Menthol cigarettes and other tobacco products are displayed at a store in San Francisco on May 17, 2018. The U.S. government is set to release its long-awaited plan to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars.
Impunity
Donald Trump’s problem is that he has lived his entire life with impunity. Webster’s defines impunity as “free from punishment”. Everyone understands that the rich enjoy a different form of justice from everyone else. When Trump chose to become President, he stepped outside that bubble of entitlement.
As a real estate mogul, he could hide behind his army of lawyers, but now that he has been a public servant, he is under a microscope. No wonder he is squirming like a newly impaled worm on a hook. The epiphany that there is nowhere to hide (that which must be kept hidden at all costs) must be excruciating!
John Balsbaugh
Midtown
People are also reading…
Publishing Gil Shapiro
Re: the Aug. 20 article “Voters need help on Trump mental health.”
I have worked in the mental health field in Arizona and other states for over 40 tears. I have written letters to the Star about my concerns for Trump’s mental pathology and the dependent personalities that follow him. Gil Shapiro’s article was so right that it should be published on the front page for a month until everyone has read it. His analysis of Trump’s mental deficiency and the danger to those who follow him is spot on. Finally, a call to assess Trump’s mental health. Remember Hitler, Manson, and Jones.
Richard Bechtold
West side
Star’s attack on Conover is misguided
Re: the Aug. 20 article “Conover’s misguided attack on public records.”
In a one-sided attack on Pima County Attorney Laura Conover, the Star editorial board took the side of disgruntled former employee in a lawsuit over records.
The Star failed to reveal the size or number of requests that were made, or tell us the cost of these requests to the County Attorney.
Conover is actively seeking additional funding to fulfill onerous record demands.
Why doesn’t the Star get busy raising funds for our overburdened public officials instead of attacking them?
Larry Bodine
Foothills
FDA Menthol Cigarette ban and minority communities
Re: the Aug. 23 article “Menthol ban would hurt minority communities.”
Although I commend State Representative Consuelo Hernandez for her zeal in representing minority majority communities, her comments about the proposed FDA ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars are misguided at best, likely harmful to those she serves.
Big Tobacco targeted efforts to market and sell menthol cigarettes to Black Americans have been very harmful. Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable deaths for Black Americans, leading to 45,000 deaths every year. Black men have the highest rates of lung cancer in our country.
It’s estimated that 250,000 Black Americans would quit smoking within 17 months of ending menthol sales.
Representative Consuelo, let’s join the American Lung Association and others in calling for an end to the decades of disparities in tobacco use, disease, and death in our Black and brown communities. Your constituents and their families will thank you for helping to prevent any more needless deaths and suffering from Big Tobacco.
Mark Peterson, MD
Foothills
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Shame on you, Arizona
I am a native Tucsonan and have worked full-time and paid taxes for over thirty years.
I applied for state Medicaid (AHCCCS) after my employment ended in April. I did not file for unemployment or nutrition assistance.
When I applied for AHCCCS I submitted a copy of the termination letter from my employer. I have not worked subsequently due to documented health reasons. I received one denial letter stating I don’t qualify for AHCCCS because my employment income is too high. I have no employment income. I received another denial letter today.
I am moving out of state next month. There is no point in appealing the AHCCCS decision because by the time Arizona takes action I will no longer be a resident.
If I don’t qualify for AHCCCS then who does? Stop making excuses, Arizona. Take care of the long term residents who have paid their taxes and need some temporary assistance.
Ann Glyn
East side
Looking forward
The twice impeached, four times indicted, former president is leading significantly in polling for the Republican nomination for president in 2024’s election. (This is a fact requiring much contemplation.) Hope remains in that one must win the general election in order to become President of the United States. Another fact needs restating. This same person lost the 2020 election. Despite constant repetition to the contrary, to date, no credible evidence has ever been presented to prove otherwise.
Now, most of the current Republican leadership (and amazingly, most of the candidates seeking the Republican nomination) have remained silent or, worse, keep insisting that the prosecution of the former president is justice politicized or weaponized. PLEASE, let the four indictments decided by independent grand juries proceed. These fair trials in courts of law will determine verdicts. Meanwhile...
Joe Biden is President, Katie Hobbs is Governor, Adrian Fontes is Secretary of State, Kris Mayes is Attorney General. These people are not looking constantly backward. They are looking forward. They are governing.
Brian Templet
East side
Ideas not vengeance
If Republicans want to regain political power and respect with their fellow Americans, they must do so with fresh, constructive ideas, not with vengeance as their motivator. Vengeance, like a landmine, renders the mind barren. The glee of vengeance realized is short lived. It nurtures only more vengeance. And yet they persist with endless legal challenges, superfluous and costly ballot recounts and “audits,” and bad-tempered inquisitions. It has been decades since our Republican representatives and elected officials have given thought to productive, new ideas on how to meet the challenges in life that we wrestle with every day. (President Nixon had several fresh ideas — the China Initiative, EPA — but his demon vengeance inevitably brought him to ruin.) Momentary feelings of power gained by vengeance always fail, and sooner than later.
John Wilson
Foothills
Confused
It is apparent that nearly 60% of your letter writers continue to vilify Trump even though he is facing three trials where he will be judged by his peers. At the same time, our country is in a desperate and unheard-of plight due to raging inflation, exorbitant fuel prices which are avoidable, and an unrealistic and zealous policy approach to perceived human caused climate change. To make matters worse, the border is once again wide open with drugs rampant and the cost of these undocumented staggering, crime is rampant in many areas, homelessness is out of control, and our public-school systems are failing in many locations. Assuming most of your liberal submitters are intelligent, why are they not addressing these pressing problems our nation is experiencing instead of beating a dead horse. Is there no recognition of the trouble our country is in? Are Dems so filled with hatred for Trump that they will allow this country to sink into socialistic third-world status?
Loyal M. Johnson Jr.
Oro Valley
