Tucson Speaks Out: October 1

A silent roar

Without saying a word, millions demonstrated their outrage and defended their right to free speech when ABC/Disney removed Jimmy Kimmel from the air. In a silent roar of defiance, they canceled their subscriptions. After a one-week loss of $4.2 billion, Disney heard their message loud and clear and reinstated Kimmel’s show. A week later their loss amounted to $6.4 billion. It remains to be seen whether the Disney brand will be forever tarnished, as have other mega corporation brands before them.

Whether it’s boycotting Target for removing their DEI policies that resulted in a $23.8 billion drop in sales, or Tesla for Musk’s Nazi salute and DOGE’s across the board firings of federal workers that resulted in a $500 billion drop in US sales alone, we have the power to hit them where it hurts.

When we refuse to condone their policies and actions by declining to enrich them further, we speak volumes. Money talks; withholding money talks louder.

Jackie Marshall

Oro Valley

The Loop needs day and night security

I am an environmentalist and I have encouraged biking for 20 years, for alternative transportation and health. My biking errands can require me to bike under First Avenue. It can be scary with street people hanging out there. I recently spoke to some seniors who said they had anxiety about biking back towards their home because they would have to bike under First Avenue. There is a big dip there that sometimes forces riders, including myself, to stop and push their bike out of it. I am not a manly woman.

I have considered teaching an OLLI-UA course at the building on First and Wetmore next to the river path. But the thought of biking through that known crime area has stopped me.

I am from Tucson and I remember when Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher was running for our eighth grade student council and asking for our help. Now Tucsonans need Jan’s help in keeping Tucson safe. The county needs to hire Loop security, so everyone feels safe.

Cheryl Kelli

Downtown

Program for new Democratic Party chair

The “save democracy,” platitudes didn’t work in 2024. Focus on tangible state issues

Education, Fiscal Management, Funding: All have been decimated by decades of Republican majority rule. The voucher system is poorly controlled, leaking thousands of dollars. ICE gets huge signing bonuses, but AZ teachers get nothing. Increasing vacancies are filled with uncertified applicants. The flat tax gave wealthy Arizonans more money to spend on vacations, expensive cars, and huge homes, but drained millions from cities. Reinstate the graduated tax.

Elections: Ensure that we never see fake electors or Cyber Ninjas again. The Republican defense: Lying is “free speech.” This should make our blood run cold. Audit when there are real substantiated concerns, hire certified companies.

Health: Join the West Coast Health Alliance (WA, OR, CA). Ensure that Arizonans have guidance from science-based health care. Experts have quit the toxic CDC and HHS run by Kennedy. First action: Reduce homelessness permanently by expanding hospitals to treat addiction and mental illness.

This might just win.

Cindy Doklan

Midtown

More fiction

9/26/25 LTE: Trump’s U.N. speech.

DHS estimated USA illegal immigrant population: 2018-11,570,000; 2022-10,990,000. DHS didn’t provide estimates for interim years or 2023-2024.

7/2023: Center for Migration Studies estimated illegal immigrant population-11,700,000.

If 20,000,000 Biden era illegal immigrants entered the USA, ~20,000,000 left during that period. Or is 20,000,000 an unvetted myth?

1/19/22: Biden predicted Russian invasion. 9/21/22: Biden speaks against Russia at the U.N. ‘Actions speak louder than words.’ Biden negotiated with Congress to send military and civilian aid to Ukraine. Trump sought a quid pro quo prior to Russia’s invasion.

Trump and Taliban, without Afghan government input, agreed to withdrawal of all troops in Afghanistan by 5/1/21. Biden stuck to the agreement. Bagram AFB and 13 dead is on Trump.

James Abels

Midtown

A cautionary tale for Europe

In 1958 a book entitled “The Ugly American” described the actions of some Americans traveling and stationed abroad as being rude and crude, and certainly some were. Those Americans were portrayed as self-absorbed, arrogant, demeaning, thoughtless and ignorant. Does that remind you of anyone?

It might be a good thing that the rest of the world saw our President’s performance at the United Nations on Sept. 22nd. It was a clear demonstration of what their citizens will get if they vote for extreme right-wing populist candidates currently marching in their streets. Their citizens too can watch their democracies descend into economic, social, legal, moral and environmental ruin to be replaced with the chaos, corruption and violence that the US is now experiencing. A timely cautionary warning for sure.

Bobbi Zimmer

Midtown

Characters in ‘High Noon’

Hey Juan, Andy, J.D., et al —

I just watched a re-run of Gary Cooper’s classic 1952 movie, “High Noon,” and I thought of you guys. If you have not seen the film recently, I recommend it. You might find it instructive. It brought to my mind two questions that I would like to ask each of you:

1. With which character in the movie would you most closely identify yourself?

2. With which character in the movie do you think your constituency would most closely identify you?

I suspect that if you were made privy to the responses of your constituencies, you might be surprised.

