Tucson Speaks Out: July 8

Birthright citizenship

From Saturday’s LTE section comes an insufferably smug entry regarding birthright citizenship, asserting that the SCOTUS dissenters are ignoramuses, incapable of reading the plain text: “All persons born … in the United States … are citizens.” [Ellipses contained in the original]

The writer then absurdly claims that the amendment's authors “explicitly rejected” the limitations (jurisdiction and residence) that are contained in the very text that he hid from view. Two can play that ellipsis game. Let’s add just one more, leaving this: “All persons … are citizens of the United States.” That should please the writer and his fellow travelers.

Wrapping up, I do wish that the editors would exercise better judgment in selecting letters to print.

Jerrod Mason

Green Valley

Ciscomani: The enabler

Trump is the most corrupt president ever. Trump is a habitual pathological liar who cares only about enriching himself and his family members. Trump makes no bones about it that he is a racist who has a disdain for Black people or people of color. Trump is a narcissist who puts himself superior to others, puts his well-being above the welfare of the U.S. and the American people. Trump is a callous person who sends people back to dangerous countries. Juan Ciscomani is one of Trump’s chief enablers. So if you don't want more of Trump's unchecked corruption, then vote Juan Ciscomani out

John Cleary

Northwest side

Equality

250 years ago, Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence, "We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal." In 1945, George Orwell wrote "Animal Farm," a warning about the rise of totalitarian rulers that slowly erode rules and traditions of a farm animal society. When pigs started ignoring rules and traditions, animals objected. Napoleon, the pig leader then posted an edict: "All animals are equal but, some animals are more equal than others." "Animal Farm" was an allegory that is prescient today with the Trump family reaping billions of dollars while vast numbers of Americans struggle to make ends meet. In Trump's America, all people are created equal, but some (like him) are more equal than others. In 2025, Trump mocks the vision of Jefferson's America.

Lee Aitken

Northwest side

Any thoughts?

For me, the second scariest headline news after “Huge comet expected to hit earth this week” would be “John Roberts, writing for the majority ...”

Quite a few Star readers have noted that the constitutionally mandated process of allowing a profoundly corrupt President, addled by dementia, to nominate an unqualified Supreme Court candidate who is subsequently confirmed by a Senate composed of spineless sycophants isn’t working well. Except possibly for Aileen Cannon.

Clearly, the founders didn’t consider the potential implications of this process. That is, a Supreme Court composed of judges innately unaware of their intellectual shortcomings and ideologically tied to a single president, for life. Or that the Executive branch can run roughshod over a supposedly co-equal branch through the nomination process.

Now, if the Judicial branch of government is to be meaningfully coequal to the other two branches, maybe the real flaw here is allowing the Executive branch to control the nomination process rather than the Judicial branch through an apolitical process.

Don Schmidt

Oro Valley

Trump's latest obsession

First, Trump called out Democrats Socialists. Actually, some of the programs that people depend on, such as Social Security and Medicare, could be called Socialist ideas. Good government should exist to make the people's lives better. Now, Trump has decided that Democrats are Communists, and he's going to root them out and make their lives miserable. It's clear he has no idea what a Socialist or a Communist is. He also has no desire to make the American people's lives better. At Mount Rushmore, he talked about the Democrats looting our country. If that isn't a case of projection, I don't know what is.

Mary Zimmerman

SaddleBrooke

Historical perspective

It’s difficult to comprehend the total scale of corruption in the current administration. However, in a recent video, Paul Krugman, Nobel Laureate in Economics, put Trump’s corruption in perspective, using the Teapot Dome bribery scandal during the Gilded Age as a benchmark. According to Krugman, the bribe was roughly 500 thousand dollars, which would be about 9 million today. Trump has been in office for roughly 500 days.

The amount of money he has obtained in this period is estimated to be between 4 and 5 billion dollars, i.e., this means that we are experiencing a Teapot Dome-size scandal virtually every day.

