Tucson Speaks Out: November 22

Drug boats

Much LTE comment have been directed at the elimination of drug boats off the coast of Venezuela. Interestingly, the federal government has been very open regarding these operations, not clandestine. This tells me that the federal government is very confident that the boats carry drugs, or they would not provide the videos to the general public. Observing the videos, the boats are certainly not pleasure or fishing boats and are carrying square bundles that are certainly not cotton. For 30 years, the federal government has been ineffective in stopping the flow of drugs into this country, and the cartels have become very bold because the consequences are minimal. Now, how many drug runners, regardless of the pay by the cartels, will willingly accept a contract to move drugs into the United States? The conundrum is whether we should stand idly by as the drugs flow easily into our country or should we take actions that make that endeavor very, very risky.

Loyal M. Johnson Jr.

Oro Valley

Appearance

A woman reporter asked President Trump about the Epstein files, and he called her piggy. Does this fat, pasty man ever look in a mirror and analyze what he sees there? What kind of real man would say something so repulsive to a woman who is not in a position to answer back? Be honest, a true masculine guy would not. Trump, of course, has never been seen as anything but a bloated hint of male who will not answer any question he does not savor and instead lashes back with some horrid putdown. How very unfortunate that our leader and a supposed paragon for others to emulate is such a disappointment to us all. Somehow, our cowardly leaders need to find the wherewithal to send this blubbery half-man home, where he belongs.

Philip Reinecker

East side

Water projects

Interesting article about the state water board (WIFA) and its dealings with EPCORs's proposals to solve our water woes. Agriculture in Arizona employs about 1% of the workforce and contributes less than 1% to the state's GDP, yet it uses 70% of the water. I don't believe we need a desalinization plant in Mexico to ship water to Arizona. The solution is clear: No more unlimited use of water by agriculture.

Sean Bruner

West side

The American Revolution

I would like to recommend that MAGA believers join the thinking public and watch the new Ken Burns documentary on the American Revolution. It might help DJT supporters to realize how close Trump’s actions parallel those of George III.

You’ll learn that the “founding fathers” (and mothers) were slave holders, land speculators and very wealthy. Truth as shown on PBS, heard on NPR and seen in the Smithsonian exposes America with all its warts and yet America became a symbol for the world.

Watching this will require devoting 12 hours of your time to perhaps learning new facts about American history. I do believe however, that anyone with an IQ greater than a carrot (apologies to the carrot), should come away realizing that Trump’s ambition is counter to American ideals.

A new American Revolution, anyone?

George Ball

Midtown

Another poorly resourced letter

Mr. Berger claimed that MacArthur wanted to court-martial JFK. This was referencing a column written by Drew Pearson. MacArthur said he never met Pearson and called JFK "a brave and resourceful young naval officer." Trump's bone spurs: Two daughters of Larry Braunstein, a podiatrist, say that he diagnosed Trump with bone spurs as a favor to his landlord, Fred Trump.

Craig Miller

Northwest side

Scrub, scrub, scrub

Rub-a-dub-dub, three men in a tub: Epstein, Trump and Bubba? Epstein's brother asserts that "Bubba" isn't Bill Clinton. If he's wrong, as a Democrat, I hope Bill faces accountability. Questions for the three regular LTE contributors who often echo Fox News talking points: 1) Why did Trump oppose transparency around the Epstein files until it became obvious he couldn't manipulate Congress on this matter? 2) Why did Trump's personal lawyer have a private meeting with Epstein's convicted facilitator, Ghislane Maxwell, and why was she subsequently moved to a minimum-security federal prison enjoying gourmet meals? 3) What was the purpose of Lauren Boebert being taken into the Situation Room prior to the transparency vote? 4) Why doesn't Trump use his executive power to release the files immediately? He did it for the investigative files in the JFK and MLK assassinations. 5) How many weeks or months would it take to scrub the files to remove Trump from Epstein's emails, flight logs, pictures, video recordings, etc.? Your POV, please.

Louis Hollingsworth

West side

Thanks to Speaker Johnson

He has made Tucson’s Adelita Grijalva a national, state and local star. The world is watching.

She said:

— "This is a historic moment for our community."

— "Our democracy works when everyone has a voice."

— "It is an honor to be the first Latina to represent Arizona in Congress."

I say support her efforts to promote ethics, honesty and transparency.

Mike Johnson claims that God prepared him to be a “New Moses.” He also covered up the Epstein papers and promotes the immigration policies of the Trump disaster.

Dan Bannon

Midtown

Immigration reform

I agree wholeheartedly with Ronald Eustice's opinion piece that immigration reform is way overdue. The problem lies with Congress and members from both parties' reluctance to deal with this problem. There has not been comprehensive immigration reform in 40 years. The majority of the public wants common sense reform, but both parties are held hostage by their bases. Not wanting to anger the voters who elect them in primaries has resulted in a series of dueling Executive Orders by Presidents. One EO is signed implementing a new policy and as soon as the other party occupies the White House, that order is rescinded and a new one changes the policy. This is no way to govern.

The same problem exists with gun control, where a vast majority of the population wants reasonable gun control, but the gun lobby and other interest groups prevent the cowards in Congress from addressing it.

Dan Watson

Oracle

Data center deals

I cannot survive another argument about data centers. Do we have enough water to cool them? No. Do we have enough electricity to power them? No. The answer is simple and evident. This is a desert. We have 360 days of sunshine every year. If you want to run a data center in the desert, you cool it and operate it with electricity. All the electricity to cool it and power it must be generated through solar power. Solar-powered data centers will not hurt anyone or damage anything, and operating costs will be much less over time after the initial cost of setting up solar power. Please get with what works for everyone.

Richard Bechtold

West side

Trump's fixation on clean energy

High energy prices will definitely be a key issue in the midterms. But do not forget the Big Beautiful Bill the Republicans rammed through Congress. It created higher energy prices along with drastic cuts to health care and food assistance. The BBB decimated our country’s growing clean energy economy and hundreds of thousands of jobs and clean energy projects — including right here in Arizona!

Trump has a brain-dead ideology and fixation on clean energy. He attacks our cheapest, cleanest, and most efficient sources of energy: solar, wind, and battery storage. The $1 billion election bribe from the fossil fuel industries has paid off. Trump now attacks clean energy policies and projects, which are a major competition to fossil fuels’ profits. The fossil fuel industry and utility companies continue to dictate a reckless energy agenda – including our own Arizona Corporation Commission that prioritizes energy from fossil fuels over clean and affordable energy.

Start electing representatives who put citizens ahead of Trump’s corruption and obeyance to his billionaire donors.

Kathy Krucker

Midtown