Republican Party
is officially lost
During the years leading up to the 2020 election, Donald Trump’s rhetoric became increasingly inflammatory. The Republican Party continually exonerated him by declaring that his hate-filled words did not align with his actions — until they did.
On Jan. 6, Trump’s speech made the Republican’s rationalizations invalid, so they absolved him on the false declaration that his second impeachment violated the Constitution’s rules.
The party of Lincoln has devolved into the party of tea. The GOP sacrificed the mantle of law and order to the demagogue and his idolaters for the votes it needed to stay in power. In the process, it lost the White House and the Senate. Yet it continues to embrace the demagogue while denouncing its own members who decry him.
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That’s good news for the Democrats. If Trump is the presidential candidate in 2024, it will be a huge motivator for Democratic voters to defeat him once again.
Rick Cohn
West side
What about personal responsibility?
A recent writer listed the values Democrats stand for. Most were laudable. But just as telling as her list was what was absent: personal responsibility, hard work and discipline.
I gather we don’t teach these values anymore in public schools. That’s one of the reasons for the rise of private and religious schools that the writer criticizes. Why should I have to earn something when I can be entitled to it?
We’ve watched in amazement during the pandemic as people in expensive late-model SUVs lined up at food banks. We’ve been driving 17- and 21-year-old vehicles. We worked hard after graduating, paid off our debts, saved and deferred gratification.
Foolish us.
James Tuthill
Oro Valley
Coverage of Limbaugh didn’t capture the man
Regarding your “tribute” to Rush Limbaugh. Surprising to see this larger-than-life figure put below the fold, diced into four parts throughout the paper. I had to respond.
I’m one of Rush’s “Ditto Heads.” I found him a welcome change from what was called news on most other media. He was a refreshing voice for us to hear the conservative side.
If not for Limbaugh breaking new ground, we wouldn’t have Fox News, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity or Mark Levin. Journalists are not what they once were: objective. And Rush fought back.
I highlighted all the negative in the article and nary a kind word about his charities, love of country, or his children’s books to teach our real history which is lacking in schools today. Yes, Rush was boastful by his own admission and I thought it was part of his charm and humor.
I have been a subscriber for years managing to overlook the liberal rhetoric but this is the last straw for me. I will not be renewing my subscription.
Courtney Ashbrook
East side
Biden’s first month
not as good as Trump’s
President Biden, in the first month, signed approximately 40 executive orders. Donald Trump signed approximately 10 and was called a dictator by Biden. He canceled the Keystone pipeline, cutting many jobs. Under Trump, the U.S. became energy independent, no longer subjected to the manipulations of OPEC.
We are the largest exporters of oil and natural gas. Gas at the pump has increased 40 cents per gallon. One does not halt progress in fossil fuels until there is an alternate that is economical and is able to replace fully the ability to provide energy to our economy.
Biden and his administration are patting themselves on the back on the rollout of the vaccine. All the Trump haters need to take pause and acknowledge that there would be no vaccine now and in the immediate future if it weren’t for Trump’s elimination of red tape and bureaucracy in the FDA.
Hold on for a bumpy ride.
Bill Dowdall
Oro Valley
The art of winning while totally losing
The basketball game is close. You lose. How to cope? State emphatically that you won. Opponents’ three-pointers sunk were out of bounds. Free-throw shots didn’t really go in the bucket. The other team fouled you. The referees rigged it. Too many spectators. You were ahead at halftime, evidence you won. You didn’t lose.
Change the rules. Three-point shots from your opponents don’t count anymore. Regardless, there is only one shot at the free-throw line for them. If you are ahead at halftime, you win, regardless of the final score.
This is the game the Republicans are playing with the election. They lost because: rigged voting machines; too many voted; they were ahead early; officials manipulated results; fabricated ballots; the vote fairy made a call.
Now, they want to fix it. No early, no absentee, no mail-in ballots. No drop boxes. Fewer polling sites. Accept victory when you’re ahead. Limit the number of voters. Make it difficult to vote. If this fails, select your own electors.
James O’Brien
SaddleBrooke
We’re all
important
I see the notices suggesting that “Black lives matter” and I find that I totally agree. But I wonder if, past that point, we might say that white lives matter, and brown lives, and red lives and on and on.
Isn’t it better, in the overall scheme of things to promote a pronouncement that “All lives matter”? Wouldn’t that explain that we are all important and require consideration?
Any time we suggest one segment is more important than another we further separate us through implied bias. It doesn’t help anyone’s cause and actually increases resentment.
Why complicate things by promoting one’s self-interest at the expense of another. We are all important, aren’t we?
Phil Reinecker
East side
Republicans need
to find new leaders
In seven of the eight most recent presidential elections, Democrats have won the popular vote. The Republicans’ response to this is to suppress voting since it’s become clear the more people who vote, the less likely they will win.
Wouldn’t it seem obvious that the Republican Party instead might ask why 7 million more Americans voted Democratic? And then search for ways to bring more people into their party? Here’s a hint — rhetoric, actions and policies that suppress and denigrate women and minorities aren’t it.
