Tucson Speaks Out: June 6 letters of the day

The month of June was once a month for our children to begin summer fun. Now it is a month we are told to celebrate homosexuality.

The rainbow was once celebrated as God’s promise to us. Now is a sinful lifestyle symbol.

The word “gay” was once thought of as happy but now really just a feel-good word for “homosexual.”

All now these words are all taken from us from the very loud minority …

Is gay pride really something our society wants to have pride in or has it been forced upon us?

As famous religious leaders remind us — for those of us who are Bible-believing Christians, that is — if God does not judge the homosexual behavior in our modern-day society, will He then have to go back to apologize to Sodom and Gomorra?

Frank Dahl

East side

Turning over in their graves

June 06, 1944, is upon us. In case you have forgotten, 80 years ago the largest invasion of WWII took place. And I’m sure we don’t want to forget that date! On a hill overlooking Omaha Beach there are 9,388 U.S. Soldiers buried there, in Nettuno, Italy, there are 3,095 names on a wall of a chapel all missing in action from combat in Southern Italy. Only 17 have been located since 1944, 7,864 were KIA, in Italy Luxembourg American Cemetery 5,074 Rest in Peace there. Including, General George S. Patton. They all must be turning in their graves after we had a traitor, no. 45 showing no respect to these men and women who gave up their lives and future. And fighting fascists for our freedoms in our great country. God help us if there is a God. There must be a God, only humans can create the hate and lies in our country.

David E. Leon

Vail

Trump era

Everyone should dial back to 2016 up to 2020 before the pandemic. The U.S. economy was roaring, unemployment low for all, inflation around 2%, energy independent for the first time in 75 years, gas prices approximately $2.15/gallon. Trump will return to the same policies if re-elected. Ask the question — were you better off four years ago? Most would reply yes. Biden is scrambling with a half-baked border program purely for political reasons. He is pandering to the Black community as he is witnessing a decline in support. He cannot hide the failures from the public. Brace yourselves for a barrage of lies as we get closer to Nov 6. To make America Great Again is not a dirty phrase. It has meaning and merit. We have a long way to go to get the country back on track.

Bill Dowdall

Oro Valley

Conover cleaned up corruption

While Barbara LaWall was county attorney, I was the director of one of the largest Pima County government departments. When I made public extensive evidence that I was being pressured to award Pima County contracts to companies that had made campaign contributions and provided other inducements to the chairman of the board of supervisors, and that evidence was well reported by the Arizona Daily Star, LaWall’s office did not act to stop the violations of state laws regarding government contracting. Instead, LaWall’s office downplayed the revelations and supported retaliatory disciplinary actions against county employees who helped inform the public about the corruption.

I am very happy that Laura Conover was elected county attorney on a justice reform platform and has cleaned up the corrupt culture in the Pima County Attorney’s Office. I urge Pima County voters to re-elect Laura Conover.

Brooks Keenan

Oro Valley

Introspect lacking

I wondered why the GOP was blaming Biden and the Dems for “Weaponizing” our government. Besides the obvious projection, it dawned on me that this is exactly what they have done and would do if they were in power. It is impossible for an immoral person to predict how a moral person would act, as that is beyond the immoral view of the world. In their view it is what they would do, so why wouldn’t anyone do it? Not really projection, it is more a lack of vision/ownership of morality. If they do perceive what they do as immoral, they simply justify it as being needed to stop the Dems. The ends justify the means, is a theme used by the Nazis. I await the good people of conservative nature, waking up and facing what MAGA is doing in their names.

MAGA has no ability to see themselves as normal people see them. Most regular folks see them as radicals.

Jeff Rayner

SaddleBrooke

PCC and climate change

Re: the May 31 article “Colleges offer degrees on climate change.”

This article details the growing list of higher ed institutions offering programs and degrees in this crucial area. You may be surprised to learn that Pima Community College is a leader among colleges seeking to meet the challenges presented by climate change.

In 2022, Pima announced its Climate Action and Sustainability Plan (CASP) with the goals of minimizing Pima’s carbon footprint and infusing climate change and sustainability throughout the curriculum. Pima now has an Office of Sustainability with a full-time director, faculty fellowships charged with implementing the CASP, and a handful of new courses devoted to preparing the next generation for what lies ahead. New courses include Sustainable Futures; Food, People and the Planet; Environmental Explorations; and a course simply titled Climate Change.

I am fortunate to be part of the group advancing these necessary initiatives and to work for this forward-thinking institution.

Charles MacCabe, Adjunct Faculty, Pima Community College

East side

The ultimate fixer

Trump had the opportunity to defend himself by taking the stand during the NY civil trial. All he had to do was raise his right hand and swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Apparently, he was unable to do so. He surrendered that right. Now he and others in HIS party are insisting the Supreme Court should be his “Fixer”. This is just a taste of how he and his followers will use all aspects of government to do his bidding if re-elected. There will be no going back.

Dianne Lethaby

East side

Trump is right

I never thought that I would agree with Mr. Trump, much less admit it, but he is absolutely right: the New York business fraud (“hush money”) trial was indeed rigged—rigged against criminals. Twelve of his Manhattan peers unanimously agreed. Thirty-four times.

Julian Donahue

Foothills

Great article by Mort Rosenblum

Re: the June 2 article “Devil is in the details for Copper World.”

I want to thank Mort Rosenblum for his great article covering the recent ADEQ Copper World meetings. I agree with his assessment that ADEQ presented as if the decision to grant had already been made.

It’s interesting that only two of the three planned tailing storage areas are included in the permit, yet the permit will be granted for the life of the mine without enough storage space for approximately 1/3 of the tailings. Hudbay will not line the tailing areas, but they will line the leach pad related to on-site cathode production which they removed from their plans in 2023. They will reevaluate whether to add that in year four of operations or simply continue shipping our copper to China for processing. Then China will sell the cathodes back to us for profit. It’s nice that our Legislature and our state agencies prioritize helping foreign companies make money. Don’t worry, we’ll even clean up the mess.

Cathy McGrath

Vail

American Party

Attention

Sometimes, for the greater good, drastic measures must be taken. My feeling is that we do not need a democratic or republican president come November. We need an American president. We need to keep Trump from a second term at all costs. I suggest we do as follows: ask Kamala Harris to take a step aside for the next four years and replace her with Liz Cheney, and redub the party the American Party. The two former parties would unite against the common evil, Mr. Trump, a man without an inkling of what it truly means to be an American. If we unite in this drastic fashion, the Biden/Cheney ticket might just be able to hold onto the reins for another four years.

Rich Bailowitz

North side

My straightforward election decision

My 2024 election decision is pretty straightforward for me. This election is too critical to consider a third-party candidate. Both major candidates are close in age, so that’s not a factor. One is calm and compassionate, the other breeds chaos and hate. One plans to do what’s right for our country and future, and the other what’s right for himself. One attempts to maintain — or better — our foreign policy, healthcare, infrastructure, and promote a reasonable position on abortion, voters rights, and gun and climate control issues, economy and immigration (despite opposition from the other party, and at times factors beyond his control). The other promotes isolationism while fostering friendship with autocratic strongmen, fears science, speaks of law and order — but defies both, and who is the puppetmaster/ventriloquist to his cultist sycophants.

However, what scares me the most is the potential loss of our democracy — forever changed — if Trump wins (or refuses to concede a loss).

Gary Simons

Oro Valley