, it was baffling to see fist fights among people desperate for toilet paper. What matters in a crisis is newsprint, with reliable words and informed comment to help a society survive.
If you’re gonna wear a mask, do it right
Please wear your mask correctly. I am a registered nurse with more than 40 years experience wearing masks in the operating room.
Pinch your mask at the bridge of your nose. Pull the mask firmly under your chin. If you are the rare person with a respiratory system so compromised you can’t breathe while wearing a mask, you should not be out in public with or without a mask.
Your mask should be on your face or off your person. A mask hanging around your neck is the equivalent of wearing a used tissue as a necklace.
It is not necessary to remove your mask to talk on your phone. Your voice carries just fine through a mask.
Don’t think you are clever if you remove your mask as soon as you pass the checkpoint at Costco. You aren’t clever. You are thoughtless, selfish and dangerous.
A mask if far more comfortable than an endotracheal tube connected to a respirator. We must do what we can to protect one another.
Ina Moreno
East side
Remembering Ol’ Blue Eyes
Entertainer Frank Sinatra left us 22 years ago today, on May 14, 1998. First and foremost, his legacy will be his music and singing style that reflected the music of America for decades. That’s more than enough for me!
Of course we can add acting, directing, dancing and philanthropic ventures both here and abroad to round out his extraordinary life! So here’s a big “thank you” to Frank Sinatra for the joy and happiness he continues to bring to us via CDs, LPs, films and documentaries as we remember the unforgettable Francis Albert Sinatra!
Herb Stark
Downtown
Confounded by the right
Surely I’m not the only one confused by the acrimony and outrage on the right with regards to the Democratic response to the ever-changing sexual assault allegations against Joe Biden. After all, wasn’t it the right who, during the Kavanaugh hearings, implemented a new rule whereby, in cases of unproven sexual assault allegations, the man is given a pass?
And now the right is shocked that the left is willing to play by the right’s new Kavanaugh rule? I’m confused. OK, confused and amused.
But then I have a conservative nephew who, when asked if this or that particular act is moral or immoral, demands to know if the act was committed by a conservative or a liberal before he’ll render a judgment. Morals, it seems, can be tricky.
Kit Egan
Midtown
No shoes, no shirt, no mask
Everyone has a constitutional right to not wear a mask. That right stops when it meets my constitutional right as a business owner to require anyone entering my establishment to wear a mask. This is simple — you keep your right, just don’t impinge on mine by trying to enter my business without a mask.
Sherry Steele
Foothills
Keep ’em coming
Re: the May 11 letter “Star’s letters to editor never fail to entertain.”
In this letter, the writer says that the people who submit letters to the editor are trying to change the world into their model of the way things should be. They are not at all; they are merely people who have the courage to express their opinions, conclusions and beliefs, to not only family and friends but to the public at large. I applaud them.
There are individuals and groups these days who think that everyone should believe only what they believe, á la George Orwell’s “1984.” To them, the only truth is their truth. This is dangerous, as proven by past despots of the world. Free expression of opinion by letters to the editor are one means of preventing this from happening.
So all of you do-gooders, nannies and know-it-alls, hit those keyboards! Keep those letters coming. I love ’em.
Tom Henderson
West side
Voting by mail works, shouldn’t be mandatory
The recent furor caused by the proposal of voting by mail is senseless. I have been voting by mail (absentee/early voting) for years. Anyone can do it. It is effective and easy.
Apply to the county, they will make sure your registration is valid and send you a ballot. Any argument to the contrary is phony. If you don’t want to stand in line and vote as America has for hundreds of years apply for your early ballot.
If you want to vote by mail, do it. Our elections are safe, secure and honest. A blanket vote by mail program is backed by those who want to cheat. Vote by mail is in place, workable and viable.
Mark Wurz
Northwest side
Senators, please extend school food programs
The coronavirus has caused both a catastrophic health crisis and an economic one, pushing thousands of families into poverty and hunger in Arizona.
Even in this crisis, Arizona has been able to feed kids. Nationwide child nutrition waivers issued by the USDA gave school districts and community groups the ability to reach kids by packaging meals for curbside pick-up and delivery.
Now these nationwide waivers are set to expire June 30, at the height of summer hunger. Without the flexibilities these waivers provide, schools and community organizations will not be able to reach kids with the food they need.
I hope Arizona’s representatives in Congress, Sens. Martha McSally and Kyrsten Sinema, will help feed kids this summer by urging the USDA to extend all nationwide child nutrition waivers through Sept. 30. The road to economic recovery begins with families in Arizona having the food they need for kids to thrive.
Erica Olmstead
Downtown
We’re No. 1, we’re No. 1!
Congratulations to President Trump for carrying out his promise to Make America Great Again. As of May 13, we are now No. 1 in the world in coronavirus cases at just over 1.4 million, and No. 1 in the world in coronavirus deaths at over 80,000.
