FBI Director Kash Patel, flanked by Attorney General Pam Bondi, left, and Jeanine Pirro, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, appears Feb. 6 before reporters at the Justice Department in Washington.
I'm unhappy
Although I voted for Trump in the last election, I am unhappy with many of his decisions during his second term.
I'm unhappy with his blanket pardons of the Jan. 6 protesters. Police officers were assaulted, and property was damaged. These were criminal acts and not worthy of a Presidential pardon.
I am unhappy with his selection of Kash Patel as Director of the FBI. Patel is an unqualified clown, with little common sense and no leadership qualities. He is a loyalist and a hatchet man who is slowly destroying the FBI from within.
I am very unhappy with Trump's statement: "I'm glad he is dead," referring to the death of Robert Mueller, a military hero and an outstanding FBI Director. His statement was outrageous and not becoming of an American President.
I am very unhappy, and perhaps the President will be unhappy with the 2026 election results.
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Tom McGorray
Northwest side
Red asphalt
It has long been clear that Tucson drivers are among the worst in this country (lived here for almost 70 years). Given that, our pedestrians match our drivers in terms of ignoring traffic laws and refusing to use a modicum of common sense. Much like drivers, too many pedestrians are clearly impaired and meander across the middle of busy streets. And for our beloved U of A. students: Put the phone down, put the phone down and pick up the pace. You may have your entire life ahead of you but I am 70. I have places to be. Then there are jaywalkers. There's a corner with a light maybe 50 feet away, but you are going to cross in the middle of that street because you're special. If you make it to a crosswalk and that light is a red hand that means wait, no matter how important you are.
Kalvin Smith
Midtown
Jeopardizing aviation safety
“We need to dress better,” says Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, and make air travel cool again. How will that help us when an Air Canada plane crashes into a fire truck? Within days of President Trump’s inauguration, 67 people were killed in a midair collision between an American Airlines jet and a helicopter. Wouldn’t the loss of human life have made it a priority for air travel to be made safer?
Yet weeks after that fatal collision, Trump began firing people at the FAA, and 400 employees lost their jobs. Now he wants $200 billion to support his illegal and unprovoked war with Iran. Just a fraction of those funds could help overhaul our antiquated aviation system.
Employees deserve not to die, and passengers should have confidence they’ll get to their destination. But Trump is too busy enriching himself and his family to care. He’s lost sight of a fundamental and basic requirement of our government: Make Americans safe.
Teresa Jenkins
SaddleBrooke
Bindlestiffs in space
Perseverance Rover on Mars has a sample that may prove the truth of life beyond Earth. The Hubble, Webb and soon, the Habitable Worlds Observatory space telescopes have taken the human eye to the very birth of time and the edge of the universe.
America has been the undisputed leader in science beyond the orbit of Jupiter. We have touched, landed on, flown through, analyzed and even picked up and returned star stuff from those regions. As science writer Ross Anderson said in February’s Atlantic, “Work like this requires world class infrastructure and skill.”
Trump is killing it. He’s slashing NASA’s science projects budget — already small — by a whopping 47%. Cutting staff by similar numbers. The current probes take relatively little to keep working — yet they’re not getting even that. Some day, one of them may call home and get no answer. Cataracts may be growing on the eye of Hubble.
Trump would reduce our magnificent explorers to beggarly bindlestiffs lost in space.
Chuck Barrett
Midtown
President Trump's myopia
Either President Trump has never read the United States Constitution, or if he has, perhaps he needs stronger eyeglasses to understand it.
The 14th Amendment, ratified after the Civil War, is unambiguous: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
There is no quibbling about who belongs in this country.
Birthright citizenship -- meaning any and every child born in the United States, no matter where their parents came from or what their parents' immigration status may be — are bona fide citizens. The Constitution guarantees it, the Supreme Court upholds it, and this has been and will continue to be the legal interpretation of Birthright Citizenship, no matter what Mr. Trump or any other equally uninformed or belligerent President declares it to be.