John Barringer

Midtown

What a joke

What a joke. Former English Prime Minister Tony Blair is being named to run the Authority in Gaza. Doesn’t anyone remember England’s Balfour Declaration that started the Arab/Israeli mess?

Barbara Benjamin

Foothills

Excited about Arizona football

Coach Brennan used the word excited when explaining about the team’s loss to Iowa State. He said he was excited to get back and see what the issues were and he was excited about this team. I’m glad to hear he is highly supportive of the team but I, as a many years fan, am somewhat less excited. I realized going in to the game that we had only won against cupcakes to date and that we would need to play to our limits to have a chance against a superior team. I hoped, against hope, that we would play well and be competitive. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. They outclassed and outplayed us in every way. We were quickly behind and had no real chance at catching up. Unfortunately we can’t play Hawaii and Weber State every week so, with the possible exception of a bad Oklahoma State squad our future wins may be limited. Yes, I had hoped for more.

Philip Reinecker

East side

Tone of letters to the editor

Correct me if I am mistaken, but I thought the Star was interested in promoting civil discourse and turning down the hateful rhetoric. If that is true and you are interested in promoting more civil conversation, my I suggest that you not print LTE from from people that use derogatory or hateful names and even worse, letters writers who ridicule previous letters writers by name. (That includes the online LTE as well)

In the name of civility, please consider a change in your policy.

Philip Alderink

Midtown

Misrepresenting another

Flaherty’s “Smithsonian Institution must be even handed, not woke” is staggeringly lacking in intellectual rigor, accuracy, and self awareness. He redefined critical (race) theory to suit his purposes, ignoring the definition of its founders. Misrepresenting another’s position to enhance one’s own is unacceptable intellectually, as he re-labeled CRT from a tool for examination, analysis, and discussion to something to vilify. And CRT proponents being “Marxists,” I was taught that the man who resorts to name calling is a man who has no real arguments and desires only to impugn another. CRT seeks to celebrate our successes and recognize, not erase our mistakes; healing is different from sanitizing. “Woke?” I am surprised by “people of faith” who do not remember the bible’s “Wake up, because your works are incomplete in God’s sight”, care for, don’t judge and punish the poor and sick. As your website says, “Put loyalty to the highest moral principles above ... persons, party, or government,” Mr. Flaherty; opine on Tom Homan.

Wes Ward

Oro Valley

TEP still living in the past

TEP’s latest Guest Op inaccurately dismisses Solar+BESS (Battery Energy Storage) as not a 24/7 option. A 4 kWh storage battery doesn’t mean it all must be delivered in 4 hours. It can be done over more hours. And battery capacity is not limited to 4kWh. It could be 8kWh.

By citing the lower round-trip efficiencies of older battery models, the TEP rep makes Solar+BESS seem far less advanced than it is. Today’s batteries have very high efficiency. About 90% or more of Solar energy put into the battery will be delivered to the grid.

He should also know that related to industrial trends, Solar+BESS costs have been plummeting, and continue to drop further below gas plant costs. Perhaps he’s using prices from when TEP bought their Solar+BESS (it was more expensive then). He makes it sound like gas is still less expensive. It’s not. It’ just more profitable for TEP.

Lee Stanfield

East side

Response to Flaherty op-ed

Regarding Monday’s piece by Peter Flaherty: “Smithsonian must be even-handed, not woke.” This cleverly worded screed condemns our national museums as hotbeds of misreporting and bias.

If presenting all sides of an issue were his preferred outcome, I might even agree. But it’s not. This administration, which his Oped specifically praises has ordered the immediate removal of points of view it dislikes.

Examples abound. He specifically refers to “Critical Theory” and its German origins in the 1920s and 1930s, but neglects to remind us that the Nazis used some American racially prejudicial policies to frame their own. He hates the idea of “trans” people and so proposes that trans folks don’t really exist. He denies that systemic racism exists as a destructive force in our society. His list goes on and on.

I’m not sure whether his biases are anti-woke or just anti freedom of thought. But if my choices are bigotry or wokeism, count me among the woke.

Shelly Fishman

Midtown

It all makes sense now

I thought I noticed a damping down of the numbers of nuts and lunatics — define how you wish — climbing out of the woodwork out there. But then I realized, this was because we elected many of them to Congress or they had been appointed to serve in the Trump administration. Ten months in, the effect of this dampening now seems to be ending, leading to our highly unstable situation.

Mark Elson

West side