Tucson Speaks Out: June 23

'No more wars'

Thirteen American lives lost, thousands more injured, thousands of non-Americans killed and injured and their infrastructure devastated, billions of US dollars spent, the global economy is devastated, relationships with our allies in ruin and the United States is loathed almost universally by foreign citizens. From the leader of the free world to the laughingstock of the world. What have we gained other than an economy in tatters where the rich continue to get richer and most average Americans suffer from inflationary increases on virtually everything, especially gas. Donald Trump continues to lie to excess, ignoring the reality of his destructive policies while he and his family continue to enrich themselves. In the end we will be worse of than Obama’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that Trump tore up during his first administration. Wake up America, Trump is not making America greater, he is destroying it.

Jerry Fay

SaddleBrooke

NBA finals

Regarding the letter "NBA Finals" (June 14):

The problem is the letter writer doesn't like that the Knicks and Spurs owners are "supporters/donors to Trump's vile schemes." And the letter writer wants the players and coaches to speak out in protest of the owners. Let's play this out all the way. The basketball fans can all bring posters to the arena to display their political alliance instead of wearing the jersey of their favorite player. See how absurd it is to bring politics into the sports venue?

There's a much bigger problem with sports in America. Most major league sports teams openly support Pride month. Since 2022 on Pride Night, the Los Angeles Dodgers players wear a baseball cap with a LGBTQ insignia on it. Even worse than politics in sports is the culture wars detracting from the joy of watching sports for the sheer chance to get away from the perils of the world for a couple hours.

Daniel Pryor

West side

Out of control deficit

Under recent administrations, our Deficit has continued to grow, but especially under the current one. Explain how arresting, imprisoning and deporting thousands of immigrants is helping our national budget. The cost of purchasing & retrofitting giant warehouses; the cost of feeding & caring for the occupants, the cost of recruiting and training ICE agents making the arrests is millions of dollars. Most of the people arrested are employed, which means they shop locally, pay rent and taxes; or they have businesses which employ others and contribute to the welfare of our communities. How does deporting these people help our economy? Meanwhile, we are spending $1 billion a day on a war that is only serving to drive up prices. Now we are told that health care, Medicare, etc., must be cut because it's unaffordable. Maybe pay more attention to our real needs for a change & not a ballroom or drone pad!

Mary Wujcik

North side

The peace deal that isn't

Before Trump started his war with Iran here was where things stood:

1. The Strait of Hormuz was open to all traffic and Iran had no control of the Strait.

2. Iran was governed by a radical Islamist regime.

3. Iran retained a stock of refined uranium.

4. The U.S. was imposing economic sanctions on Iran.

5- The U.S. held $24 billion in frozen Iranian money.

Under the peace deal:

1. The Strait will be reopened, with Iran now asserting control of the Strait and charging ships to use it.

2. Iran is still governed by the same regime.

3. Iran has made no promise to give up its uranium, except to talk about it for the next 60 days.

4. The U.S. will lift its economic sanctions.

5. The U.S. will release Iran’s $24 billion.

6. The Gulf States will pay Iran $300 billion in reconstruction funds.

That apparently is the “Art of the Deal” under Trump

Larry DeWitt

Northeast side

President Trump's birthday

President Trump celebrated his 80th birthday by attending a UFC match. Big Deal! I celebrated my 80th ten years ago by going down a zip line with a friend of mine. When my 90th was coming up I emailed him to see if he would like to repeat our zipline adventure. He didn't reply.

Jerry Lujan

Oro Valley

White House events

Well, we just had UFC fights on the White House South Lawn. One of the participants yelled that Michelle Obama is a man, which caused Trump to smile. Pretty classy. What's next? Strippers and pole dancers in the East Room?

Larry Hammond

Southwest side

News of corrupt governance

My request is very simple: how do I subscribe to a text-only version of the Daily Star? I have seen and heard more than my stomach can tolerate of your coverage of our "president." Specifically, I want to read the published information, but I don't want to see any more pictures of you-know-who, or any of his relatives or other cohorts, all of whom I consider complicit in his perpetual amoral and criminal behavior.

Ken Shearer

Northeast side

What World Cup?

You are to be congratulated on your near successful avoidance of any reference to the international football (soccer) competition known as the World Cup — a competition, which, I hear, is taking place in 3 countries in North America and which, in its final rounds, is being played by teams from 48 countries. Rumor has it, besides the sport of the games themselves, there are lots of political stories swirling around the sidelines — from players, staff and referees being denied entry to countries to invasive searches of players and, of course the subject of Iran, a country with whom we are at war, but are to play games in the U.S.A.

The story run on Sunday praising the USMNT was a forgivable oversight as we won. But, to misquote Oscar Wilde, running one story may be forgivable, but running a second would seem like carelessness.

Thanking you from a less that full throated enthusiastic supporter of sport, but I do like international politics and intrigue.

Henry Walls

Northwest side

The ruse

Trump is the main distraction. The stuff he promotes like the cage fight, the arch, a ballroom, invasions, hypocrisies, election interference or Epstein, is there to divert attention away from the real story. In the back rooms Vought (Heritage Foundation) keeps piling our money, into the corrupted coffers; Miller (America First) dictates the policies and Blanch (Federalists) manipulates the legal stuff while Thiel (Christian Nationalist) tries to ensure the church is in the middle of the government. There are many others, the money men (PACs), but these are the primary agents.

No matter who’s out front, Vance or anybody else, the objective as stated in Project 2025, etc. is to wrest the government away from the constitution, I.e. us. These people believe only they can run the world. These people (Supremacists) believe the people (including the loyalists) don't have the intelligence or gumption to make

those decisions anyway. So, for us, the little people, preserving democracy is even more imperative. To do that, more democracy.

Jim Keeton

Tubac

Epic Fury? Epic Failure!

The analysis article by Samia Nakhoul of Reuters published Wednesday June 17th (Gulf recalibrates as Iran emerges intact from war) did an excellent job of detailing what a colossal geopolitical blunder the United States has made in undertaking (with Israel) the war against Iran. We have been continuously duped and outplayed by a more cunning opponent, who will continue to do so for many years to come. As an electorate we get what we vote for and deserve what we get. I believe we all deserve better. Let’s make it so in November!

Paul Wunderlich

Foothills

Trump and the Iran war

Dear President Trump, thank you for keeping us safe. Iran once posed a real threat. No more. Thanks to your insight, and with the help of Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, you bombed Iran into submission, and it took only a “week or so.” You achieved the impossible by getting Iran to eliminate its nuclear weapons programs and assuring hassle-free commerce through the Straits of Hormuz. So, after a 60 day pause of both its nuclear programs and its stranglehold over traffic through the Straits, and more than a hundred days of war, the nuclear threat will be almost impossible to eliminate, and Straits of Hormuz commerce, especially oil and agricultural fertilizer, will, at best, be the same as before, and at worst, will result in a permanent increase in the cost of virtually everything. Mr. President, we owe you a debt of gratitude for your accomplishments.

Jack Graef

SaddleBrooke

Power lines

The Tucson City Counsel thanks to our mayor recently approved the TEP plan to allow 100 ft power poles in midtown locations. They disregarded reasoned appeals from the local neighborhood for under grounding the power lines, ignored previous area plans and have set a terrible precedent for future placement of unsightly poles. Now, within days of this decision, the first of the year Tucson monsoon took out numerous power poles and left many residents without power. Hmm, maybe it's time to rethink that decision.

Thomas Staudt

Midtown