Who would have thought that Trump could have gotten us to No. 1 in any category? When he finally manages to eliminate science, truth and education, think of all the other categories in which we might climb to the top. I’m pretty sure his next executive order will be to eliminate all educational instruction above the 5th grade so that no one in the country will be able to achieve a higher level of education than he has.
Paul Joy
Sierra Vista
I’ll take the credit, not the criticism
America is No. 1 again in the world, with more virus infections and deaths than any other country!
Our current president stated “and one day, like a miracle, the coronavirus will disappear,” and so will Trump!
Like him, I take no responsibility for my statement but will take full credit when it happens.
Rudy Van Renterghem
Oro Valley
Thank you, Star, for covering the reopenings
Re: the May 12 article “Restaurants have a slow start as doors reopen to customers.”
A really big thank you to the Arizona Daily Star reporters for interviewing restaurant, bar and hair salon owners and workers about the difficulties of reopening amid the COVID-19 pandemic. So many of us are clamoring to get back to normal, and we want our favorite hang-outs to open as soon as possible.
Your articles are sensitizing us to the challenges these business owners face. Reopening is not the magic bullet we fantasized about. Especially not for the business owners. I hope it will be better than being closed. Good luck to all!
Carol Evans
Midtown
The numbers don’t lie
Re: the May 12 article “ ‘Too Soon Arizona’ campaign calls reopenings premature.”
I am astonished by the relaxation of social distancing, stay-at-home orders and reopening of public places including restaurants, gyms and salons ordered by Gov. Doug Ducey. He clearly bowed to political pressure and ideology over scientific evidence and thereby is risking the health and welfare of our people.
Anyone with a basic understanding of math can see with their own eyes that the COVID-19 trajectory curve is going almost straight up as cases are increasing. Only 2% of Arizona’s population has been tested since the beginning of the outbreak, which is woefully inadequate based on the CDC guidelines of what we need to test, track and isolate safely in order to contain this virus.
Ducey is performing a profound disservice to Arizona residents by prematurely opening. Expect steep increase in infections and deaths from COVID-19 in Arizona.
Marilyn Orenstein,
retired physician
North side
14-day trend line would help in graphic
I appreciate the daily graphic on the Tucson and Region page, “COVID-19 in Arizona” that shows the number of cases by county each day and related data. However, understanding the evolution of the virus in our locality and making decisions for ourselves and our workplaces, requires a view of the daily and weekly trend.
Please print us a daily graphic showing statistics on COVID-19 cases and deaths over at least a 14-day period. And let’s remember that a steady decrease in these numbers over time is only one of the conditions that public health experts recommend must be met before it is safe to relax protective measures.
In fact, there are numerous new protocols and resources that must be in place before we even think about resuming social contact as we were previously accustomed, in order to protect ourselves and our community from the risk of further harm.
Monica Mueller
Midtown
Mayor, what about transportation workers?
Our newly elected mayor, Regina Romero, has disagreed with Gov. Doug Ducey’s recent COVID-19 regulations and wants to keep us at home rather than let us work as she ignores her public transportation workforce. My wife, who has created a team to provide free face masks, received a call last night from a bus driver who stated that they have received nothing from the state, their union nor the city.
The driver asked for at least 300 masks for drivers since no one has provided them with any. And not only for drivers, but mechanics and other staff as well. How is the city spending money during this pandemic? We should all demand a detailed report when this is all over. Will the city comply? I doubt it.
Mariano Rodriguez
Midtown
- Linda Petersen-Vargas, Northeast side
Bereaved Mother’s Day was May 3. Women whose children were ripped from them by gun violence, illness or accident, are remembered one day a year, though they feel the loss daily. Now, as the deaths by COVID-19 increase and the CDC warns us that the crisis is not over, the Trump administration and GOP leaders are telling us that the lives of our beloved are fodder for the economy. How many loved ones are they willing to sacrifice? With access to testing and medical care their privileged positions provide, they aren’t planning on losing any. It’s our children and parents that they are offering up on the altar of the economy. To riff on Leona Helmsly’s infamous statement, it’s only the little people who will die. Lives are acceptable losses to the rich and powerful hungering for more of both. Next May, we may feel the effects of a stronger economy, but, doubtless, we will feel the devastation of many more bereaved mothers.
Linda Petersen-Vargas
Northeast side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Janet Smith, Midtown
The reason why we dread the news of the day, yet are drawn to it, because we are trying to work our way through what the news is telling us. When guidance should be coming from the one who claims to be the leader, who has the power like Teddy Roosevelt said the advantage of the bully pulpit for the betterment or unfortunately in this case for the mockery of leadership by our president, who neither guides nor follows his own rules.
