Once again, words
are hollow statement
On Monday, the president read a carefully written speech that contained many heretofore missing thoughts on racism, bigotry and gun laws. I listened closely to the words. These should have been uttered much earlier, but more importantly, acted upon by his energetic pressure to pass laws that are supported by an overwhelming majority of us.
He lost my hopefulness when I recalled his responses to past mass murders. He offered timely and limited words of comfort, then swiftly backed away from any tangible effort to support real changes to gun laws.
It is a case of believing what you want to believe. In this case, how do you believe a man who owns his unprecedented record of lying to us?
Sadly, I believe we will see more nutcases do great harm to innocent people under license provided by Trump’s latest bigoted attacks on those who have voiced their opinions against him and toward nonwhites in general, long before he moves on gun laws.
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Jeff Rayner
SaddleBrooke
Where do we draw the line?
It’s all too familiar. First we’ll have the obligatory prayer vigils and impromptu memorials. Then the finger pointing begins. It’s Congress’
fault or Hollywood’s or the video game manufacturers. The NRA has too much influence or the president is complicit. We may even have tougher gun laws this time, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Throughout all the rhetoric and blame, one question will go unanswered or not even be addressed. Simply put, how much of our civil liberties are we willing to sacrifice to keep our loved ones safe? If we ignore the warning signs of mental illness or avoid those whose hearts are filled with anger and hatred, nothing will change.
Charles Schultz
Northeast side
‘Medicare for All’ would have disruptions
A recent letter to the editor
spoke about the way a “Medicare for All” or other government-run health-care system would be paid for. While it was informative, it was inaccurate in saying that there would be little disruption to employees transitioning to a government-run
system. When did anything with our government-run entities become an easy process?
Finding specialists, keeping one’s doctors and ensuring one’s health-care needs are met is something that veterans are always battling with their VA health-care system. To expect anything different with Medicare for All is overly optimistic.
Cathandra Cartado
Marana
Insanely wedded
to guns
The recent mass murders in El Paso and Ohio jarred my memory of Charles Heller and the Arizona Citizens Defense League. Heller, the spokesperson for this group said that Gov. Doug Ducey’s proposed legislation called STOP (Severe Threat Order of Protection) was “unnecessary and dangerous.”
Dangerous? Taking guns away from someone who is deranged is dangerous, but I am sure Heller is not referring to this police action. I hope most people not insanely wedded to Second Amendment rights would agree that denying someone who is mentally unbalanced, angry and perhaps delusional access to guns is prudent and necessary. Not doing anything to protect our community is irresponsible and leaves us all vulnerable.
Daniel McDonnell
Foothills
Theatre reviewer Allen will be missed
I’d like to congratulate theatre reviewer Kathleen Allen on her recent retirement, and to express my gratitude for her years of encouraging people to attend the theatre in Tucson. Kathy’s lively reviews reveal her affection and enthusiasm for theatre; its stories, actors, playwrights, designers and directors. Unlike professional Broadway theatre practitioners, those of us who make theatre in Tucson often have other jobs and other sources of income. We do it simply because we love theatre.
There’s nothing quite as satisfying as walking onstage to a “full house” of theatregoers and I give Kathy a lot of the credit for that. Her reviews tell enough of the story to raise interest without giving away those secret gems each play offers. She particularly understands the work (and sensitive egos) of actors and I’ve always found her reviews to be fair and spot on. She will be missed.
Lesley Abrams
East side
Mass shootings,
an alternative view
Mass shootings always cause the observation to surface as to other countries not having access to guns as we do, and thereby not experiencing similar tragedies. And it’s true. In fact, we may have too much access to guns.
However, when was the last time you were acquainted with the “culture” of one or more of those other countries with regards, for example, to our cherished values of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness? Do you suppose that when examining the moral equivalency of their values, you might find some truth in how they value life?
Or on a day-to-day basis, why their young people are more apt to simply say “please” and “thank you.” Or behave based on other disciplines of kindness, respect, and civility. OK, so ban this, ban that, about time. Then maybe we should address the ultimate solution — the evolving morals of our culture.
Don Weaver
Midtown
Student tower sludge makes terrible impact
The city should not give the newest student towers Certificates of Occupancy until they fix the drainage problems that have flooded West University for the last two years. Residents on First
Street have nicknamed the sticky black water that gushes out of the buildings, crosses Euclid, and flows in front of their homes “The Black Lagoon.”
The city ignored complaints for more than a year. Finally, last spring, offending towers were cited for illegally washing out their trash compactors into the storm drain instead of the sewer. In our part of town, the storm drain is above ground. Despite the mantra of “only rain in the drain,” the towers are still allowed to run the water from fire sprinkler tests directly into the storm drain.
A roof irrigation leak last Friday from Hub1 caused another flood in the neighborhood. Living downstream from repeated accidents and developers who continue to overstress our infrastructure with no repercussions has had a terrible impact not mentioned in Sunday’s article.
Judy Rose Sensibar
Downtown
Welcome back, Bobby Rich
While I am a little older than your target market, this is a welcome addition for those of us not attached to a cellphone for music. I’ve missed Bobby Rich and this era of music, currently appreciated without vast numbers of commercials. Good luck KDRI-101.7 FM.
Barb McNeill
Oro Valley
Column as predictable as the North ‘Star’
As predictable as the monsoon rains (until this year), the Star did an “Opinion” column telling Senators McSally (R) and Sinema (D) to act on “slowing” gun violence. The Star previously endorsed Sinema for Senate. What a disappoint she must be to them.
The Star says in its column that Congress must pass current background check legislation. But they know full well that most, if not all, recent mass shooters purchased their firearms from firearms dealers and passed background checks.
The Star enumerated mass shooters’ motivations such as white nationalism, antisemitism, and anti-immigrantism associating it to President Trump. They conveniently did not mention any mass shooters being motivated by Islamic extremism, i.e, in Orlando, San Bernardino, Chattanooga, Fort Hood, etc.
We had an “assault weapons” ban from 1994 to 2004 with mixed results, gun violence continued via other means. Is the answer really to penalize the 99.9% of the millions of law-abiding owners of semiautomatic rifles and pistols because of the actions of a few?
Alice Moreno
North side
Time to institute an age limit
Allowing the sale of assault- type weapons to essentially anyone — is resulting in a loss of freedom for people who just want to be able to go on with a normal life — free from fear. At the very least the sale of these weapons should not be allowed to anyone under the age of 25. It is a fact that our brains are still developing until this age. What is more important, freedom from fear or freedom to purchase something developed for the purpose of warfare?
Lori Peterson
Oro Valley