Also, lying, criminal behavior, and violently overtaking the democratically elected administration won’t win them either. Republicans, you lost the election — period. Continuing to support the man and his followers promoting the “big lie” about the election (and so many other things) will get you nowhere.
For God’s sake — find leaders with integrity, not demagogues. I long for the days when we could debate real issues — not this nonsense.
Kathleen Harris
Foothills
When ignorance meets legislation
Re: the March 4 article “House votes to let businesses make their own call on masks.”
In reference to the comments by Rep. Joseph Chaplik regarding mask mandates, I am reminded of the saying, “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.”
Having lived through the early AIDS epidemic and having lost a family member to it, I am absolutely amazed that a leader of our state is so very ignorant of how it is transmitted!
Did he just crawl out from under a rock? COVID is spread in the air, AIDS is spread through the transfer of body fluids. Educate yourself!
Gail Tout
East side
Zoo expansion
will hurt families
Although I agree that Reid Park Zoo is a wonderful asset to our community and have enjoyed going there, especially for its special events, expansion into the proposed park area hurts many in our community. There are many families and visitors in Tucson that cannot afford the admission prices to the zoo or have to budget for perhaps a once-a-year visit.
Expansion into the duck pond area and Barnum Hill would remove an amenity and place of recreation that is available to all, regardless of economic situation. I don’t always agree with Mayor Regina Romero, but this time I believe she is right to put a hold on the expansion while other alternatives for expansion are considered.
Marianne Fields
Green Valley
Snatching defeat
from jaws of victory
Congrats to the governor of Texas and our own Legislature and governor. After a year of protective health measures, with vaccinations against COVID on the rise, these Neanderthals are posed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
A few more months of patience, of diligence in mask-wearing, social-distancing, remote-learning, etc., promise greater long-term relief from this killing disease. No, these “leaders” just can’t wait to allow us to exercise our freedoms/liberties — truly?
We, the citizens, need to let these folks know that we haven’t endured this long just so they can overturn our diligence and befriend the virus. Please give us the time to truly defeat this pandemic.
Norman Patten
Midtown
Arizona becomes a laughingstock
Arizona is now a national laughingstock. The Maricopa County ballots are currently sitting in the Senate chambers, and now everyone knows that the audit firm hired to do the job is Trump’s crack Allied Security crew.
This new audit was nonsense from the beginning, since three audits had already been conducted with no evidence of fraud.
The ballots need to be returned to Maricopa Country, and the whole issue dropped — with apologies to the people of Arizona.
Shame on Senate President Karen Fann and the Senate for insisting on this pointless, ridiculous, money-wasting nonissue.
Jon Benda
Midtown
People with disabilities aren’t being prioritized
Nothing could have made my week any worse than hearing Gov. Doug Ducey’s new plan for vaccine distribution. My sister, who is 19 with severe disabilities, was one of the people slated to finally have a chance to receive her vaccine.
As I am at university, and have a girlfriend working in the hospital, I’ve been unable to see my sister for several months, as she has preexisting conditions that make her vulnerable.
Now, instead of being next in line to receive it, my sister will be part of the very last age group to get a vaccine. Until then, she will be forced to miss her schoolmates, her friends, museums, music performances and traveling to see family until, at earliest, this summer.
I’m severely disappointed by our governor turning his back on those young adults with preexisting conditions who desperately need vaccines. I have been told for many years by my liberal friends that Republicans don’t care about people with preexisting conditions. I’m beginning to think that they are right.
Joseph Smith
Vail
COVID has a friend in the Arizona GOP
Re: the March 4 article “House votes to let businesses make their own call on masks.”
Rep. Joseph Chaplik’s assertion that masks did not work for the AIDS epidemic is incorrect. In fact, masks did work ... they were called condoms. The only difference is that those afflicted (or not) with HIV used them out of concern for public health over personal comfort.
Mr. Chaplik, the fact that you don’t know the difference between an STD and a broadly contagious airborne disease like COVID only affirms your astounding level of ignorance. Perhaps you shouldn’t be trying to legislate an issue which you claim is not medical, with a medical argument.
That being said, your colleagues’ arguments are equally spurious.
Good luck with the next surge.
Mary Hickson
Oro Valley
Zoo expansion helps UA vet program, too
For those who may not know, Reid Park Zoo is one of several important community partners with the UA’s new veterinary medicine program, providing rare internship opportunities for students pursuing zoo veterinarian careers, a field expected to grow 19% within the next five years.
Vet technician careers are expected to grow 16% in that time. Internship at Reid Park Zoo’s new Animal Health Center, an 11,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility, will provide tremendous opportunities for students to train in whole-life animal care of wild animals with the zoo’s exceptional veterinary team, something most vet schools cannot provide.
This program will also support the zoo’s STEM outreach to local schoolchildren who will be able to learn and observe this care from the center’s on-site classroom. What a wonderful contribution the zoo can make to our community, to academia, and to members of this worthy profession. It’s just one of the reasons I support Reid Park Zoo’s master plan and expansion.
Terrie Thompson
East side