The truth is we must be smart enough and daring enough to figure out where the truth is and where it's coming from and by whom. Will the virus suddenly disappear like a bad dream or a hot wind in May? Can we imagine ourselves lucky enough that we won't get it while the numbers are increasing like the thermometer in my back yard? How long will it take to go from seventy-thousand to a hundred? Not that long I fear. Stay safe, Be smart.
Janet Smith
Midtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Phillip Davis, Oro Valley
Re: the May 11 article "Will virus put an end to spitting in sports?"
To make my point and show how easy it would be to put a stop to spitting would be to take a page out of my life. When I was drafted into the Army in 1961 and was in boot camp our drill Sargent put a stop to spitting in one day. If you spit on the ground and were caught doing so you were made to drop to the ground and lick it back up. The practice of spitting stopped very quickly. Maybe a sub set of referees to enforce the no spitting rules on and off the field of play. Maybe a fine as to a % of there pay would be a good way for them to get the message. Or maybe that if they just THINK about if they had to drop to the ground and lick it up might be enough for them to just stop spitting.
Phillip Davis
Oro Valley
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Stuart A. Ulanoff, Oro Valley
Afer President Trump's National Security Advisor Michael Flynn twice admitted he had lied to FBI investigators concerning his contacts with a Russian diplomat and after he had entered a plea of guilty to charges arising from that inestigation, the Department of Justice suddenly decided to abandon its case against Flynn.
President Trump appointee Attorney General Barr, head of the DOJ, has thus officially lowered the bar for integrity, giving total credence to British Historian Lord Acton's observation that "...absolute power corrupts absolutely..."
Stuart A. Ulanoff
Oro Valley
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Joseph Miceli, Sierra Vista
The nightly Trump political reassurance and massaging of the President’s ego is getting really old. I believe DR. Fauci and find him more trustworthy than our own President.
I am witnessing the president neglect in real time in his duties in organizing and providing the needed logistics the first responders, the men and women on the front line in the medical field.
While the president was neglecting to provide (PPE) personal protective equipment, ventilators, and genuine funds to purchase these items. The president is being vindictive with local state governors as they are requesting and saying their states are not getting federal support. The President exclaims he wants to be appreciated or will not communicate with these leaders. All the while the president is utilizing extra funds available to build his Mexican border wall and fire political enemies who had previously done their civil duties. To report complaints IAW written directives. Trump then said, “when we have 100,000 deaths in the pandemic, he has done a good job”.
Joseph Miceli
Sierra Vista
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Greg Lewis, Midtown
Re: the may 9 article "Carbon-tax bill before Congress comes with unacceptable trade-off."
I was delighted to see Dr. Barbara Warren’s guest opinion.
In the fall of 2018 William Nordhaus won the Nobel Prize in economic science for his carbon pricing model: using market forces to lower greenhouse gas emissions.
This came amidst frightening new reports of imminent danger from global climate change, and offered hope of a powerful first step toward mitigation of that threat.
Nordhaus told the NY Times that “he’d like to see (carbon pricing) understood, embraced, and endorsed ... something that is talked about and worked out as a policy proposal.”
My understanding is that HR763’s EPA restrictions are quite narrow, specific to emissions’ warming potential. EPA retains full authority to regulate all other pollution.
Crafting an effective carbon pricing bill is the goal of both supporters and opponents of HR763. So let’s keep talking. William Nordhaus would approve.
Greg Lewis
Midtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Merry Mungo, Green Valley
After what I saw yesterday, I think now would be a good time to remind us about the purpose of those annoying facial masks. I went inside Fry’s to quickly pick up something I forgot to put on my grocery pick-up order. First I heard and then saw a person, not wearing a mask, sneezing numerous times without covering his mouth and then putting back the packages of bacon he had in his hand. I would have said something but just didn’t know where to begin. I did get the meat counter person (who also wasn’t wearing a mask!) to remove those packages. That mask doesn't protect you from someone else’s coronavirus germs, it protects others from yours. Because the virus can be asymptomatic, you can be infectious and not even know it! Let’s all show respect by working together to keep each other safe so we can get back to normal as soon as we can.
Merry Mungo
Green Valley
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Frank Flasch, North side
Frustration, lies and deceit are the words that come to mind when I refer to Trump in the White House. I always thought we could rely on someone in the White House to show the skills of a leader during a national crisis. Instead we get someone who shows none of the characteristics of a leader but rather a wiener who is more interested in blaming others for his lack of actions in a dire situation. Good leaders do the work of guiding others to a place they've never been before and want to get to. They see the future possibilities and clear the way forward so others can see those possibilities, too. Good leaders don't leave people behind. But in Trumps's case, he has taken to heart a quote from Joseph Goebbels: "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." Is that what we want in our leader, I think not.
