Tucson Speaks Out: April 29 letters of the day

Howard Sharpe, the legendary Indiana high school basketball coach who won 724 games in his 47-year career, was asked about his health. His response, “I’m still getting along pretty well. I’m not blind yet. If I get blind, they can always make a ref out of me.”

Don Dickinson

Oro Valley

Alma Hernandez

Re: the March 27 article “We had no choice but to visit Israel.”

You did not have to go. There are no resources available to your position, district or state to ameliorate anything you discovered in Israel.

There is no story you tell that could not have been gleaned from news reports. Instead, you selfishly pulled people in a war zone away from where they were needed to accommodate your sightseeing tour. The egoism does not help your cause. Most of us can tell the difference between Judaism, Zionism and what Netanyahu is doing; and we struggle with the complexities of the region.

What about the 30,000 dead Palestinians in retaliation for 1,200 Israelis? I saw nothing of this thoughtfulness in your self-justifying screed. You owe your district, your state and your religion more than this. We are your people too.

Dee Maitland

Marana

What Rep. Hernandez saw and didn’t see

Re: the March 27 article “We had no choice but to visit Israel.”

I looked in vain in Rep. Hernandez’ report that she sought input from anyone in Gaza, who might have told her something about the 30+ thousand souls killed since Oct. 7, many of whom died as violently as those Israelis killed on Oct. 7. It’s possible to blame and despise Hamas for what it did and at the same time show sympathy for those who are suffering and starving in Gaza.

It is possible to be both Jewish (as I am) and to be opposed to the policies of the current Israeli government. Rep. Hernandez’ report amounts to the assertion that Israel, as the embodiment of Zionism, can do no wrong. As recent polls show, a majority of Americans now think Israel is in the wrong.

These are the views of a populace that has always supported Israel but can no longer turn a blind eye to the devastation its current policies are unleashing. The real enemies of Israel are those who are turning it into a pariah state.

Lynn Nadel

Midtown

My vote

Re: the April 22 letter “What I am voting for.”

This letter is a response to the letter writer who says he is not voting for the person but what he stands for.

I am NOT voting for a person who mocked gold star families, who called John McCain a Vietnam war prisoner and soldiers missing in action as “losers.” I will vote for someone who will protect Social Security, Medicare, and the Affordable Care act which eliminated lifetime limits on coverage. I will vote for a person who lowers prescription costs as with the diabetes medicine. I will vote for a person who wants to reduce the deficit by raising taxes on the ultra rich not lowering them again as Trump promised his billionaire donors which raised the deficit. I will vote for someone that was able to get the infrastructure bill passed, which Trump never could. I will vote for someone who supports Ukraine aid. I will proudly vote for President Biden again, not Trump, a disgraced twice-impeached former president.

Chris Sipp

Midtown

Interstellar Supreme CourtAfter incessant lawsuits brought by Kari Lake, she’s been slapped down in her latest quixotic quest by the Supreme Court. Is her next step to address a Star Wars like intergalactic court? There really needs to be escalating consequences for people that waste valuable court time.

Craig Miller

Northwest side

Kari Lake, get your story straight

Here we go again. In an interview with the Idaho Dispatch on Saturday, Kari Lake said that “unfortunately” Arizona is not enforcing the 1864 ban on abortion.

Wait a minute! Didn’t she say last week that the 1864 law is “out of line with the people of Arizona?” Wasn’t she lobbying lawmakers to quickly find a solution? Ruben Gallego seized on her comments and said that Kari Lake has long been “advocating for an abortion ban.”

The question for all candidates is simple ... What is your position on Arizona’s 1864 abortion ban? Try to remember that you can only claim one position. Not a position dictated by the audience you happen to be speaking to at the time. Not a position that comes from the latest social media trend. Ruben Gallego has made his position clear. He continues to support women’s rights, human rights, and individual freedom. Thank goodness there is a clear voice breaking through the static.

Carla Andrews O’Hara

Northwest side

PBMs are hurting all of us

As someone living with an autoimmune disease, prescription drug access and innovation are important to me. Now that I know my first child has inherited my condition, I am also increasingly worried about her future if medical innovation gets bogged down or access to prescription drugs continues to weaken as a result of harmful insurer and Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) practices.

PBMs use a range of highly questionable “business practices” that reduce access to prescription medications, treatments, and therapies and increase out-of-pocket expenses for patients. Reforming and reining in these practices would help reduce costs far more effectively than government price controls, which could undermine medical innovation by restricting the resources pharmaceutical researchers and scientists need to discover the next generation of treatments and cures.

While it doesn’t seem like PBM reform will pass before Election Day, Arizona lawmakers in Washington should keep the pressure on their colleagues to make sure it happens soon.

Roberto Martinez

Southwest side

What I am voting for

Re: the April 24 letter “I’m voting for...”

A letter writer listed what she will be voting for. I agree with most of her list. However I disagree on a few points.

Intelligence: our departure from Afghanistan was not intelligent; we ended the war there but at what price in people and military equipment.

Truth-telling: both parties continue to perpetuate their lies with their so-called talking points.

Immigration reform: I am all for legal immigration.

Open borders are a disaster with millions of got-a-ways, bringing us terrorists, criminals, drugs etc.

Decreasing violence: Crime is up everywhere.

No bail for violent felons is not the answer nor is defunding and disrespecting our police.

Russian propaganda: the Hunter Biden fiasco was “Russian disinformation.”

Unite rather than divide: As long as politicians vote along party lines and put their personal political ambitions ahead of what’s good for the American people, we will have no unity.

My values align with the writer’s values, but neither Trump nor Biden are interested in values.

May God save our country.

Tom McGorray

Northwest side

Republican Party

Seriously! Where is the 21st century Barry Goldwater, an Arizonan? Goldwater told Nixon it is over. The Republican Party, the Supreme court of the United States cling to the leader of an insurrection. Yes, an insurrection! I watched Trump’s January 6th 2021 speech live. Rudy Giuliani, quote “trial by combat”. I voted for Obama twice, but that is always about policy, hence the word politics. If John McCain had won, or Mitt Romney had won, I would not agree with their policies, but I would know the country was in good hands with two men a cut above us regular folks. As I previously said I voted for Reagan over Carter in 1980 because of the Iranian hostage-rescue failure. Our institutions are failing us. It is left to the voters to stop Trump. I implore Republicans, vote Biden in and then regroup with a stalwart candidate.

Frank E. Montez

East side