The Teapot Dome scandal was the defining example of government corruption in the 20th century until Watergate. It led to major investigations in Congress and, subsequently, major reforms in government.

The White House has repeatedly stated that Trump has no conflicts of interest. Apparently, he believes that whatever is good for him, his family, and his friends is good for America.

Barbara Hall

Midtown

Now it’s communists!

Now Trump's latest targets are communists! How sad. It seems anything to divert attention from his plunging numbers, Epstein, etc.

I believe he went ballistic in his 4th of July “speech," and caught me by surprise, though I don’t suppose it should have. There was a time not too long ago that he welcomed Mayor Mamdani to the Oval Office with high praise, of course that was then, now he’s inferring that he’s a communist, the man absolutely has no shame, but, we know that. I’m really not sure how this all started, and now it’s a thing that, if we pay attention to it, will be pervasive, of course.

Binky Luckhurst

Foothills

Voter fraud

Whether there is or is not voter fraud, programs like mail-in ballots, ballot harvesting, instant registration, voting without I.D., and very late ballots make fraud much easier.

I remember standing in line at my polling place and seeing results that night on TV, voting was an event and required effort. I had to register, provide a birth certificate copy, which took time and cost me $15, find my polling place — it changed often, but to me, it was worth it.

Name changes are a hurdle, but when we needed new driver licenses to fly, it was a pain but not so much I couldn't get it done.

We took turns driving home-bound from church, to and from the polls. If voting laws change, we can either complain, vote accordingly next time, and help those few in our lives make the next vote a reality!

Scott Thompson

East side

Self-aggrandizing newspaper owner

Lee Newspapers and the Daily Star have thrown away any credence of respect they once enjoyed from their readers. The puff piece on Lee chairman David Hoffman that was written ostensibly by David McCumber but commanded by headquarters is a disgrace. All Lee papers were instructed to run it. And this is the guy who is going to save journalism?

The Daily Star still has some first-rate seasoned journalists (Tim Steller, Tony Davis) and some good rising talents (Emily Hamer, Emily Bregel), but the newspaper itself has no credibility.

Everyone involved should hang their heads in shame and apologize to readers.

Stephen Golden

Midtown

Balance, fairness and generosity

Thanks for your front page, above-the-fold headline article "New Hope For Local News" in the Sunday, July 5 Arizona Daily Star. What a concept: balance and fairness as a business model, and generosity as a personal ethos. Thanks to David Hoffman for his visionary leadership of the Star's parent company, Lee Enterprises, in general and his commitment to community journalism in particular, specifically his understanding that digital expansion can be effectively combined with the continuation of print editions. I couldn't agree more with Hoffman's statement: "I believe in newspapers, and I believe in community, and I think in this country, in this world, it's never been more important." I also couldn't agree more with Lee Enterprises Chief Content Officer Jason Adrians' assessment: "Our chairman's focus on balance and fairness isn't just responsible, it's refreshing. Our readers deserve it." Local priorities reflecting national interests, and vice versa: what a concept.

Will Clipman

West side

New hope for local news

Thank you for publishing "New Hope for Local News" in your July 5 edition. I am convinced that a large contributor to Americans' divisiveness is a lack of local news, a proliferation of "news holes," leading people to turn to their phones and other algorithmic-driven devices for information. The algorithms feed us what they think we want, not what we need to know. In the 1990s, I worked in the newsroom of a small city daily newspaper in New Mexico. Every year, corporate would send a representative who presented himself as one wanting to help, but always shaved more meat from our bones. This corporation owned various media outlets, as well as golf courses in Alabama and other disparate businesses. Our small profit went to the golf courses, leaving us with nothing. Today, that newspaper is a shadow of its former self. It is an online enterprise only, run essentially by one person, a former colleague of mine. Please support local news. Thank you, Lee Enterprises.

Lisa Turner

West side