Melody Sears
North side
Glory be
I thank Trump for his comments on the death of Robert Mueller. He just gave us the epitaph to use when he passes: "Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people!” What a horrible man.
Dee Maitland
Marana
Fallacy in Iran War
Chuck Devore’s opinion on how to win in Iran on "air power can shatter mullahs, trigger uprising" said Trump started the war because "we had to" and "had the ability to achieve victory." Pure arrogance and ignorance.
Not denying Iran’s track record of bad behavior, the U.S. has not been innocent in the region, Iran posed no imminent military threat to the United States, and Trump’s Hormuz Folly created the current global economic crisis.
As for ignorance, Shi’a Muslim Iranians so brutally attacked by Jewish Israel and "Christian" U.S. will respond nationalistically. Trump ignored lessons learned in Vietnam, Iraq, many Central and South American countries, etc. In Iran’s 2,775-year Shi’a history, it survived many enemies long before missiles and drones. The population of 92.4 million Iranians in an area 2.5 times larger than Texas will unite again to fight forces of evil. Air power does not inspire revolution on the ground.
Tom Van Devender
North side
Letter on the 'but' party
"I am in complete agreement with Loyal Johnson that the Democratic Party is the 'but' party. While supposedly 'progressive,' they are consistently against anything that's reasonable and traditional."
Huh?
There is nothing traditional about a man who goes to war without authority from Congress. There is nothing traditional in writing executive orders to bypass Congress. There is nothing traditional about destroying the White House. There is nothing traditional with hiring only unqualified "yes" men. Same with environmental policy, immigration policy, mining and oil exploration policy, selling access to the office, and selling merchandise, or with secret involvement of his family with foreign entities. Donald Trump has ignored or broken numerous presidential traditions, norms, and constitutional guardrails. Key areas include attacking the independence of the Federal Reserve, merging personal business interests with public office, defying court orders, and challenging the traditional separation of powers.
Peter Bisschop
East side
TEP's 'real' facts
Erik Bakken’s March 23 op-ed piece is a graceful adaptation of burn book communication. He continues to promote TEP’s narrative of fortunate TEP ratepayers with “average” bills. He makes the wild claim that the proposed 14.3% rate increase is less than the actual 6.17% CPI rate of inflation since TEP’s last rate increase in September 2013. He attacks the AG’s “paid consultant”, but fails to mention the well-paid TEP employees and “paid consultants” testifying in support of TEP’s rate request. Nor does he provide any specific rate cases where Mark Ellis’ testimony has been rejected — citing only unreferenced statements by “regulators” to impugn Mr. Ellis’ testimony. Finally, he conflates the issues around APS’s 2019 rate case with the current TEP rate request - they are entirely different issues in front of an entirely different ACC. Mr. Bakken is correct — regulators need real facts, not the spin of a burn book.
Sheldon Clark
Vail
Homelessness
New York City, last year, spent $81,000 per homeless person with little or no positive effect. Would it not be wiser to provide each homeless person with $6,750 per month? At least then, we would all know that the money was going to the homeless individuals. Currently, it is obvious that the vast majority is going to the NGO’s, their overpaid leaders, to ineffective government service personnel, and other leeches who only enrich themselves but do little to improve the plight of the homeless community. The current attempts to solve the homeless problems in New York City, California, or any other large city are dismal failures. A totally new approach, surely opposed by Democrat virtue signalers is required. We need fresh ideas and actions, possibly considered harsh by some, to begin to gain some modicum of control and success with this obscene problem.
Loyal M. Johnson Jr.
Oro Valley
'Bombing our little hearts out'
How can a president of the United States make the statement about the future of the Iran war, “We'll just keep bombing our little hearts out?” His dismissive tone frames his callous, one-dimensional, ego-centered attitude toward his war of choice. Meanwhile, he launches contradictory messages to American media to alleviate stock market losses and national angst at the floundering economy. Voters must rein in this frightening man/child in the 2026 midterm elections and redirect the future of America in the 2028 presidential election.
Roger Shanley
East side
