Obama's leadership example
As I shake my head and try to endure the start of another endless contentious political season, I long for the leadership example of Obama: The President! The man! The husband! The father! the son-in-law! The humanitarian! The peacemaker! The friend! The environmentalist! I appreciate his humor! His compassion! His steadfastness! His smile! His worldview! His self-deprecation! His honor! His courage! His integrity! His veracity! His respectfulness! His patriotism! His vision! His thoughtfulness! His kindness! His sincerity! His toughness! His Blackness! His whiteness! His greenness! His inclusiveness! His sensitivity! His sportsmanship! His statesmanship! We all can learn from the example of Barack Hussein Obama II, an individual of high moral character and demand such from those who are, or hope to be, in public office.
Phil "Bulldog" Bentley
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Foothills
A refreshing day of news
It was refreshing to read the Feb. 4 paper. The paper published current local, national and international news with only one article about DJT and that was about his legal fees paid with campaign donations. Normally it seems that the paper has more articles about him, his name calling of his opponents and his conspiracy theories. Even the Letters to the Editor section was mostly on local topics.
Keep up the great reporting of the local news. DJT all the time is not needed or wanted by most readers. Nor will it sell more papers.
James Mclin
East side
True projections
So many polls. So much time. Don’t believe a poll; find another to your liking. National polls are useless. Polls must be taken state by state and Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Georgia, and Arizona are the most important. Those are the states that will decide the election. It is those electoral college votes that will put the winner over 269. What does it matter what Iowa polls, it’s Republican. What does it matter what California polls, it’s in the Democrat column. So, all this gnashing of teeth over poll after poll on the national level is a waste of time for the pollsters and the reading public. Watch those seven states listed above for the true projections.
Jon Langione
Marana
History of surprises
Could an ‘October Surprise’ come early for The Donald? The last three elections have had October surprises. Albeit not October, in Sept. 2012 Romney stated that 47% of voters were on a state or federal dole. He lost against the incumbent Barack Obama. Two occurred during the ’16 race. Trump’s "Access Hollywood" tape in Oct. 2016. Then there was FBI director Comey announcing that he was reopening the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s unsecure server just days before the election. That surprise may have been the reason for Clinton’s loss. In Oct. 2020, Trump tested positive for COVID. He lost, of course, for many other reasons than the disease. Could Joe Biden have an early surprise. Maybe there will be more than one surprise each. Hey, it could happen.
David ben Avram
Marana
Ciscomani is a MAGA
The last few days have revealed the full collapse of the Republican party into the MAGA party, whose only purpose is to serve Trump. CD 6 Representative Ciscomani, who presents himself as a moderate, has fallen in line. He loves to go to the Mexico border for photo ops and voted to impeach Homeland Secretary Mayorkas for allegedly not securing the Southern border, but Ciscomani refuses to consider, much less work on, the bipartisan Senate bill that addresses our immigration problems. Because Trump loves Putin and wants to please Putin, Ciscomani and his fellow MAGAs are refusing to provide aid to Ukraine. Ciscomani’s votes are making our country weaker by forcing us to abandon a decades-old commitment of opposition to Communist expansion and by keeping a broken immigration system in place. The only purpose of such votes is to give Trump issues to campaign on for President. Arizona can do better. If you live in CD 6, vote for Kirsten Engel in November!
Eileen Hollowell
Oro Valley
Choosing how to die
Re: the Feb. 7 article "Ex-doctor accused of manslaughter in alleged assisted-suicide case."
Two thousand years ago, in the hilltop citadel of Masada, the entire 967 Jewish populace committed mass suicide rather than be taken into slavery or suffer death by the advancing Roman army. This heroic act has been praised over the centuries.
During the 600 years of Ottoman oppression of Greece, young girls would dance on mountain tops and fling themselves off one by one, rather than be taken into harems. As a young Greek woman, every March 25th (Greek Independence Day), I would join my friends, and we would re-enact their heroic dance of defiance and choice.
And the often-used phrase “Fall on his sword” refers to the ancient Roman tradition of a soldier, or citizen, falling on their sword and dying with dignity.
I am in my seventh decade of life. I have experienced unimaginable sufferings and joys and have led a full life.
Therefore it will be my choice as to how I die. I want my soul to be whole; it is my only inheritance.
Karen Papagapitos
Northwest side
Mankind is mankind's demise
Re: the Feb. 6 letter "Religion is mankind's demise."
I say if it weren't for religion, mankind would already be history. No real religion tells you to kill others who do not believe in their version. They teach you to love your fellow man. Anything else is not a religion but a cult. Wars caused by greed and evil will be mankind's demise. It is only religion that has let us survive this long.
Lloyd Whitt
North side
Showing compassion to all
Re: the Feb. 7 article "Soup kitchen is a bad idea for neighborhood."
Homelessness and hunger have always been present in our city, and we are fortunate that the seriousness of this issue is finally being addressed on a larger scale.
The guest writer argues that a “soup kitchen” does not have any place in residential neighborhoods. However, she only seems concerned about the one in her neighborhood. The only injustices she cites are the possibility of falling home prices and that neighbors must pick up after the men that are fed.
This is not an argument against the work the writer is doing for her neighborhood. This is an argument for compassion. We must realize that the homeless and hungry population are not a problem to our community, rather they are part of the community the same as you and me.
