Tucson speaks out: April 15 letters of the day

Remember the children’s book, Chicken Little? Well, now I believe the sky is falling. The right-wingers have done their homework and I admire that. Who else would find the only federal court in Texas that has but one judge, a super conservative at that, to rule on the abortion pill? The political right is brilliant; if they cannot get the legislation they want, they will go through the courts to get it. I shudder to think of what they will do next.

Toni Kane

Oro Valley

Gun violence a call to action

Republicans will do nothing to reduce gun violence!

As we always see after a horrific act of gun violence, Republicans have no response other than to protect the Second Amendment. We should realize this and vote them out. No one is asking that we take guns away from people who already own them. Recently and legally purchased assault rifles are the weapons of choice in these shootings. We recognize that this will not end gun violence, just reduce it a bit. We have to live with the responsibility of having so many guns in our country. We are less safe from gun violence as long as Republicans are in power. Republican Tim Burchett stated the position of his party “We’re not gonna fix it...” Republicans refuse to do anything to reduce gun violence. Vote for a Democrat to save lives.

In anger and disbelief,

Kenneth Dunlap

North side

Sad Day in Tennessee Legislature

It is a sad day in Tennessee when two Black state representatives were expelled for demonstrating for gun legislation. The nation saw through this farce on live television in real time, when representative Gloria Johnson was asked why she was allowed to stay in the house of representatives, she believes it was because of the color of her skin.

Tennessee needs to wake up and come to the party! Their legislature is a prime example of the old adage “absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Apparently, Tennessee politics has swung far to the conservative side.

The reason this is sad is because in recent years, politics in Tennessee had become more moderate regardless of party. With the expulsion of these two young representatives, Tennessee is turning back the clock to a prior era which was not just conservative but radically so. Let’s hope Tennessee can do better in the future.

Fran Gordon

Green Valley

Hobbs vetoes

I am very impressed and happy to see Gov. Hobbs using her veto power. She has backed up her decisions with concise and intelligent explanations. The nonsense the Republican legislators are spending valuable time on (I don’t need to elaborate) is appalling. When will they begin to work on some relevant legislation that actually helps the people of this state and our environment? The latest joke is to make it legal to carry a concealed weapon into a school. I laughed my head off with the description of a scenario described: a mother with a gun in her purse is called to school because her daughter falls and hurts herself on the playground. She forgets she has a gun in her purse. Oh, please tell me this is not a reason to legalize this nonsense. When will this stop? We have to vote them out.

Sharon Winderl

Midtown

Florida: where democracy goes to die

Florida’s governor says his state is where “woke goes to die.” In actual reality it is where First Amendment freedom of speech goes to die, and be replaced by a Christian-nationalist, ultraconservative quasi-theocracy. That may sound extreme, but the GOP is controlled by the anti-democratic religious right that seems to regard constitutional freedoms as applying only to them, and the Second Amendment as sacrosanct to the point of denying right to life to schoolchildren (see: Nashville, et al.) so that folks can buy AR-15s. The pro-life party.

Academic freedom, a foundation of higher education, is under assault, putting a chill on university teachers who fear being fired for what they say, abandoning their college email and using personal emails instead as one example. That’s just the start. Academic boards are being replaced by ultraconservatives, because freedom is evidently only for the far-right. Instead of freshmen being exposed to varying points of view and being taught critical thinking, they are now going to be indoctrinated.

Jeffrey St. Clair

North side

Dems should support rule of law

It was disappointing to read that Rep. Nancy Pelosi said Donald Trump “has the right to a trial to prove [his] innocence,” and that Health Secretary Xavier Becerra and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez both stated the Biden administration perhaps should defy a court order issued by a federal judge regarding distribution of medication used for abortions.

I support the prosecution of anyone properly indicted by a grand jury, including Trump, and I support a woman’s right to choose her own medical care. But I strongly oppose defiance of the rule of law. Under our Constitution, criminal defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty; the burden is on the state to prove guilt, not on the defendant to prove his innocence. And court orders must be followed within their area of jurisdiction unless and until overturned.

It is imperative that leaders within the Democratic Party, my party, support the rule of law lest we lose our constitutional democracy. We must do better.

Amelia Cramer

Downtown

Equal?

Re: the April 7 letter “Indictment of Donald Trump.”

The letter writer argues that we all get equal treatment under our legal system. We all saw Trump waltz in and out of his arrest. If you or I were charged with 34 felony counts, we would have 20 squad cars come to our homes, be thrown to the floor and chained, then hauled off to sit in a jail cell for days before a judge sets a bail none of us could afford. Trump never felt or saw the steel cells and cuffs we would have in identical circumstances. And that is “equal”?

Thad Appelman

Northwest side

MD’s should be MD’s

I sincerely hope U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk doesn’t waste the time and expertise of any MD’s/DO’s/PhD scientists if he or his family develops a health-related problem. After all, he is (at least in his own mind and those of his anti-choice allies) now more qualified to weigh in on medical treatments and pharmaceuticals than those other professionals (who’ve obviously wasted years on residency and scientific education) with a decision that can potentially affect the entire nation! Who knew a law degree now qualifies one to practice medicine? I wonder what else his legal background also qualifies him to “judge”? The safety/efficacy of tubal ligations and vasectomies? I can only assume he plans to open his own clinic as a side gig. My advice to those in Judge Kacsmaryk’s vicinity with a health emergency? Don’t call 911. Call the judge instead. He’ll make it better because he knows best!

Marilyn Lindell, Captain, Nurse Corps, US Navy (Ret)

Foothills

A terrible letter to write

It is with complete sadness that I write: When a member of the House of Representatives or the Senate at either the federal level or the state level loses a member of his or her family from gunshots, will that representative body enact and pass background checks and enact and pass gun controls in a matter of days? What a terrible thing to say but it will happen. It was thought Rep. Giffords was a wakeup call, but fortunately Rep. Giffords survived. That is why nothing was done. The excuse given was the shooter was mentally ill. Sad but true.

Donald Phillips

Foothills

Ranked choice voting

Are you tired of radical politics? I sure am. Both the far-right and the far-left are the antithesis of good government by standing in the way of effective communication, cooperation and compromise. There is a proposal in the works here in Arizona that will help to curb the more radical impulses within our government. It is called Ranked Choice Voting. Look it up.

If you are one of those who insist on getting their way all the time, every time, you probably won’t like it.

But if you believe government should work for a majority of the people, then I urge you to get behind this effort to bring more centrist lawmakers into the fold who will work together to get things done.

Tony Banks

Oro Valley