Tucson Speaks Out: November 6

Do you feel great yet?

I have a serious question for Trump supporters: What has he ever done for you?

Trump has three bases of support: his legal enablers (Project 2025ers), his rich friends and MAGA voters. He heaps money and power on his legal lackeys in Congress and the Cabinet and on the elite. What does he offer his voters, to whom he owes his job? He offers slogans, like “Make America Great Again.” Have you seen any money or power?

Or have you seen jobs and goods and opportunities dry up, offices close, services falter? It’s deliberate. The rich don’t need opportunity or services, because they can buy whatever they want.

Does Trump’s fervor inspire you? How? Do his slogans pay your rising costs? (Example: We pay his tariffs, not the exporting country.)

In the meantime, little boats on the high seas are blown up in our names. Other nations see that our democracy is faltering.

What do you see in him? There are alternatives beyond the red hat. Thank you.

Regula Case

Midtown

Personal responsibility

We mourn three young people killed last week when a car hit them near the University of Arizona.

A young man who police said was speeding, under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs and who left the scene was arrested. The driver’s lack of personal responsibility caused this tragedy.

Many want the city to install a pedestrian crossing light at the intersection, calling it dangerous. One person commenting online said, “This tragedy could’ve been prevented with a traffic light.”

Perhaps. More likely, prevention would have come from the driver slowing down or choosing not to drive impaired.

Euclid Avenue at East 2nd Street and many other high-traffic crossing spots could use pedestrian signals.

What really will make the difference for everyone is taking personal responsibility. Don’t speed. Don’t run red lights. And don’t drive under the influence.

Shraddha Hilda Oropeza

West side

Hate thy enemies

This is not new. Political mud slinging has been used repeatedly throughout our history, but only recently has it been used to this extreme. Didn’t start with Reaganm but his polished delivery certainly paved a way for what is happening now. Words have power. That is a given. As a country, we as a whole need to step back and realize what we are being fed. Lies, the spin and the divisive language coming from both sides is truly getting worse. The violence has rampant up and is a direct response from the rhetoric; 1984 has been literally here for a decade. News stations are, and have been, opinion stations long before the Bush era. That old “kill your television” saying might be the solution, or part of it, along with a focus on education. Not sure myself. But. Definitely a hard look at ourselves and our mindset is needed, now.

Michael Harrington

Oro Valley

Trump’s crew

Donald Trump is the one with his finger on the trigger, snuffing out lives with the merest flick of his digit. I believe the boats are practice targets. For any kid with a mind like Trump, it is all good fun to watch. He probably makes the noise of explosions with his mouth.

He aims to attack any boat or country small enough that they can’t hit back.

Such a one is our leader, the meanest man alive. Trump directs his small band of windbags, blowhards, braggarts, and sneaks to aid him in ruining a perfectly good country, the United States.

It is an ignoble effort they are making to devastate our land. But, when they observe what they have left, the aides and abettors of this monumental mischief, the whole lot of them will slip down in their holes they call home.

Ron Lancaster

North side

The money weapon

Trump uses money to operate his presidency. If it is a university he doesn’t like, he takes away funding. If it is a government department he doesn’t like, he takes away money. If it is a country he doesn’t like, he imposes tariffs that hurt that country and the American people. If Mamdani wins the mayor race in New York, he will take away money. If Trump doesn’t like what PBS News says, he takes away funding. He uses money to threaten, intimidate, and ruin American institutions and services. Our allies are threatened and punished with money ... our money. All he knows is the power of money and how to hurt his enemies and reward his friends by using our money. Wake up.

Richard Bechtold

West side

The Republicans’ shutdown

To the millions of people suffering under this oppression, please understand that this is a direct cause of the Republicans. Trump’s “big bag of BS” bill that Republicans tried to ram down your throats included the two things Democrats are fighting for. If Democrats had not united and stood for ACA subsidies and continuation of food benefits all who recieve those benefits would be picking lint out of your pockets to survive forever. We all paid our taxes last yearm so you would all have the care you need, and the Republicans say no. I can’t believe how absolutely cruel and uncaring of your suffering they are. I am a regular contributor to our food bank and have been for decades. People should not go hungry. Let the Republicans all over the country know the suffering they put you through. Trump and Congress, end this now.

