Letters to the Editor: March 18

Rep. Harris’ wonderment

State Rep. Harris assumed fraud as “How can a state treasurer receive more votes than a Republican gubernatorial or Senate candidate?” The answer is simple (and happens to represent exactly how I voted). Ms. Yee’s credentials were excellent, while Lake and Masters were the election-denial themes and little else. A less nicely way to put it is, Yee ran on her abilities, while Lake and Masters ran as “denier nuts.”

I might add that my vote for Yee was the only Republican I voted for and this is from a guy who’s voted 85-90% of my life as a Republican, from Eisenhower (a hint of my age, just about right for me to run for president!) up to 2016, when I stopped.

In short, Ms. Harris, so long as the Republicans give us these kinds of candidates (plus Kelli Ward), watch red go purple then to blue.

Phil Lyons

Foothills

DOJ subpoena for Mike Pence

Note to Mike Pence: Mike, “do the right thing” again!”

Larry Gray

SaddleBrooke

Humorous dinosaurs

Re: the March 10 article “Tucker Carlson has proof the experts are all wrong.”

I smiled when I read Alexandra Petri’s article on Tucker’s report about dinosaurs. It was both clever and funny. We all need to relax and enjoy humor and satire a bit more.

What I don’t find funny, however, is our government withholding exculpatory evidence. That evidence may or may not have influenced plea deals and trials. No matter what you think of those who entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, they were denied their rights. It is my belief that every plea and verdict should be vacated so that that evidence can be reviewed. The rule of law has been violated by our government.

Bill Blaine

Marana

No facts of life until you graduate

Re: the March 10 article “Senate OKs making list of books to ban in schools.”

Preposterous: “Contrary to nature, reason, or common sense.” That is the essence of Justine Wadsack’s proposal to require Tom Horne to impose a banned book list in Arizona schools. She wants parents to preserve their children’s “innocence” by shielding them from objectionable material in classrooms and school libraries, all the way through the 12th grade.

The idea, popular in political campaigns, raises obvious questions: Why just books? And why just in schools? Even preschoolers are handy with smartphones. Other screens (TV, movies, streaming services) are ubiquitous, and most students have contact with people outside their immediate families. But Wadsack seems to feel that the curiosity, imagination, and hormones of young people can be bottled up until they’re old enough for college. Good luck with that!

Rigid rules governing educational material are already in place. Wadsack’s bill is just another attempt to fan the flames of the GOP’s culture war.

Robert Laux-Bachand

Green Valley

Horne puts politics over health

Tom Horne, Arizona’s superintendent of public instruction, is acting in his official capacity to endanger the mental health and lives of Arizona’s K-12 children for the sole purpose of ingratiating himself with the Arizona political ultra-right.

Tom Horne intends to punish teachers who instruct students about “emotional support.” Horne may be an education superintendent, but he’s dangerously ignorant of the fact that there are high and rising incidences of depression and suicide in children from K-12. In 2020, the latest national report, Arizona’s adolescent suicide rate was 35% higher than all other states. Also reported 20% of children will be diagnosed with a mental illness. What is Horne’s answer to this crisis: Tell parents to call his “Empower Hotline” and report teachers who give instructions about “emotional support.” Then Horne will have offending teachers investigated and punished by the State Board of Education.

Superintendent Horne’s true goal is imposing “critical right theories” of culture war stunts at the risk and cost of our children’s mental health and lives.

Glenn Johnson

Midtown

Big pharma pushers

It seems like the big pharmaceutical companies are now the drug pushers in the 21st Century. They fill our commercial advertising on TV at an ever-increasing rate. You spend more time now listening to their drug side effects, or disclaimers, than the actual commercial. They are also spending billions of dollars yearly in advertising revenues to convince you that you need a new drug. No thank you, to most of these drugs.

Ever since 1997, our country is the only country in the world (besides New Zealand), to allow direct-to-consumer advertising of big pharma drugs. Think about that for a while. It seems like drug companies are creating symptoms or conditions, so they can offer a drug for your malady. Who knew I was going to have “bulging eye disease” or “restless leg disorder.” Go figure. Just say no to drugs (if you can).

David Keating

Northeast side

Vices vs. virtues

Nations that strive for democracy generally promote virtues in their society. Leaders in these nations advocate kindness, fairness, empathy, honesty, compassion, civility, lawfulness and truthfulness. On the other side of the coin however, there are national leaders who have promoted hate, anger, scapegoating, violence, vengeance, unlawfulness, wild conspiracies, dishonesty, paranoia and societal division. These are vices and are promoted by leaders that strive for fascism because fascism is not about human virtues; it’s about raw power at any cost. Promoting vices in a society is a sickness. Under fascism, vices are viewed as virtues. The resulting society becomes a donnybrook of conflict and destruction. It should be obvious who has been promoting vices in our nation, masquerading as virtues. It’s a dangerous path. We need to strive for democracy and its virtues, not fascism and its vices.

Steven Rasmussen

Foothills

Trump

Donald Trump slashed rail regulations and a toxic train derailed. Donald Trump slashed banking regulations and two banks failed. If we could only find a common thread linking these two events.

Terry Louck

East side

Veterans’ home care choices

Re: the Feb. 1 article “Veterans need more home care choices.”

In her eloquent opinion piece, care worker Becca Caneloz made an impassioned argument for fulfilling the need for care options for our veterans.

Ms. Caneloz should direct this message to her Congressman, Rep. Juan Ciscomani, appointed to the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. It is from that committee that the help she calls for will emanate. Note that Rep. Ciscomani, a veteran himself, has not one but two major Department of Defense installations in his district, from which more veterans will be coming.

Taking action to assist his constituents is a much better use of the Congressman’s time than settling a political score against a fellow naturalized citizen House member.

Lois Postil

Oro Valley

Chiricahua National Monument

The “Chiricahua National Park Act” sponsored by Rep. Ciscomani and Sen. Kelly, and co-sponsored by Sen. Sinema, to change the designation from “Monument” to “Park,” does nothing to protect the wonderland of rocks.

Chiricahua National Monument is a relatively small site of only 12,025 acres. Only one road enters and runs through the Monument. The small parking lot at the visitor center and two parking lots at the end of the narrow scenic drive are often full, as is the small 25-site campground. The drive to designate Chiricahua National Monument as a national park to boost tourism and create economic opportunities does not take into consideration the fragile environment, current overcrowding, and lack of infrastructure needed for additional visitors. This bill provided no funding and does nothing to promote conservation. This proposal does nothing to address The National Park System’s current $22 billion backlog of maintenance.

Michael Brown

Sierra Vista

Raising tuition

Re: the March 11 article “U of A wants to raise in-state tuition by 3%.”

So the U of A wants a 3% increase in tuition. Back in Reagan’s time, it became popular to run everything on a “business” model including education. Well, that model has meant making universities more attractive to the well-off class with ever more ritzy buildings and dorms requiring arguably unconstitutional tuition rates and the ensuing student debt. I know it’s not practicable, but it would be just for the universities to help defray that debt.

John Morgan

Midtown