Tucson Speaks Out: June 12 letters of the day

It seems to be a tough time for clear thinking, on the contrary, endless lying seems to be happily absorb-able by a people taking a vacation from responsibility and reality, while they enjoy the noise from the opportunists it seems are available everywhere!

The hard work, truthfulness, and accurate facts that supported and protected the free society we built over 250 years, at the cost of countless lives, seems easily ignored. It seems self-respect and respect for others have been replaced by some kind delicious fantasy that requires nothing more than turning off our brains while we turn over our souls to a terribly faulted man who somehow guarantees we won’t ever have to think again!

We don’t need elections, all we need are rallies! We don’t need democracy, all we need is to be taken care of. We don’t need education and truth, all we need are promises. What we have accomplished means nothing, let us instead adore!

Wake up, people! What we have is priceless!

Frank Parsons

Northeast side

The answer is really quite simple

Re: the May 25 letter “Profiles in cowardice.”

I just finished reading the letter criticizing Nikki Haley for choosing to vote for Trump. It was another one of thousands of letters written by a liberal who thinks they have superior intellect, integrity, or righteousness to anyone who votes for Trump. I don’t know why it’s so difficult to understand that, no matter how narcissistic, egomaniacal, or just plain vile Trump can be, millions of Americans feel he and his policies are better for country than Biden or any other Democrat and liberal policies.

Kevin Kaatz

Oro Valley

Climate hoax? A simple analogy

Re: the May 25 letter “The climate change hoax.”

The letter writer wrote about “the hoax that reducing our CO2 emissions through drastic social and economic change will do anything to stop it. If current CO2 levels in the atmosphere will remain for centuries, then how does reducing CO2 emissions now save the planet?”

A simple analogy: If your bathtub is overflowing, you need to open the drain, but first turn off the faucet.

Steve Greenberg

East side

Better or worse?

Re: the May 5 letter ‘Hate Trump club.’

The letter writer claims, among many things, that Trump suggested that ingesting bleach might be helpful in fighting the COVID virus. The Daily Star actually let this article be printed? What? According to PolitiFact who I believe fact checks statements made by politicians, let it be known that this was a falsehood. Might the reason for accepting the letter be to cater to its leftist ideology?

Would it not be good journalism to thoroughly vet each and every letter they receive before publication? Even the one from this humble reader?

Bob Wineland

Northwest side

Dictatorship

Trump supporters, please list any country in the world where and how the general public has benefited from living under a dictatorship.

Cass Fey

Midtown

We’re not replacing ourselves

Re: the May 5 article “AZ should try to be better for having children.”

AZ Optimal 2.1 is actually 1.7 ; Japan 1.3; China 1.1; Korea .7.

Children are the future. Wages in AZ were brutal until three years ago. Right- to-Work State.

When I moved here (Huachuca City) from Chicago (on a dare) 47 years ago, my civil service job vaporized and $3.66 hour CETA job kept me afloat for a month till I moved up to Tucson. Slave wages? Maybe.

Mr. Steller says “AZ doesn’t have to worry much about achieving a replacement rate” … proximity to the border … which sums up my final point.

All job growth in the U.S. has been driven by foreign born workers. Yet MAGA claims immigrants are displacing American workers. How can this be?

The U.S. birthrate peaked in 2007. Without fresh workers, where will revenue come from to feed the IRS beast and contribute to Social Security and Medicare?

My grandmother (busha) came here from Poland at the age of 18 in 1895 and produced seven revenue contributing sons.

Thomas Plesniak

Midtown

Definition of a republican

I have found a new definition of a Republican (noun) — A person who believes the government should be run by a convicted criminal and rapist who married a soft-porn actress, cheated on her with a hard-core porn actress because he’s like Jesus.

