Republicans see disaster coming
OK, so the majority of Republicans in Congress don’t want a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection. Hmm, sounds to me like they are culpable, to the 10th power. You can run, but you can’t hide. Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi will make sure; thank you, Nancy! See ya to Kevin McCarthy, Sen. Josh Hawley, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, and all the other 170 plus members of Congress, that are too pathetic to name. This will be a great way to get rid of them all, at once. No time to drag this out. They all must go!
Mary Bradley
Northeast side
Progress blocked by the filibuster
Dear Sen. Kyrsten Sinema,
Your words and actions have characterized you as a Demopublican. Today, this is not a good thing. Our nation had it’s reputation and accomplishments gutted for four years by a Republican administration and Congress devoted to acquiring power no matter the cost. For our country to survive as we dream and desire it to be, we must begin actions to repair as much of the damage as possible prior to the mid-term elections.
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The filibuster stands in the way of accomplishing any real progress. This is not the time to claim allegiance to bipartisanship, it is the time to show yourself as one who cares enough to be bold and stand up for a nation on the edge of disaster.
Dale Emmel
Southeast side
Country yearns for an alt-GOP
Re: the May 15 article “’Pragmatists’ call on GOP to move past Trump.”
This article detailed an idea supported by more than 150 former representatives, governors, congressmen, Cabinet officials and others to create a revised version of the Republican Party. This vision is of a party based on “evidence-based policy making and honest discourse” with a genuine conservative purpose. The article referenced several of 13 principles including opposition to disenfranchisement of voters, as well as opposition to the employment of fear-mongering, conspiracies and falsehoods.
I know this! Millions of Democrats and independents would jump at the chance to join a party that embodied these types of principles. Sadly, based on the national and state elected Republican leadership across the country and even among rank and file self-described sensible Republicans, there is no evidence, none, that that cohort would want any part of it.
Gary Susko
Midtown
People whining about everything
Everybody these days has something to complain about. First they were running Sen. Martha McSally in the ground. Then they started running Sen. Kyrsten Sinema into the ground. Issues on both sides: Maybe the problem is not McSally or Sinema ... just saying. People are never happy. Look, let’s find solutions instead of whining and crying about everything!
Rob Jones
East side
Maricopa board a ray of honesty
Arizonans owe a debt of gratitude to vice chair Bill Gates and other members of Maricopa County Board of Supervisors for speaking out and standing up for facts, evidence, rule of law and protecting voters’ rights. Supervisor Gates was articulate and clear on a recent “PBS NewsHour” in explaining what has been taking place in Arizona since the 2020 election and how Senate President Karen Fann and her followers continue baseless allegations of fraud by employees of the Maricopa County Election Department and continue peddling conspiracy theories. The supervisors are standing up for honesty and democracy and we thank them.
Norm and Mary Steffenson
North side
Save water, save Oak Flat
The international mining company Rio Tinto is proposing the Resolution Copper Mine just east of Apache Leap in Superior, Arizona. This proposed mine would be in the Tonto National Forest, at Oak Flat. This mine would consume the same amount of water as the city of Tempe on an annual basis for the next 40 years.
Arizona cannot afford this use of our water, as Lake Mead is at 40% of its capacity! Moreover, Oak Flat is a very special place, containing petroglyphs and endangered plants and animals. It would be an absolute tragedy to lose this treasured place to an underground block cave mine. This mining methodology would create a crater roughly 2 miles wide and 1,000 feet deep, obliterating Oak Flat. Worse yet, the mine would dump nearly 1.4 billion tons of toxic mining waste into an unlined tailings dump. I support HB 1884, the Save Oak Flat Bill.
Kathy Mohr-Almeida, Ph.D., chapter chair with the Grand Canyon Sierra Club
Downtown
GOP lawmakers serve themselves
When men and women fail to acknowledge the obvious and certified truth of an issue and do it for fear of being ostracized and denounced by a powerful person, they are cowards. If they fail to recognize and understand that they are being lied to when the truth is evident and verified, they are cowards. These people are unfit for public office.
The Republican members of Congress on the national and state level demonstrate their incompetence daily, from Arizona and its continued audit to a widespread refusal to accept what happened on Jan. 6. I urge my fellow citizens to never forget these incompetent decisions and cowardly actions and vote these spineless public servants out of office. Sycophants are not public servants; they are only servants to their master and themselves.
Carl Foster
Green Valley
Granny flats aren’t benign
The city is considering the development of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) which are small dwelling units that are added to existing residences. While there is some interest to provide more housing, further development of this type comes with some costs. Population density will increase if this change is made in the zoning code which will add more demand for services such as water, energy, social services and transportation. More dense housing will use space that is now available for landscaping and added parking would be required taking more surface area. The infill strategy currently used by the city has already changed the “feel” of Tucson and in the area where I live has impacted habitat and urban wildlife. The city claims to be striving for sustainability, but concepts such as the ADU threaten that goal. At the least these ADU would need to require solar panels and rainwater catchment structures to lessen the impact. Think hard about this idea and let your council person know your concerns.
John Ferner
Midtown
Biden’s AZ win was a marvel
What is our greatest show since Barnum & Bailey shut down its circus? The Cyber Ninjas tracking down every conspiracy theory to discover how Biden stole Arizona’s 2020 presidential electors in Maricopa County. Only Maricopa is worrisome; the rest of the state performed well, with Donald Trump winning Arizona’s popular vote were it not for Maricopa.
So how did Joe Biden manage an incredible presidential heist rivaling the 1950 Boston Brink’s bank robbery? Biden, supported by a ragtag group of socialists, antifa terrorists, the ghost of long-deceased Venezuelan President Chavez altering Maricopa’s voting machines and even China managing to sneak in a bonanza of pro-Biden bamboo votes, achieved the impossible: under the watchful gaze of Arizona’s Republican governor, Republican attorney general, Republican state Legislature, and Republicans occupying four of five seats on Maricopa’s Election Board, he pulled it off.
Houdini and James Bond could have profited from Biden’s example. If only we could figure out how he did it.
Edward Pokorney
Marana