Frank Flasch
North side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Andrew Gullo, Three Points
When I was a kid I contracted Mumps, Measles and Chicken Pox. At the time there were no vaccines available. Nor was there a vaccine for Polio which everyone really feared. TV PSAs said to “avoid crowds to avoid polio.” Good luck with that in NY. I am in a high risk category for the Coronavirus. I wear a mask and face shield when I go grocery shopping about every 10 days. The rest of the time I stay home. I am retired so I don’t have to worry about a paycheck but a lot of people do. Let businesses open and let me decide where I want to go. We don’t close the country waiting for a flu vaccine that is 100% effective. According to the CDC 80,000 people died last winter alone due to the flu. NY Governor Cuomo said recently that 66% of the new virus cases were contracted at home. Let’s open for business.
Andrew Gullo
Three Points
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Jack Garner, Southeast side
Re: the May 10 article "Georgia man's death raises echoes of US racial terror legacy."
I wonder if it was purposeful or coincidental that the article printed immediately adjacent told the story of a sheriff’s deputy who, in search of a missing teen aged girl, led a group of armed white men to break in to the home of a black man. The girl was later found safe elsewhere.
Racism in America is not a thing of the past that echoes in our ears. It is an ever present thunder clap that reverberates loudly to all but those who are purposely deaf to it.
Jack Garner
Southeast side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Mike Dai, Midtown
It should not be surprising that republicans, again, oppose a free and fair national election. The RNC just announced that they are putting considerable resources (financial) into fighting the mail-in vote. There is absolutely no evidence that this is a ‘fraud ridden’ process, but the Republican Party wants to suppress this form of voting, because it (and I quote from the top republican) “.....vote by mail is bad for republicans.” I believe that the vast majority of republican voters can see through this un-Democratic ploy, but will you continue to vote for a party that disregards true democracy.
Mike Dai
Midtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Helen Murphy, Sierra Vista
During President Trump's recent visit to an Arizona mask factory he urged Americans to be warriors. Being a warrior means having the willingness to lay down your life for the cause. Its ironic that during the Vietnam war Donald Trump, with his five deferments, was willing to lay down the lives of those who went in his place. Now this cowardly, bone spurs man calls himself a war president.
Helen Murphy
Sierra Vista
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Dan Gipple, Southeast side
Trump’s disregard for the life of anyone else is again on full display. No one should be surprised. Cadet bone spurs was too afraid to fight in Vietnam, as millions of us did. Now that two White House aides have COVID-19, he reportedly became “lava level” angry and took steps to protect himself.. Apparently this germaphobe is terrified that he’ll contract it.
He constantly exhorts people to return to work while little or no testing and contact tracing is provided. Yet anyone in proximity to Trump is given a test with results in 15 minutes, tests that are unavailable to most. Many aides must now wear masks, although Trump refuses because it might make him look “ridiculous”. This means that he is less likely to be infected from others, but he could asymptomatically infect them.
This lack of leadership is his hallmark – a man who is incapable of dealing with the pandemic and the job in general.
Dan Gipple
Southeast side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
GOP once again comes out against fair voting
It should not be surprising that Republicans, again, oppose a free and fair national election. The RNC just announced that they are putting considerable financial resources into fighting the mail-in vote. There is absolutely no evidence that this is a “fraud ridden” process, but the Republican Party wants to suppress this form of voting. I believe that the vast majority of Republican voters can see through this un-democratic ploy, but will you continue to vote for a party that disregards true democracy?
Mike Dai
Midtown
Murder hornets need a strong defense team
Murder hornets? Perhaps. But I’ll bet that a good criminal defense attorney could get them down to “manslaughter hornets.”
James Nesci
East side
Some COVID testing not what it appears
Arizona’s Department of Health Services recently began a “testing blitz” campaign wherein they hope to test 10,000 to 20,000 Arizonans over the next few weeks. This is great news, considering Arizona is 45th in testing, at 16.5 tests per 1,000 people. As both a father and first responder, I thought it not only prudent but incumbent upon me to get tested in order to best protect my family, my crew and the citizens I serve.
But Arizonans must also be circumspect when getting tested. While some agencies and institutions provide COVID-19 testing and anti-body testing for free, others have begun to practice predatory medicine, charging inflated fees for tests of dubious reliability while falsely promising the costs will be covered by insurance. Sadly, I fear that such carpetbagging clinics are more prevalent than we suspect. I’ve experienced it first-hand. Caveat emptor.
Stephen Sweat
Midtown
Racism in America still alive and well
Re: the May 10 article “Georgia man’s death raises echoes of US racial terror legacy.”
I wonder if it was purposeful or coincidental that the article printed immediately adjacent to the story of a sheriff’s deputy who, in search of a missing teen aged girl, led a group of armed white men to break in to the home of a black man. The girl was later found safe elsewhere.
