Tucson Speaks Out: Jan. 6 letters of the day

Re: the Dec. 28 article “Poll: Americans sour on democracy.”

Nothing in our Constitution states that there are only two political parties. Yet, America has never elected a third-party president for over 150 years, demonstrating that we essentially have a two-party monopoly governing us. This reduces the “choice” required in a democracy so that generally, citizens can only choose between the “lesser of two evils” rather than seek a true leader who can transcend this political monopoly.

As Americans lose faith in our mainstream political parties and in our elections, they are becoming disenfranchised. This is very dangerous for our nation. We need to reduce the influence of monied interests, such as corporations and lobbies that easily overwhelm the wishes of citizens to support their profit-making goals. Corporations and money should not have a vote. Only citizens do.

Michael Pravica

Midtown

Antisemitism

Re: the Dec. 29 article “Israeli strikes kill dozens.”

I hear and read ad nauseam the opinion of very naive people that one can be anti-Israel, but not antisemitic. This is not true in my opinion.

Take the Dec. 29 Daily Star. There is an article on the front page about Israel’s latest bombardment of Gaza. Remember who started this war. At the same time this tragedy was unfolding, Russia unleashed its most massive attack on Ukraine, killing at least 30 and injuring over 160 people. Remember who started this war. Israel is doing its best to avoid civilian casualties, while Russia, on the other hand, brags about destroying civilian infrastructure in order to lessen Ukrainian morale. In the attack, they targeted a maternity hospital, among other structures.

Where’s the outrage? Where’s the demonstrations, the boycotts, the letters to the editor? Not one word about this in the Star. Why? The only explanation that makes any sense to me is antisemitism. Israel will not stop until its goals are met, in spite of all the Jew haters in the world.

Arthur Kurlanzik

Foothills

Qualified or not, Article XIVArticle XIV is much in the news. Here are the relevant sections.

Section 3: “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United states, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”

Section 5: “The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.”

What do you think the Supreme Court will decide?

Lee Payne, Republican

Foothills

Trump nonfeasance

Re: the Dec. 30 letter “Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.”

This letter questions how Donald Trump can be charged with any crime for the events of Jan. 6. “He did nothing.” He took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. He knew his followers were attempting to prevent the peaceful transfer of the office of the President, as clearly defined in the Constitution, but did nothing to stop them. Nonfeasance is the omission of some act by a person that should have been done, especially public officials. Trump knew what was happening and knew how he could have stopped it. Yet he did nothing. Donald Trump is guilty of ignoring his oath to defend the Constitution of the United States. Therefore by his failure to act, in the eyes of the law, he is guilty of nonfeasance.

Dave Glicksman

Northwest side

Leadership or destruction:

Our world in their hands

President Biden and former President Trump represent the extreme ends of the leadership spectrum, each embodying starkly contrasting principles and styles.

President Biden tirelessly drives the nation’s progress forward for ‘We the People,’ while championing the essence of the American dream. Meanwhile, 45 spends his days:

Lambasting officials and arguing technicalities while entangled in endless civil and criminal cases, holding rallies to give disjointed monologues larded with disdain for democracy, and spreading his brand of hate and personal grievances, a chaotic blend of denials, distrust and blatant disinformation, often in explosive all-caps posts.

This transcends mere politics; it’s about the core of our nation’s identity and how power can either nurture or shatter the very fabric of our humanity. Ask yourself: What kind of country do I truly want to live in?

Kim Miklofsky Bayne

Foothills

Biden’s experience is paying off

Biden’s legislative experience is paying off for Arizonans. With his 36 years as Senator, eight years as Vice President and three years as President, Biden’s experience is making a positive impact across the nation. His well-known ability to negotiate with legislators across the aisle resulted in the passage of the bipartisan Infrastructure Law which added 13 million jobs and created the largest US economic growth in 50 years. Arizona alone has received over $56 billion for 10 major projects creating 12,500 new jobs in 8 cities, including Tucson.

Stonewalled by Republicans who demanded it, Biden again negotiated to secure every Democratic vote to pass the Inflation Reduction Act that includes the world’s largest climate change package reducing carbon emissions and mitigating climate disasters, which has already resulted in a surge of clean energy investments and use across the nation, including Arizona.

Biden’s policies are benefiting all of us, and he deserves our vote in 2024 to finish a job well begun.

Dr. JB Marshall

Oro Valley

Is our democracy at risk?

Re: the Dec. 30 article “Associate of Putin foe sentenced to prison.”

Former president and GOP candidate for the 2024 election, Donald Trump, has made it quite clear that this is the kind of action that we can expect if he is elected. Trump has frequently praised the actions of Putin and seems to make clear that he relishes the opportunity to punish those who oppose him. He claims that it would only be for 1 day, but even that would be wrong. Many of us suspect that it would not stop there. He made numerous attempts to do things like this during his presidency. Our democracy is not perfect, but the prospect of evolving into a form of government that would allow these types of actions is frightening. We do not want to go there.

Robert Wample

Oro Valley

Tucson/RTA relationship

Re: the Dec. 31 article “Tucson should prepare to bolt RTA now.”

While Tim Steller makes a plausible case for the City of Tucson to leave the RTA, I remain highly skeptical that Tucson, on its own, would be more efficient and timely in the delivery of major road projects. There is scant evidence for optimism that Tucson will pick up the slack resulting from its departure from the RTA when it struggles to fulfill its obligations created by the passage of Propositions 411 and 101. Neither political entity is expeditious when it comes to roadwork/road repair.

John Fristik

Southeast side

Jewish supremacy?

Re: the Jan. 2 letter “The denouement of Jewish supremacy.”

It was shocking to read this letter published in the paper. This letter was nasty and incoherent, not presenting any evidence for the writer’s views that there is “Jewish Supremacy in the United States” with Jews controlling media, etc. Jews make up 2.4% of the U.S. population! This includes 1.6 million Jewish children and 1.2 million Jews who identify as having no religion.

The second paragraph jumps to the writer’s personal, vituperative opinion of U.S. Jews in general. He states that young Jews have lived their lives as “privileged and protected”, with many having “vast financial resources” and opportunities due to their relatives. Jews are not a monolith and are varied as other groups are.

How such a letter was considered for publication is beyond me, and on the same page was a second letter (!) from this writer titled “Jesus was a Palestinian”! This letter was also unreasoned and incoherent. How was this writer so “privileged” to get two unsettling letters printed?

Karen Paulsen Balch

Foothills

Gegenheimer home surrounded by Meritage

Re: the Dec. 31 article “Housing going up around 1960s home.”

“Surreal” it is — a dream, a nightmare. Meritage does not build communities. Meritage builds groups of look-alike units in clusters, assigning them silly names and, in this case, nary a percentage of smaller units for families who cannot afford “$500,00 and up” — adding insult to injury.

Mary Ellen Kazda

Oracle