Letters to the Editor: Dec. 18

With countless criticisms of either political party, there is one issue which should supersede our political biases.

The drug issue at our southern border simply must be addressed. We have an onslaught of death coming across our borders every day. Congress must work in unison to stifle the firestorm of fentanyl. The wall is merely a tool in our arsenal along with electronic surveillance, more border agents and other available methods to thwart this burgeoning problem. Societal success is measured by reducing the number of deaths, not meaningless political grandstanding.

Our young are subject to myriad pressures to belong. They are not always able to discern what dangers may lie with “going along.” Set aside our contempt for the other side and focus on what we are allowing for our posterity. We cannot lose another child, teenager or young adult to this avalanche of poison. Come let us reason together and reach the only sensible conclusion.

Jerry Schuchardt,

father of four

Foothills

Illegal immigration

By October of 2022, the number of undocumented border-crossings reached about 2.76 million, which makes the total number today more than 5 million since President Biden took office. The president and his worthless secretary of homeland security are either incredibly ignorant or fishing for future votes. By stating that “there are more important things going on” when asked why he wouldn’t travel to the border to see the crisis, I surmise Biden and his administration are guilty of both.

Lindsey Smith

Northwest side

Academics vs. athletics

Those few of us who still believe academics should take precedence over athletics received another wakeup call this weekend. David Shaw, football coach at Stanford, who cared deeply about academics, resigned after multiple losing seasons and Ken Niumatalolo, football coach at Navy, a school with high academic standards, was fired after a losing season and failure to beat Army. In addition, Kenny Dillingham was hired at ASU and will receive almost $4 million in salary. If Mr. Dillingham wins between nine and 12 games yearly, he will get an additional $200,000 to $500,000 in bonus money. Can there be any doubt where priorities lie?

Charles Schultz

Northeast side

Breach of trust

Sen. Sinema’s declaration that she is no longer a Democrat shows a lack of integrity, a lack of loyalty, and a failure to do her duty. It exposes her selfishness, her crass calculation, and a betrayal of voters’ trust and the compact between a candidate/elected official and the voters who elected her. Once elected, our representatives should represent everyone, but surely there is an understanding about the core philosophy of the candidate that can be relied upon. Sinema has broken her compact with those who elected her. Essentially, we voted for her under false pretenses. She lied.

Even if Sinem/a had a change of heart and mind, her obligation is to continue in office, representing the party and the people who worked to get her nominated and elected until the next election cycle. Then she could run as anything she wants.

That said, good riddance. We don’t need a senator who thinks uncertainty, chaos, obfuscation, and non-responsiveness are the way to govern.

Katharine Donahue

Foothills

Great diversity in editorials

Today’s paper (Dec. 12) had great editorials by Leonard Pitts (liberal) and George Will (conservative). I really enjoyed reading the two articles for the in-depth explanations of the topics that increased my understanding of what they were writing about in the column. In addition, they usually add new words to my vocabulary. Today there were two words I had to look up to make sure I understood their meaning, cogency and askance.

I am grateful for the Star for continuing printing these two columnists. In a time of reduction of editorial pages in papers across the country, it is imperative to keep publishing both the liberal and conservative viewpoints to give fair and impartial news for their readers.

Keep up the great editorial pages. Looking forward to January when you go back to two pages of editorials. Will give you more room for other commentary by other columnists.

James McLin

East side

Griner release

In an exchange with Russia for a notorious arms dealer (dubbed the “Merchant of Death”), who is serving a 25-year sentence on charges he conspired to sell tens of millions of dollars in weapons to be used against Americans, the U.S. received a basketball player who made a questionable life choice. As a result, the administration is slapping high-fives. Had I brokered a lopsided deal such as this in my working days as a contract negotiator, my boss would have strongly suggested I pursue another career. At a minimum, an equitable deal would include the release of both Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner. Unfortunately, our weakness in this arena is once again demonstrated to the entire world.

Bob DeBolt

Northeast side

Crafty Sinema

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema revealed her true colors by abruptly changing from Democratic to Independent right after the Georgia Senate race ended with the Democratic candidate winning, giving Democrats in the Senate a clear majority. Not a coincidence! Why would she change just now? Seems she’s more concerned that Republicans might lose some power.

Jean Barkley

East side

Impacts on Arizona

Re: the Dec. 13 article “Sinema’s decision impacts Arizona the most.”

Matthew Yglesias did a good job laying out the impacts of Sen. Sinema’s decision to become an Independent, concluding the Democrats best hope for keeping control of that seat may be to “strong-arm Gallego out of the race” to ensure a victory for a candidate the majority of Dems no longer like.

This would be a non-issue if we had ranked choice voting (RCV) in place which would allow all candidates to appear on the ballot and voters to rank their choices, with no fear of vote splitting or the “spoiler effect.” There are efforts underway to bring RCV to Arizona, which in addition to eliminating the spoiler effect, allows people to vote for the candidate that aligns with their values, minimizes negative campaigning, and would incentivize candidates to run on the issues that matter most to the majority of Arizonans. I encourage people to learn more about this upgrade to our current system at voterchoicearizona.org.

Betsy Boggia

Downtown

Headlights

Monday, Dec. 5, had dense fog. Monday, Dec. 12, had heavy rain. During these times, most drivers had on their headlights. However, about 10% did not.

There are two reasons to turn on your headlights. One, is so the driver can see the environment around him more clearly. The second reason is to be seen.

A vehicle without lights is almost invisible sandwiched between cars with lights.

Florida has a state law that requires drivers to turn on headlights in rain. Maybe Arizona needs a law to enforce what common sense fails.

Thomas Wenzel

East side

Proud of our community

Re: the Dec. 10 article “Tucsonans provide hope to incarcerated Arizonans.”

Thank you for publishing the excellent article on agencies providing hope for incarcerated Arizonans. First, it is an inspiring example of coordinated work between five groups serving this population to make a difference through collaboration. Second, they are providing support to a population often misunderstood and stigmatized. I’m impressed with the variety of people brought together in this letter-writing campaign. I would encourage people to read the article again and see where you might want to volunteer or learn or contribute.

Ann Nichols

North side