Terry Louck

East side

A much-needed belly laugh

In this age fraught with anxiety, it is wonderful that Clint Bolick and Vladimir Putin relieve our tension by providing us with belly laughs. Bolick, one of four justices who voted to uphold the 1864 Arizona law on abortion and who comes up for retention in November, decries citizens’ beliefs that justices put political ideology before civic duty. But it is Bolick who funded his Institute for Justice with money from the Koch brothers not to mention his and his wife’s relationship with Clarence and Ginny Thomas! One has to laugh when Bolick insists he’s independent and impartial. And then there’s Putin who asserts that President Zelenskyy lacks legitimacy to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine because he has failed to hold elections. That’s a belly laugh in itself given Putin’s record. But to set things straight, the Ukrainian constitution forbids holding elections while under martial law. If Bolick and Putin weren’t such hypocrites, we could have a roaring laugh!

Barbara Benjamin

Foothills

Climate change and CO2 emissions

Re: the May 25 letter “The climate change hoax.”

I have to reply to the Editor about reducing CO2 emissions (or not). The letter-writer says there’s lots of CO2 already in the atmosphere, and it’s going to stay for centuries, so climate change is inevitable, so why restrict CO2 emissions?

I hope this analogy works for them.

Atmosphere: Your yard and everybody else’s yards.

CO2 emissions: Foot-deep liquified sewage sludge on the ground. EVERYWHERE. And it’s not going to go away for centuries.

Question: Should we stop adding more sludge to our yards? Or should we keep going until it’s knee-deep … waist-deep … neck-deep …

Second question: Some of us don’t care how deep the sludge gets. The problem is that the sludge is liquid, so what you add to your yard also flows into mine. AND I HATE SLUDGE. Shouldn’t the government step in to set rules about sludge?

Dave Peterson

Midtown

Free speech or not

Harrison Butker is receiving much backlash about his comments at a college gathering. He apparently said such things as “Upgrade your masculinity”, “nothing good about playing God with having children” and “women should be excited to take on the vocation of homemaker”. Many people agree with his thoughts, in general, and many do not. I question why anyone who speaks openly about a return to the old way of things is not free to do so without being lambasted. You may not agree but why cannot I differ with you. I guess in your mind that isn’t right and only your way is the true one. Sorry, but to me if we espouse free speech we accept it no matter now it appeals to me.

The man isn’t asking for the government to be overthrown, such as a former president is, he simply suggests a different way.

Philip Reinecker

East side

What if/accountability

According to the now convicted former president, he is the most mistreated person in history — 2016, rigged; 2020, stolen. The full weight of the DOJ wrongly directed at him. Every accusation, every prosecutor, every disagreeable person, every political opponent, every judge, and every election was the most unfair, unjust, conflicted, and rigged. The world is out to get him, blah, blah, blah.

Can you imagine if he had just come out and said, “I made some mistakes and I was found guilty by a jury of my peers.” How refreshingly accountable that would have been.

Let us be refreshed! As citizens who believe in the rule of law, let us demonstrate what accountability means. Let us “Make Accountability a Thing Again.”

Mark Silva

North side

Stable genius

“I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star to President of the United States (on my first try). I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius … and a very stable genius at that!” — Donald J. Trump

To those who agree with Trump’s assessment of himself consider:

1. In May, 2023 E. Jean Carroll won a JURY VERDICT Trump sexually abused her and was awarded $5M. Wouldn’t a smart person shut up?

2. Trump continued to hatefully carry on, so in January, 2024, Ms. Carroll was awarded $83.3M for defamation by another JURY. Smart?

3. Now a third JURY, after listening to 20 days of disturbing evidence about Trump, found him guilty on all 34 counts. What does he do? Rant, whine, besmirch and threaten.

Sentencing is based on the legal parameters for the crime and on a judge’s determination of the defendant’s contrition and chance of recidivism. Contrition: Nope! Repeat: Certainly! 30 smart JURORS; one stupid man.

