Perceived as racist?
Re: the Dec. 14 letter “Racist cartoon.”
If perception determines your reality, then the question is not “How is the world treating you?” The question should be ‘How are you treating the world?’
When I looked at the Nov. 28 Stiglich cartoon, I did not see a Black man. I saw only eyes shaded by a hoodie and gloved hands holding a box. I took the cartoon as a parody of the Big Lie. Granted: a relatively low quality cartoon.
Could it be the NAACP letter to the editor writers displayed racial bias themselves? Hammer/nail perception?
James Abels
Midtown
What’s wrong with America
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Why might many Americans feel that they are forgotten? Could it be that they are forgotten. A concern that confronts every household is how would the family cope if a parent or a child gets sick or suffers from an accident, or if a parent becomes pregnant. Americans have heard that in most other highly developed countries the government shows that it cares about everyone by providing universal health care. Perhaps, in the next election, Americans will look for a leader that claims that he or she cares about the health of every adult and child. Could it be that Trump voters believe that Trump actually cares about their needs and that they will no longer feel forgotten?
Kent Barrabee
Northwest side
Biden railed against wealthy tax cheats
President Biden has on numerous occasions, railed against wealthy tax cheats. Wonder if he considers his son Hunter as one of those? Hunter has been indicted on federal tax evasion charges, not paying owed federal taxes on millions of dollars received from his foreign business ventures, aka influence peddling. Hunter repeatedly ignored notices from the IRS that he owed taxes. In July 2020, the District of Columbia levied a $453,000 lien against him for unpaid state taxes. A rich Hollywood lawyer paid some of Hunter’s back taxes. It is ironic that President Biden’s son has turned out to be one of those wealthy tax cheats. Hunter has had IRS and state income tax issues for several years. Joe Biden must have been aware of that when indicting other wealthy tax cheats. How hypocritical.
Tom Galloway
North side
Biden’s best in 2023
President Biden has had a very good year! Unfortunately, it’s often buried in the media by Trump’s histrionics. As 2023 closes, there are some notable achievements of his administration to revisit. All of them impact us.
As for social justice, Tohono O’odham received $500K in federal funding to boost broadband connectivity and the Dept. of Justice secured a $9 million settlement with a Florida bank for failure to underwrite mortgages and loans in Black and Latino communities.
As for the environment, the Interior Dept. canceled seven remaining oil and gas leases in Alaska’s National Wildlife Refuge, and the Agriculture Dept. announced $1 billion in grants to plant trees across the nation, including $5 million for Tucson to reduce extreme heat and decrease energy consumption.
In the economic sector, the Commerce Dept. reported economic growth accelerated to a robust 4.9% annual rate, the fastest pace in two years. Inflation is slowing and hiring remains strong.
Biden has done his job. Trump never knew his.
Margaret Scott
Midtown
Sinking all boats
Fascism is known to be a deceptive form of politics due to its guileful use of propaganda. A technique that is commonly used, is to discredit all philosophies, organizations and political thought outside of the fascist camp. We have seen this taking place with the rise of Trumpism. The outrage over CRT, wokeness, democracy, socialism and the collective good are examples of an attempt to sink these boats, while leaving only the fascist boat afloat. Biden must be viewed as a vicious monster with fangs. The honorable Liz Cheney is portrayed as a traitor to the cause. Then, the cesspool of fascism will be perceived as a fresh water spring. Fascism is the epitome of political bigotry. It polarizes its followers to vote against the virtues seen in democracy while accepting the vices of authoritarianism. It creates a new morality that is not moral at all. Recognizing fascism is the first step in preventing its ascendency.
Steve Rasmussen
Foothills
Whitewashing a weapon
Re: the Dec. 14 letter “Gun crimes.”
This latest entry into the fray over technical minutiae regarding the AR15 definitely takes the top prize. The gist of this dubious offering is that the AR15 is no more capable of “blowing the body apart” than its 44 million derivative variants currently in use in the U.S. today. How comforting. But, since “AR15” has become synonymous with this entire class of rifle, this seems especially desperate.
Consider this: Of the top 25 deadliest shootings in U.S. history, all but one of the 11 that involved an AR15 occurred in the last 11 years and resulted in 269 deaths and 1040 injuries. It should come as no surprise then that 78% of the mass killings in the last 41 years involved weapons other than AR15s, as claimed. Why this should be reassuring escapes me entirely.
It’s time to stop whitewashing this weapon’s growing popularity as the preferred implement for perpetrating carnage and acknowledge that a more sober treatment is warranted than these petty exchanges.
Robert Gavlak
Midtown
Winterhaven drive through nights
The Dec. 17 letter “Shame on Winterhaven.”
Safety is the top priority during the Festival of Lights. As the event has gained popularity, we have had new challenges to be addressed. The lines to get into Winterhaven were up to four miles long during drive through nights and the streets were so packed with cars that there was no practical way to get emergency vehicles into the neighborhood in a timely manner. TPD advised us that it was becoming increasingly difficult to manage the drive through nights and they recommended that they be eliminated.
Regarding the commercialization of the Festival, this remains a free event in spite of the fact that it costs about $100k to run the event each year. It is supported by donations from residents and our community partners. This is a 100% volunteer run 501(c )3 and it supports the Community Food Bank.
Jim Tofel
Midtown
U of A budget deficit
UA President Robbins stated “we are just getting started” on budget cuts. Robbins has proposed a hiring freeze, the end of student tuition guarantees and a halt to international travel. Chair DuVal stated that ABOR plans to increase financial oversight.
If you tuned into the UA Perdue basketball game on Saturday (Dec. 16), there for students, faculty and ABOR members to see was Robbins sitting on the team bench at the game in Indiana. Perhaps Robbins felt it was an acceptable trip because it wasn’t international. Or, perhaps Robbins felt justified since he believes “athletics is core” to the UA.
It seems that the UA president would be more circumspect in showing up in public, at an athletic event 1,600 miles across the country, instead of staying in Tucson and working on the deficit. And if ABOR wants to increase its financial oversight, perhaps they could start with Robbins travel plans. The ‘Cats lost the game and Robbins lost respect.
Tillie Bee
Midtown
Republicans double standard for school accountability
The Arizona Senate Republican caucus recently posted its plans for the 2024 legislative session. Included is this sentence about education: “[W]e will continue to advocate for families and teachers while continuing to push for transparency in the classroom so parents can have a more active role in choosing the best learning environments for their kids.” Since the implementation of Arizona’s universal empowerment scholarship program, the primary beneficiaries have been families that were already paying to send their kids to private schools. Unsurprisingly, the program has exceeded expected costs by millions of dollars but that issue is not addressed in the Republicans’ plan. Currently, private schools receiving ESA funds do not have to post lesson plans, the results of standardized tests or anything else required of public schools. In their push for transparency are the Senate Republicans going to apply the same accountability requirements to both public and ESA funded schools? If not, why not? Tax dollars are being used in both cases.
Eileen Hollowell
Oro Valley
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