Where to find integrity and courage
Looking for honest, elected Republicans with integrity and courage? You can find these patriotic individuals on the Arizona Republican Party censure list.
Susan Miller-Pinhey
Foothills
Political theater
I agree with a recent letter that President Biden is simply doing the job for which he was hired. Not sexy nor even breathtakingly interesting, but he and his cabinet are just doing their jobs and making some much-needed progress against formidable resistance.
We hire our political leaders to make our lives and our world better. We hire them to actually do something to address the many difficult issues that our country faces. But we are not getting our money's worth from a major number of them as they are too busy trying to generate "news" about themselves so they can get reelected in order to not do anything for another four years. Our fault, as they keep succeeding with that playbook.
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We are at a crossroads in our country. Who do we want to be, ruled by a dictator as is North Korea, Russia, China, or Hungary, or a sometimes boring and imperfect democracy?
Vote like your life depends on it.
Gini Gethmann
Northeast side
Both parties passed Civil Rights Act
Re: the July 13 letter "American racism."
The writer stated the Democrats passed the Civil Rights acts of the 1960s. This is incorrect. Democrats and Republicans passed them. The final vote in the Senate for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 had aye votes for 69% of Democrats who voted and 82% of Republicans who voted. The House vote was Democrats 63% and Republicans 80%. The final votes for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 had similar percentages. The reason the Democrats percentages were below the Republicans was because of the Southern Democrats; they were strongly opposed to these acts. Even though the Democrats had an approximate two-thirds control in both chambers in those years they still needed a high percentage of Republicans to vote for these acts in order to prevent a filibuster by the Southern Democrats. These acts could not have been passed without substantial Republican support.
Douglas R. Holm
East side
No candidates oppose party platforms
I looked at the websites of the candidates of legislative districts 17 and 18. There were 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans. Of the Republicans, eight said they were anti-choice. Of the Democrats, eight said they were pro-choice. Two candidates of each party did not state a position. No candidate had a position in opposition to their party's platform.
Any Republican who said they were pro-choice and any Democrat who said they were anti-choice would not get elected. In our party primaries it's the hard-core party members who vote and they will expect every candidate to stick to their party's platform. If we had an open primary system we could have candidates that could have diverse positions and appeal to both parties. That would be how we could elect more moderate candidates, and in this decisive world we need more moderate candidates.
Jonpaul Barrabee
Oro Valley
Economic systems have definitions
Re: the July 20 letter "Socialism and Communism."
The letter writer's descriptions of economic systems leave something to be desired. Far from socialism and communism being direct opposites, they are one step apart. Socialism is the control of the means of production by the state; communism is ownership of the means by the state. Lenin thought it a natural progression. The Scandinavian countries are not socialist; they have some the of strongest free market economies in the world, which permit extensive social programs. And not all dictatorships are communist. China became a world power by allowing significant free market activity after Mao’s rule. And finally, a republic is far superior to a democracy because republics recognize that individuals have natural rights that cannot be taken by the state. Democracies create all rights, which can be used against any minority in any way it chooses. That political parties try to take advantage of situations has no bearing on these facts.
Al Westerfield
Southwest side
If it was your daughter?
The case of the 10-year-old pregnant rape victim who millions think should carry to term perfectly illustrates the barbarity of America in the 21st century. If school shootings are a statistic, then let this single tragedy set the example for future historians. What more will they need to know about our “modern” society?
Eric Flohr
Midtown
Supreme Court justices lied
Why is nothing done? Our courts should not have any say in national and personal health care matters. This should be left up to doctors, their patients and scientists to say what is mandated for the nationwide health of the people. Our last three Supreme Court judges all flagrantly lied about their views on Roe v. Wade at their confirmation hearings. Why has no one called for an impeachment hearing about this? The people’s majority must demand it. Extremist and religious views have no place in our health care or government.
Hal Brown
East side
UA blundered badly
Wow. What a stunning illustration of the UofA's bungled decision to fire Ben Wilder as director of the Desert Research Laboratory at Tumamoc Hill. Wilder, a true visionary with an intrepid passion for desert research, is highlighted in David Attenborough's breathtaking "Desert Worlds" episode in "The Green Planet" series on PBS. A big-picture ecologist with a prescient ability to predict, Ben continues to be an asset to our community. Whatever disagreements there may have been at Tumamoc should have been resolved in order to keep him.
Knowledgeable and passionate enough for Sir David, but not good enough for the University? Something's wrong there.
Stephen Paul
Downtown
A call to grandparents
A few days ago I got a call from my grandson. He told me that he was going to take a class in algebra this year and needed a little help with reviewing the concepts. Since I am going on 75, it has been a few years since my high school freshman algebra class, but I was game for dusting off the old math brain and having a go at it. Let me tell you, it has been so much fun. A call to all the grandparents out there to get involved. There are many children in Tucson who need help with reading, writing and arithmetic. We have a lot of knowledge to share. It is a great way to keep our brain cells active and have some fun at the same time. I hope my grandson continues to ask for my help with both algebra and geometry concepts, but please, don’t ask me about trig ...
Candace Arrington
Southwest side