Racism in America is not a thing of the past that echoes in our ears. It is an ever present thunder clap that reverberates loudly to all but those who are purposely deaf to it.
Jack Garner
Southeast side
Some ways you can help those who are vulnerable
Our daughter is a single mom who barely made ends meet when working full-time in the hospitality industry. She has no health insurance. The business closed due to the pandemic. She applied for unemployment and public benefits immediately. Seven weeks later she has seen nothing and she qualifies for help. She is worried.
Individuals who earn low wages and don’t qualify for government benefits are more worried. Essential workers like undocumented farm workers, citizen grocery workers with an undocumented spouse and DACA residents who are frontline health-care workers will get no government benefits.
Solutions? We can open businesses cautiously, we can ask legislators to promote living wages for all workers, we can share our blessings by donating to organizations offering direct help to worried workers: The Mobile Health Program, a UA program for the uninsured and under-served, and MHC Healthcare (which are patient-centered clinics with a sliding fee scale); Movimiento Cosecha’s Undocumented Worker Fund, which was established by immigrants, and the Arizona Undocumented Workers Relief Fund.
Susie Sanders
Green Valley
Masks protect you and me
After what I saw yesterday, I think now would be a good time to remind everyone about the purpose of those annoying facial masks. I went inside Fry’s to quickly pick up something I forgot to put on my grocery pickup order. First, I heard and then saw a person, not wearing a mask, sneezing numerous times without covering his mouth and then putting back the packages of bacon he had in his hand.
I would have said something but just didn’t know where to begin. I did get the meat counter person (who also wasn’t wearing a mask!) to remove those packages. That mask doesn’t protect you from someone else’s coronavirus germs, it protects others from yours. Because the virus can present as asymptomatic in some carriers, you can be infectious and not even know it!
Let’s all show respect by working together to keep each other safe so we can get back to normal as soon as possible.
Merry Mungo
Green Valley
People should decide when business opens
When I was a kid I contracted mumps, measles and chickenpox. At the time there were no vaccines available. Nor was there a vaccine for polio, which everyone really feared. Television PSAs said to “avoid crowds to avoid polio.” Good luck with that in New York.
I am in a high risk category for the coronavirus. I wear a mask and face shield when I go grocery shopping about every 10 days. The rest of the time I stay home. I am retired so I don’t have to worry about a paycheck but a lot of people do.
Let businesses open and let me decide where I want to go. We don’t close the country waiting for a flu vaccine that is 100% effective. According to the CDC 80,000 people died last winter alone due to the flu. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said recently that 66% of the new virus cases were contracted at home. Let’s open for business.
Andrew Gullo
Three Points
Fitz’s Mother’s Day column was sweet
Re: the May 10 opinion “A Mother’s Day shrine filled with Polaroids, memories.”
As a mother and a certified Graphologist (Handwriting Analyst) I read the sweet tribute by David Fitzsimmons, a card written by his mother, Artha, on his college graduation in blue cursive words. Handwriting reveals your conscious thoughts, but how it is done reveals your subconscious motivation.
The fact that is was in cursive, not printed, showed the writer (mom) wanted to be socially connected to the person. The fact that she used blue ink (as opposed to black ink) showed her message was loving, not harsh. Too bad I couldn’t see the small letter “p.” If it showed a spoke going up, it would show a pride she felt in her son, the college graduate. Do not give up your cursive writing.
Joan Belzer
Northeast side
President Trump can’t stop lying
“Frustration,” “lies” and “deceit” are the words that come to mind when I refer to President Trump in the White House. I always thought we could rely on someone in the White House to show the skills of a leader during a national crisis. Instead we get someone who shows none of the characteristics of a leader but rather a whiner who is more interested in blaming others for his lack of actions in a dire situation.
Good leaders do the work of guiding others to a place they’ve never been before and want to get to. They see the future possibilities and clear the way forward so others can see those possibilities, too. Good leaders don’t leave people behind.
But in Trumps’s case, he has taken to heart a well-known sayings: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” Is that what we want in our leader? I think not.
Frank Flasch
North side
Carbon pricing policy must be thought out
Re: the May 9 opinion piece “Carbon-tax bill before Congress comes with unacceptable trade-off.”
I was delighted to see Dr. Barbara Warren’s guest opinion.
In the fall of 2018, William Nordhaus won the Nobel Prize in economic science for his carbon pricing model: using market forces to lower greenhouse gas emissions.
This came amidst frightening new reports of imminent danger from global climate change, and offered hope of a powerful first step toward mitigation of that threat.
Nordhaus told the New York Times that he’d like to see carbon pricing understood, embraced, endorsed and worked out as a policy proposal.