Daniel Poryanda

Southeast side

United we stand

Learn from yesterday. Live for today. Hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning — Albert Einstein

If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter — George Washington

We will make America great again (MAGA). I’ve always won, and I’m going to continue to win. And that’s the way it is. — Donald Trump

Diane Dailey

Southeast side

Extortion

Does that man really understand the meaning of “extortion”? I mean come on now he was impeached for that very same thing with a phone call. That is his primary “Modus Operandi” take for example his current Tariffs are a prime thing in trying to get his way by interacting with other countries. He withholds funds for anybody or anything that doesn’t do his bidding. So let’s call his actions what they truly are — “extortion.”

Fred Thompson

Midtown

America, land that I love

I am trying to keep an open mind about the directions our country is going and with the leader. It is not easy. I love America and I thank the people of the USA who have built our country from its birth to the present. These people are the immigrants of our past, of our families. We are all children of immigrants, whether we are born in America or immigrated — we are all children of immigrants, and our humbled beginnings start from our past — Native Americans, Mayflower, Jamestown, the Gold era, Industrial era … all began with immigrants. We are all immigrants, including Donald Trump and his mismatched administration. May God Bless America.

Diane Dailey

Southeast side

Feasting On $6

The average SNAP benefits paid to Arizonans in 2024 was $180 per month. That’s $6 per day. In compliance with a judge’s order, DJT expressed his delight at paying one-half of the November SNAP benefits. That’s $3 per day for an Arizonan. Difficult to not appreciate his generosity. Especially if you are trying to buy food. Can Ciscomani feed himself for $3 per day?

Kenneth Haber

Northwest side

Rushing to harmful conclusions

Regarding the Vail math teachers who wore bloody Halloween shirts: In reading about the witch trials in the early days of our country, it is striking how similar that process is to what happens now. If one thinks another has an evil motive, then it is decided. And we punish and condemn without ever seeking to understand the circumstances. There is no allowance for people to make choices that may be different, silly, or even wrongheaded, but are not evil and sinister. And we encourage others to jump on our bandwagon. Soon, lives are being destroyed, and none of us benefit in any way at all.

So I wonder: How do we get to a place where opinions can be different without immediately accusing the other as evil? I suspect that the path is found through approaching life – and each other – with humility, curiosity, and wonder. Until we can do that, we are doomed to keep on destroying one another, and in so doing, destroying ourselves.

Lori Bryant

North side

What a joke

President Trump said he “won’t be extorted” by Democrats to extend the Affordable Care Act. What does he think he’s been doing these months in office in bullying law firms, colleges and universities, setting tariffs, etc.? I would call all of that extorting. It’s a joke, but not very funny.

Don Benjamin

Foothills

Reset or recycle

I confess to being an IT troglodyte and to favoring “following edge” technology. My tech savviness consists of unplugging and then plugging in any misbehaving device. Most often, this works for reasons beyond me. If not, I recycle.

Well, I’m afraid we’ve reached a point in our history where it’s time for an existential reset.

Four thousand years ago, Hammurabi, allegedly on a stone tablet, coded the first recorded Law. Three hundred years later, Moses is said to have revised and consolidated, if not plagiarized, that work, also on stone, boiling it down to: No other God, no golden idols, no cursing, don’t forget to go to church and respect your parents, no murder, adultery, stealing, lying or … coveting.

Pretty simple.

But 3,700 years later, it’s seemingly not working. Time for a reset. It’s like the T-shirt says, “Make Lying Wrong Again,” and all that other stuff too.

A. Lawrence Glynn

East side

One reason needed

Jeffrey McConnell wants 14 reasons why Republicans are on the wrong path.

I only need one. Saying it is against the law to criticize the president. Using the DOJ to prosecute those who have said bad things about the president. These are just two recent examples of a president, fully supported by the Republican Party, that is after absolute power over everything. One might even call it fascist.

All other reasons, and there is a long list, take a distant second.

David Reynolds

East side