Dee Maitland

Marana

There ought to be a law

As a Vice President for a community bank I was appointment to the county’s economic development commission. The commission oversaw grants and administered federal, state and county funds. Besides reading volumes of paper, we had to listen to the public and negotiate among ourselves about the best ways to proceed. There was always so much to learn and consider.

From this experience I determined no one should be voted into an elected office without previous experience. Just as you wouldn’t hire a doctor who hasn’t attended medical school, we shouldn’t elect people with no governmental experience. Before running for state office, you ought to have served locally on a commission, council or school board. Before running for federal office, you ought to have served in a state capacity. Experience is vital to effectiveness.

We now have many elected officials who have not learned the ropes. We are getting pontificating show horses instead of dedicated work horses and they are now failing us. Vote for experience.

Dee Maitland

Marana

Inverted flag

My father served in WWII and my grandfathers served in WWI and the Spanish American War. I was proud a neighbor mounted a large United States flag in his yard despite the same size Trump MAGA flag beneath a month ago. Now the neighbor has inverted the U.S. flag and I am truly offended by this action. A man who has described killed in action service men or Prisoners of War as “losers” and “suckers” should never be elected or allowed to serve as President. I am ashamed and embarrassed by my neighbor’s action.

Wilbert Harri

Northwest side

Re-elect Laura Conover

There seems to be a disinformation campaign underway to unseat Pima County Attorney Laura Conover. Her primary opponent, Mike Jette, is a Republican turned “Democrat” who is being substantially funded by Republican donors. This can only be in response to the much needed reforms and updates Conover has brought to the County Attorney’s office.

She has stopped pushing to treat juveniles as adults in court. We know teen brains are not fully developed and need the justice system to account for that. Conover has also created a restorative justice program for non-violent offenders that will greatly reduce repeat offenses and save taxpayers money. She resurrected a consumer fraud office that has recouped a million dollars for Pima County consumers.

I urge voters not to be fooled by the push from the right to drag the County Attorney’s office back to the bad old days and to re-elect Laura Conover.

Gail Kamaras

East side

Border hoax

Re: the June 7 letter “Biden’s border executive orders.”

Hoo-rah for this letter on the Biden border hoax. Would anyone in the White House staff have the guts to reveal their boss’s border executive order is a gateway for 1.8 million, plus got-aways, unvetted new enrollees on our strained social systems such as schools, health care, food stamps, housing subsistence, to name a few? The legacy media is tripping over themselves commending Biden on fixing the border. The facts are brutal.

Don Flood

Green Valley

Special prosecutor needed to investigate Hobbs

Re: the June 8 article “Arizona AG to launch probe of group home linked to Hobbs.”

Governor Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, is being investigated by AZ State Attorney General Kris Mayes, another Democrat, for allegedly being involved in a “pay for play” bribery corruption scheme involving Sunshine Residential Homes. Sunshine operates foster care homes for children. In December 2022, Sunshine was allegedly denied a rate increase by the state. Three days later, they donated $100,000 to Hobbs’ inaugural campaign. The next year, the increase was approved to $234 per day, higher than the average $169 for other group homes. Sunshine also donated $200,000 to the Arizona Democratic Party, and the firm’s CEO was on the Hobbs inauguration committee. This all stinks of corruption. I do not trust Democrat, Mayes, to objectively investigate her colleague and buddy Hobbs, another Democrat. Would Mayes pursue Hobbs with the same vigor that she applied in the Trump electors case? I doubt it. To remove any actual or appearance of favoritism and impropriety, an independent Special Counsel Prosecutor needs to be appointed.

Charley Favors

Three Points

Surgeon General

If you don’t remember C. Everett Koop, he was an outspoken, thoughtful, and passionate Surgeon General who promoted public health. He sure made waves, yet his mission was to educate and saves lives. Isn’t it time to put more trust in our health professionals whose job is to protect us, and less in national political policymakers who have no interest in the public’s well-being?

Tim O’Connor

West side