My understanding is that HR763’s EPA restrictions are quite narrow, specific to emissions’ warming potential. The EPA retains full authority to regulate all other pollution. Crafting an effective carbon pricing bill is the goal of both supporters and opponents of HR763. So let’s keep talking. Nordhaus would approve.
Greg Lewis
Midtown
Entertained letter writer displays lack of dignity
Re: the May 11 letter “Star’s letters to editor never fail to entertain.”
This letter, ironically, was written to condescendingly denigrate those writers. It calls them “Buttinskies, do-gooders, nannies and wannabe managers of the universe,” implying their concerns, fears and advice is a humorous joke to the writer, which he will ignore .
But how smart is he to treat the advice of several medical doctors’ letters as a joke, treat the advice of former state department worker as humorous nonsense, or the “greatest generation” writers’ advice as something to make fun of? I suspect he has a hard time justifying the actions and inactions of his political icon so in a “shoot the messenger” approach, he demeans the writers who point out the facts and truths.
Of course this letter should provide him with uproarious entertainment.
John Kuisti
West side
Fauci is doing a great job leading us through crisis
The nightly President Trump political reassurance and massaging of the his ego is getting really old. I believe Dr. Anthony Fauci, and find him more trustworthy than our own president.
I am witnessing the president neglect, in real time, his duties in organizing and providing the needed logistics for first responders, the men and women on the front line in the medical field.
The president is neglecting to provide personal protective equipment, ventilators and genuine funds to purchase these items. He is being vindictive with local state governors as they are requesting and saying their states are not getting federal support.
The president exclaims he wants to be appreciated or will not communicate with these leaders. All the while he is utilizing extra funds available to build his Mexican border wall and fire political enemies who had previously done their civil duties.
Joseph Miceli
Sierra Vista
Enforcing spitting rules for sports
Re: the May 11 article “Will virus put an end to spitting in sports?”
To make my point and show how easy it would be to put a stop to spitting, I’ll take a page out of my life. When I was drafted into the Army in 1961 and was in boot camp our drill sergeant put a stop to spitting in one day.
If you spit on the ground and were caught doing so, you were made to drop to the ground and lick it back up. The practice of spitting stopped very quickly. Maybe a subset of referees can enforce the no spitting rules on and off the field of play.
Maybe fining players a percentage of their pay would be a good way for them to get the message. Or maybe if they just think about if they had to drop to the ground and lick it up, it might be enough for them to just stop spitting.
Phillip Davis
Oro Valley
Sacrificing lives for the economy
Bereaved Mother’s Day was May 3. Women whose children were ripped from them by gun violence, illness or accident, are remembered one day a year, though they feel the loss daily. Now, as the deaths by COVID-19 increase and the CDC warns us that the crisis is not over, the Trump administration and GOP leaders are telling us that the lives of our beloved are fodder for the economy.
How many loved ones are they willing to sacrifice?
With access to testing and medical care that their privileged positions provide, they aren’t planning on losing any. It’s our children and parents that they are offering up on the altar of the economy.
To riff on Leona Helmsley’s infamous statement, it’s only the little people who will die. Lives are acceptable losses to the rich and powerful hungering for more of both. Next May, we may feel the effects of a stronger economy, but, doubtless, we will feel the devastation of many more bereaved mothers.
Linda Petersen-Vargas
Northeast side
- Thomas Brennan, Southwest side
Re: the April 25 article "The left's all-mail voting fantasy must be put to rest."
Despite Mr. Eppihimer’s claims that voting by mail is not the answer, the truth is exactly the opposite.
In April, a 60 year old poll worker in Chicago died from the coronavirus. Because the Wisconsin Supreme Court refused to delay the recent vote in that state, 7 voters in Wisconsin caught the virus, despite the fact that most people were wearing masks and maintaining proper distances. THAT is the reason mail in voting (with no excuses necessary) should be mandatory in every state.
Standing in line to vote is not the same as going to the grocery store simply due to the fact that going to the grocery store does not involve standing in line for extended periods of time The most recent example of ballot harvesting fraud was actually committed by a Republican strategist (Leslie McCrae Dowless Jr) in North Carolina in February of last year
Sorry, Mr. Eppihimer, your arguments do not make sense.
Thomas Brennan
Southwest side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- David Vernon, East side
Get real. Human beings need air, water, food and shelter, without which they will die. Nobody dies from lack of a haircut, or a tattoo, or entertainment. The economy does not consist of the stock market, the unemployment rate, or the public pronouncements of government, local, state, or federal. The economy is the sum of all transactions: people buying things like food, clothing, energy and toys. If people cannot go buy things without catching a deadly disease, they will not go. We have food and goods delivery, and people who will deliver them, so all a person needs is the cash on which to live and shelter until the disease is defeated by vaccines and treatments. All any closed business needs to survive is cash to pay their fixed costs. If their unemployed workers are getting government cash, businesses do not need to meet payrolls. The Federal government can borrow all the cash needed, pay people and businesses directly, and repay it over 50 years. What we lack is leadership!