My expertise comes as chairperson for the Barrio Santa Cruz Neighborhood Association and my experience as a lifelong neighbor of the Casa Maria kitchen, which has helped many people for decades in the residential neighborhood where I was raised.
Jason Huaraque
Southwest side
Rare kindness of a trash truck driver
I wish I could give roses to our city trash truck driver today. I was late to get the trash can out when his truck passed me by, and then he saw me and backed up to my position. And then this: When I had trouble with the can, he actually helped me get it ready and positioned. Tucson is a better place for his kindness. He gives meaning to the term Environmental Services.
Ford Burkhart
Downtown
Ciscomani votes MAGA — again
I am appalled at my Congressman's (Juan Ciscomani — CD06) vote in support of the impeachment articles against Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. The articles were hastily and sloppily put together, with no factual basis to impeach the Secretary. The whole process was so obviously political and revenge-driven that its stench will linger for years. For Ciscomani to disregard his responsibilities to represent his entire District is unconscionable. I will be voting against him in November, and I hope you (the reader) will, too.
Dave Peterson
Midtown
Satan displays
Re: the Feb. 8 article "Panel votes to ban Satan displays from public property in Arizona."
So some Republicans in Arizona Legislature want to ban Satan by any name from public property in Arizona, what does this do to the Sun Devils?
Craig Miller
Northwest side
Do not be fooled
Do not be fooled by the so-called “immigration” bill in the Senate. That bill will continue to let thousands of migrants enter our country.
Do the math: 5,000 per day for a week = 35,000
5,000 per day for a month = 150,000
5,00 per day for a year = 1,825,000
And the president can override the 5,000 per day rule if he so chooses (and he will). This will not solve the crisis.
Title 8 of the U.S. Code, Sec. 1182(f), states: “Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens ... would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may ... suspend the entry of all aliens.”Congress doesn’t need to pass a bill to close our border from the invasion of migrants. We just need President Biden "to show a little spine", and to live up to the oath he took when he took office and close the border — himself.
Do not be fooled.
Tom McGorray
Northwest side
President Biden's mistakes
Re: the Feb. 8 article "President Biden & Middle East."
These groups are not 'independent' actors. They are financed and provided with weapons by Iran. Let's remember Biden's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, leaving 13 U.S. service members dead and the Taliban in charge, again. Secretary Blinken has been weak and ineffective. Biden has not enforced existing oil sanctions on Iran allowing them billions to finance their proxies. And one day secretly, Biden will release that $6 billion ransom to Iran. I believe the reason Biden has not directly struck Iran is purely political, as it would jettison the price of oil/gasoline and negatively impact his re-election.
Janice DeAngelo
Tubac
Sabino Canyon sandwich
Re: the Feb. 8 article "Sabino Canyon 'love' overlaps jurisdictions."
In his Tucson Opinion article on Sabino Canyon, Bob Kovitz compared the overlapping jurisdictions of the groups that love the canyon to a club sandwich. I wonder if he’d be willing to be more precise with that analogy. Which group is the roast beef, forming the meaty center of the sandwich? Which are lettuce and the pickles, adding the vitamins and the crunch? Which groups are the baloney and the cheese, providing the comic relief? Which are the mustard and mayo, adding flavor and cohesion? And most important, which group is the bread, which holds everything together?
Robert Finn
West side
Activist court
Former conservative judicial activist and Scotus chief justice William Rehnquist's decision on any case could be predicted by denoting his political philosophy. The issues, the arguments, and the law had no bearing on his ultimate decision regarding the matter before the court. His solitary dissension of so many decisions led his supporters to anoint him "The lone ranger". Scotus now has a bloc that behaves likewise.
Overturning Roe v Wade, their premise was that the Constitution didn't address abortion, which left the matter to be adjudicated by the individual states.
In an about-face, they are saying that despite the fact that the Constitution allows election procedural matters to be determined by the states, the states have to be reined in or chaos will ensue.
They are only strict constructionists when it aligns with their political agenda.
Rick Cohn
West side
Biden: Documents and cognitive decline
Special Counsel Hur found Biden willfully disclosed classified documents, but no federal charges will be brought against him, saying "a jury would find Biden to be a sympathetic figure and a well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory." Prosecutors also suggested it might not have struck Biden as noteworthy that he was in possession of classified documents so soon after his term as Vice President had ended. During an interview with Hur, Biden could not remember when he was Vice President. Finally, the truth is revealed about Biden's cognitive state! Remember too, former FBI Director Comey's infamous statement about Hillary Clinton, "no reasonable prosecutor" would bring charges against her, even though she too was found to possess and disclose classified documents. Trump has been charged with numerous counts of mishandling classified documents. This is more evidence of a two-tiered federal justice system. Hur did not bring charges but did the country a favor by revealing Biden's poor cognitive state, making him unfit to be re-elected.
Haley Roberts
North side
Hiring freeze at the U of A
I have read that a hiring freeze has been implemented at the UA; there must be a clause pertaining to the football team — they just hired a new football coach with a very nice pay package. Does this not come under the policy of a hiring freeze or is it just do as I say, not as I do?
Donald Bernier
Midtown
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