The poorly educated venerate a conman
Sixty-five percent of Republicans believe Donald Trump’s falsehood that Biden was elected without enough votes.
The whole country has been manipulated by this gross lying barbarian and wannabe autocrat. He said he liked the poorly educated. Well, they and the evangelicals adore this conman. The country has been dumbed down.
He has achieved near beatific status with his base, even though he has no core values other than ego gratification.
During his four-year tenure, he has replaced traditional democracy with despotism, nepotism and autocracy. Fear has taken over the Grand Old Party and the turbulent ‘30s and ‘40s in Europe come to mind when contemplating the future of our democracy. Where are the Howard Bakers, Barry Goldwaters, Everett Dirksens, Bob Doles going to rescue us and return us all to sanity?
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Under the circumstances, it’s hard to imagine an optimistic future.
Frederick Leinfest
Oro Valley
Emphatically defend your voting rights
Last Saturday, my husband and I participated in a downtown voter-cade of about 12 cars while a dozen or so fellow protesters held “Protect Our Vote” signs at the corner of Congress and Church. This protest should have been a well-attended nonpartisan event. Tucson Democrats, Republicans and independents should all be invested in their votes counting. Yet, the number of people willing to let their collective voices be heard at this event was a minuscule fraction of the number of voters in our city.
We cannot sit idly by and complain about the voter suppression bills and actions coming from our state Legislature. We must be willing to stand up and be counted for the integrity of our 2020 electoral process that was proclaimed safe and fair last November by congressional leaders of both parties and the then U.S. attorney general. Write, phone, tweet, protest and be counted for your right to vote. Our democracy depends on it.
Judi Moreillon
Northeast side
Republicans learn to cancel their own
Once again, the Republican Party shows the depth of its hypocrisy. Republicans are constantly bemoaning “cancel culture,” but boy they’re happy to dish it out against their own members who don’t toe the line to Donald Trump and his goon squad. Sen. Mitt Romney and Rep. Liz Cheney had been considered solid, upstanding members of their party, but now that they won’t support the Republicans’ revisionist view of history, they, and a few other brave souls who have denied the Big Lie about the election, are being canceled in no uncertain terms.
Hypocrisy in the Republican Party knows no bounds.
Karen Carson
Downtown
Biden incentivizes influx of migrants
Five unaccompanied little Central American migrant girls were found abandoned and huddled together on a ranch near the Rio Grande River. They ranged in ages from 11 months to 7 years.
We have seen videos of smugglers dropping toddlers over the border wall and numerous reports of smugglers physically abusing migrants. Over 90 migrants who had been illegally smuggled into the country were recently found at a Houston “stash house.” Seventy-six were just found at a house in Laredo, Texas. Currently there are over 21,000 migrant children being housed in tent facilities across the country, one at Fort Bliss holding 4,500. Joe Biden is “accommodating” these thousands of children and still sending the message of “you are welcome,” incentivizing more to come and endangering themselves. That is shameful!
Michael Wayne
Midtown
Election deniers’ profitable fiction
Victor Hugo observed that politicians are “ingenious at putting the mask of necessity on the face of profitable fiction.” Today’s profitable fiction: the “Big Lie” that the election was stolen from Trump and the need to pass voter-suppression laws.
Take Georgia, for example, where Republicans deemed it necessary to criminalize giving food or drinks to voters in line. Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and Sidney Powell can lie about election fraud to the public, but in a lawsuit, thankfully, Civil Procedure Rule 8(a)(2) requires a “short and plain statement of the claim,” not a “conclusion.”
Politicians and Fox News can likewise manufacture conspiracy theories about election fraud, but courts demand a plain statement of how fraud occurred.
This is why the GOP failed over 50 times in court and why lawyers who’ve lied in court risk being disbarred. Our law essentially says, “Take the mask of necessity off your claim and show what it’s really about.” What is the face of Donald Trump himself, if not profitable fiction?
Louis Hollingsworth
Midtown
Transportation plan must heed climate
Pima Association of Governments (PAG) is currently accepting public comment on its Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP), which will guide regional transportation projects for the next five years. We should be investing in bicycle, pedestrian, transit and maintenance of our existing roads and not on road widenings. As I campaign, among the top issues I hear from residents is concern over crumbling neighborhood roads.
The transportation sector generates the largest share of greenhouse-gas emissions. It is striking that words like climate, heat, hot and warming do not show up anywhere in PAG’s TIP. The plan should be prioritized through the lens of climate change mitigation and adaptation. It must focus on strongly improving air quality. Projected greenhouse-gas emissions should be a critical factor in determining which projects to fund.
Please make your voice heard through the TIP survey by May 18. Link to the survey and full plan is on PAG’s website, under Get Involved/Public Participation/Public Notice.
Kevin Dahl, candidate for Tucson City Council, Ward 3
Midtown
A sudden interest in election reform
Well, it seems like the Republicans can’t win elections fair and square and so now they are resorting to cheating. The 2020 national election was fair, transparent and without fraud as proven by the 50-plus cases brought before all the courts in the land, including the U.S. Supreme Court. Because the Republicans lost, they now feel it necessary to resort to passing laws aimed at voter suppression and gerrymandering in hopes of turning elections in their favor.
I ask you why were they not trying to change voting rules before the last election. Kind of makes you wonder, doesn’t it. Isn’t this unconstitutional?
I also discovered that in order to be a loyal Republican you have to be able to lie as in the case of Rep. Liz Cheney. She seems to be the only one who is willing to repudiate Trump’s Big Lie, that the election was stolen. Wow Republicans, it is my prognostication that you need to start telling the truth or you will continue to lose elections.
Joseph Malberg
Northwest side
It’s time to bring back bipartisanship
As a Democrat, I value balance in our political system as being an integral part of our democracy. A difference of opinion is good and helps to facilitate discussion and compromise to ensure resolution for the benefit of Americans.
But alas, there is one party that continues to demonstrate their lack of concern for most Americans through obstructionism. During Barack Obama’s presidency, the Republicans made no secret about their intention of blocking his entire agenda. Recently, the Republicans have again voiced the same mantra for President Joe Biden’s agenda.
Realizing the Democrats had the means for passing the American Rescue Plan Act, all Republicans cowardly voted “no” but now claim rights to the benefits achieved for their constituents. Isn’t that convenient. It’s time to vote for politicians who are committed to working for the benefit of all American citizens, even if that means reaching across the aisle from time to time.
Sherri Schamel
Northwest side