David Vernon
East side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Harry Peck, Tubac
A FABLE
Once upon a time many nations were ruled by Kings. They lived in palaces and were surrounded by others, generally family members, called royalty. When the nation faced danger, the king was called upon to lead the fight for his nation. Battles were fought and the King led the troops. He was at the front of forces leading the charge against the enemy. A king generally welcomed this role as it allowed a public display of his courage, and leadership.
Today this nation has a leader who thinks he is a King. We face a battle with a mighty virus that can destroy us. Unfortunately the “King” has no courage, no competency and no leadership. He sits in his castle and sends his people into battle without the necessary weapons and armor as casualties and deaths increase.
Soon the people will have an opportunity to depose this king and save the Country. Let us hope we do so.
Harry Peck
Tubac
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Gordon Hamilton, Midtown
In 1842 Edgar Allan Poe published The Masque of the Red Death. In the story, Prince Prospero and 1,000 of his nobles lock themselves in an Abby to protect themselves from a plague that is devastating the surrounding countryside. Living in luxury and with callous indifference to the death and suffering surrounding them, they revel in their personal security until a mysterious stranger shows up at a masquerade ball with fatal consequences. Now that the coronavirus has breached the walls of the White House, it is hard not to draw parallels. Let’s just hope, for the sake of the Country, that President Trump’s hubris is not as costly as that of Prince Prospero.
Gordon Hamilton
Midtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Jan Freed, Downtown
Re: the May 9 article "Carbon-tax bill before Congress comes with unacceptable trade-off."
In a recent Column, Barbara Warren correctly lays out the dangers of climate change.
One cannot overstate these dangers. Recent studies show billions of us unable to live in future heat zones, just one consequence of soaring past a climate virtually unchanged for 8 thousand years until now.
Unfortunately, she attacks a powerful remedy, HR763, which puts a fee on carbon and rebates these fees monthly to citizens, basically ‘paying’ us to go green. Emissions fall more sharply than by an effective Clear Air Act and EPA, achieving carbon reductions of 90% by 2050.
Yes, it would put the EPA on pause for ten years. But, the EPA has been gutted; no loss there. HR763 has safety nets, increasing fees if emissions do not fall rapidly enough. It leaves protections against other forms of pollution intact.
The EPA and Clear Air Act were ‘undone’ by the unfortunate Trump Administration, but try to take away monthly rebates!
Jan Freed
Downtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Judy Davidson, Foothills
Are you in one of these hater camps? This pandemic has thrown the world into chaos, and instead of being supportive and encouraging many have jumped into the Hater Camps. Social media, ridiculous headlines, talk shows and negative journalism. Put your tiny little feet into the huge shoes of President Trump or Governor Cuomo; look into a mirror, and be honest. Could you make the decisions they face? Are their decisions perfect? No, but they are in the trenches fighting the horrific fight. It’s easy to be a negative, loud mouth arm chair quarterback, and past judgement on what should have, could have. It’s another thing to try and lead through disasters. By the way, hating is bad for your health too.
Judy Davidson
Foothills
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Karin Militello, Northwest side
Why are there so many people not respecting protocols in place for this deadly Coronavirus disease? Do they think they are invincible? Do they not take this deadly disease seriously? Do they not care that they might be carriers without symptoms, only to spread their germs? Obviously not, because some local businesses don't require their employees to wear masks. More people than not don't wear masks! Nor, do they respect policies in place about social distancing. We ALL need to work together and help each other by wearing masks in public and being respectful. All people are vulnerable to this disease! Don't think you aren't.
Karin Militello
Northwest side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Ann Nichols, Foothills
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have received excellent guidance from scientists who work within our public health system. Some, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, have joined the Administration’s briefings and provided accurate information and advice. Others have worked behind the scenes reviewing data and creating models to analyze disease progression and resource needs. As a retired professor who taught social policy, I’ve been impressed by their effective and helpful work.
It was shocking to read that the Trump administration has refused to distribute a 17 page report from CDC experts on “Guidance for Implementing the Opening Up America Again Framework.” It provides science-based recommendations for the steps states and cities could take as they lift restrictions and re-open facilities. Suppression of a work designed to protect the public and assist states in carrying out the responsibilities the President has delegated to them is deeply disturbing. Thanks to the courageous official who released a copy. Our communities will be helped and lives may be saved.
Ann Nichols
Foothills
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Bill Smith, Green Valley
I am self employed and was determined to be "ineligible" despite being approved by DES staff after applying for unemployment benefits. This is a total fraud and I will not be voting for Ducey or any other politician who lied to us about this scamdemic.
Bill Smith
Green Valley
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Dennis L. McKiernan, East side
If everybody wears a mask, the number of new COVID-19 infections falls dramatically.
As an example, virtually everyone in Japan wears a mask. Japan did shelter in place, but Tokyo is bustling, mass transit jammed, bars open, and other activities are running full blast.
Japan population 126 million; Covid cases, 15798 (about 16 thousand)
US population 326 million; Covid cases, 1380000 (1.38 million)
So Japan’s population is about 40% (4 tenths) that of the USA, so you would expect that for every 10 USA Covid cases that Japan would have 4 Covid cases.
In other words, the USA rate would be about 2.5 times that of Japan.
But guess what:
US Covid cases are 86 times Japan’s cases.
But practically *everybody* in Japan wears a mask in public.
But practically *no one* in the USA wore a mask for months from the beginning of the the pandemic.
We screwed up.
Dennis L. McKiernan
East side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- cliff Moulton, East side
No one needs to create questionable comments by Trump. He does plenty by himself. But it’s sad when the media purposely misrepresents what he actually says.
Trump NEVER said the coronavirus was a hoax. Go to Google for the facts. Enter: Trump-virus-hoax-statements.
Here, both FACTCHECK and SNOPES agree. During a February rally Trump likened the Democrats' criticism of his administration's response to the coronavirus outbreak to their impeachment efforts, saying "this is their new hoax."
Trump used the word “hoax” but he makes it clear he was talking about attacks on his administration’s handling of the outbreak, not the virus itself.
David Fitzsimmons continues to mislead his readers on this. On May 7th and 11th, he intimated that Trump had called the Coronavirus a hoax.
It is interesting that Trump’s actual statement is TRUE. The media spins a hoax instead of factually covering the truth. Fitz peddles the hoax. Trump’s statement was correct. Fitz proved that twice in one week. How ironic, twice.
cliff Moulton
East side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Peter Seidl, Midtown
I’ve been drafted into GeneralIssimo Stable Genius’ Army, but I don’t know if I’m qualified morally or intellectually to serve. To wit:
Trump is so smart that he has been able to outwit COVID-19 and avoid the embarrassing prospect of wearing a mask, which his many enemies could use against him. Moreover, he has outwitted the Constitution and done away with troubling details that might slow lesser intellects while greasing the wheels for his many thuggish buddies to get out of jail free. Truly a Very Stable Genius;
and we can’t overlook the Chosen One’s stranglehold on the Code of Hammurabi. His moral superiority allows him to Ignore the niceties of behavior that we of the great unwashed called “norms”. By virtue of His Virtue he can label critics “Scum” and accuse a former president as perpetrator of the “ biggest political crime in the history of the country”.
I’m neither good nor omnipotent. This is one draft I have to dodge.
Peter Seidl
Midtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Donald Vandine, Sierra Vista
The Star's fact check page "Trump is not credible on US death toll from virus." Why is that news? Trump obviously has a truth problem. He has been cited for telling thousands of lies in 3 years.
In Obama's 8 years only one statement stands out and it was more likely an error. It had to do with the ACA.
Trump's lies cause problems with other governments, legislation and in November, probably his election. We need to ask ourselves why we even bother to televise or prints what he says.
We especially need a reliable leader in such a time as this virus. Thanks to Trump we do not have one. We really need facts to get us through this tough time, but we have a habitual liar.
How have we gone from a president who could not tell a lie to one who cannot tell the truth?
Donald Vandine
Sierra Vista
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Emily Morrison, Midtown
Time and again I ask my Republican friends to enumerate their 'Facts' that support the idea of "missing analysis' and 'blind following, by Democrats, such as suggested by the Star writer.
As a life lone, registered, voting republican, I fear it is 'our' Party, that of my parents and grandparents, that has been tragically overtaken by 'Believers' with shallow thinking - who yield to the claims (and propaganda) of FOX (not) News. To a person what I get, instead of specifics to back their views, are deflections and denials.
Time and again FOX has been shown to present very biased reporting, and it is the mainstream media that presents "Vetted and Verified" Facts - or their reporters would be fired !
Emily Morrison
Midtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
- Rosalie Wright, Oro Valley
Hmm – since the dead are receiving stimulus checks - wonder if they’ll also receive mail-in ballots to vote in the November presidential election.
Rosalie Wright
Oro Valley
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
More like this...
Tags
Most Popular
-
Tucson businessman, wife killed in Marana plane crash
-
Second wall planned across Arizona as Trump administration doubles down on border -
Player, budget decisions loom as roster transition heats up for Arizona basketball
-
Arizona men's basketball recruiting target named National Sophomore of the Year
-
As Arizona basketball chases big men for 2025-26, transfer portal gets even pricier
