OK, now it’s in your court
Donald J. Trump is the greatest con artist this planet has ever seen. He has the ability to convince people that drinking bleach is good for you. Trump can also make people going to prison, because of him, still sing his praises. Here is why it works. It is extremely easy to con someone but almost impossible to convince that person that they have been conned. Very few people realize that they have been conned and leave his group. All the while Trump is continually adding new followers to his group. I am just dumbfounded by this and find it incredibly interesting. I am 77 now and too old for whatever happens after the election to affect me much. I’m glad I have been able to witness this. If Trump gets his way and democracy collapses, well that’s just too bad and I was here to see how it happens. The next few years are going to be incredible.
James Galvin
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Sahuarita
Biden/Trump debate
Why in the world would Joe Biden agree to have a debate with Donald Trump? In the words of Thomas Paine, an early advocate of political common sense, “To argue with a person who has renounced reason is like administering medicine to the dead.” There is no upside.
Jim Stehn
Southwest side
Only 2 billion gallons per year!
I am SO relieved to learn that Hudbay will be using ONLY 2 BILLION gallons of water from the highly endangered Cruz Valley each year to wash rocks. Nothing to see here, folks.
Peggy Hendrickson
Green Valley
Global warming
Here’s the dirty little secret that global alarmists who write to the Daily Star don’t tell us — that with third-world countries, Russia, India, and especially China all increasing fossil fuel consumption, no reductions in fossil fuel consumption in this country will have any effect on reducing global warming. China alone burns more coal each year than the rest of the world combined and is building new coal fired power plants at the rate of two per week. In addition, the EIA (U.S. Energy and Information Administration) says that even by 2050, fossil fuels will still be the dominant form of energy. Thus, the trillions of dollars left wing Democrats’ have spent on renewables has been a total waste of money, and their ill-conceived war on fossil fuels only raises prices on electricity, cars, and other consumer goods. From now on, any op ed or letter writer to the Daily Star should have to prove how their global alarmist policies will reduce global warming. Good luck doing that.
David A. Pearse
Foothills
Lessons learned from LaWall
Re: the April 3 letter “Conover for a second term.”
The letter writer doesn’t think much of Mr. Jette or Ms. LaWall, he infers their incompetence. As an officer I have testified in cases tried by Barbara LaWall. The lessons I learned from her as an officer testifying in criminal trials was to tell the truth, stick to the facts, and be respectful of those involved. I carried those lessons throughout my career, and they served me well. The letter writer alludes to “enmity,” a natural result from the adversarial process. To charge a defendant for violating the law, the prosecutor is convinced of their guilt while the defense attorney attempts to get a charge reduction for the defendant. As a member of the community I don’t want the “best deal” for the defendant I want the defendant held accountable. This is why Ms. Conover as a defense attorney is not a good fit for prosecutor, her bias is to approve plea bargains that are not in the best interests of the safety of our community. I trust Barbara’s judgement.
Richard Harper, retired police officer
Northeast side
Campus protests
Re: the April 28 article “Campus protest crackdown smells of opinion bias.”
The AZ Star’s Tim Steller wrote, “But what’s been frighteningly clear this week is the willingness of some administrators and politicians to crack down on the expression of political opinions they oppose or are being pressured to stifle.” I do not recall Steller “smelling opinion bias” when conservative speakers and clubs have been denied expression on university campuses. The phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is in Hamas’ charter. Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib was censured in the House of Representatives by a bi-partisan vote for her use of the phrase. Democrat Rep. Brad Schneider said “It is nothing else but the call for the destruction of Israel and murder of Jews.” Anti-Israel, pro Palestinian protesters have set up tent camps on campuses, distracted classroom activities, taken over campus buildings, defaced campus property with anti-Semitic writing, and created an atmosphere of intimidation for Jewish students. Steller’s column is liberal garbage.
Marty Jacobs
Green Valley
The Star glorifies violence
Why do the Arizona Daily Star and its sportswriters glorify violence?
Michael Lev wrote in his April 30 column, without moral judgment, that “Football is a brutally physical, violent game.”
Justin Spears in a May 2023 story quoted University of Arizona football recruit Toby Mealer saying of himself, “They’re getting a very physical and violent player on the field.”
Greg Hansen in his 2022 series on top Tucson sports figures recalled that a former UA football player inspired this Sports Illustrated headline: “Is Chuck Cecil Too Vicious for the NFL?”
Readers must infer the Star’s approval of violence, absent any indications otherwise from the sports department. That is irresponsible and borderline dangerous, because it contributes to the glorification of violence in society.
One might guess that these three have surrendered their morals to their paychecks: no violent football to cover, no jobs for sportswriters.
Michael Chihak
West side
To campus protesters: There’s a better way
Campus protests regarding Gaza have been more than ineffective; they’ve been counterproductive. It’s not often that Fox and MSNBC commentators parrot one another, but protesters have caused this for a variety of reasons, including their failures to 1. understand that the First Amendment does not countenance violence or threats, 2. acknowledge the atrocities of October 7 or the ongoing plight of hostages, and 3. focus. Examples of the latter were contained in recent Star reporting that UA campus protests were also motivated by desires to defund the police and change U.S. border policy.
Countless good things in history have blossomed from a single act of kindness. Because the protesters far outnumber those who show up to support Israel, it is understandable that the latter feel intimidated. But just imagine if a single protester calmly approached someone on the other side with a cool drink and an invitation to talk in the shade. What a good way to jump-start a process that the protesters have set back.
Bruce Skolnik
Northeast side
Trump is right where he should be
Re: the April 30 letter “Trump is denied the right to campaign.”
It should be obvious to everyone that Trump is a criminal defendant. He decided to run for president knowing he was under multiple investigations and indictments were imminent. He is running for office to avoid accountability for criminal misconduct. Trump has been indicted by grand juries of ordinary people and juries of ordinary people will determine his guilt or innocence.
Trump is required to be in court, same as any other criminal defendant. He is not allowed to intimidate or tamper with jurors, the court or witnesses, same as any other criminal defendant. He is held accountable for his actions and words when they violate a court order, just like any other criminal defendant.
If you can put aside your fanatic worship of Donald Trump, you would see that he is not being victimized. But when all you’ve known is privilege for your entire life, accountability can feel like oppression.
Jennifer Larson
Northwest side
Poor Trump
Re: the April 30 letter “Trump is denied the right to campaign.”
Are you kidding? Trump wouldn’t be in court if he walked a straight line but he didn’t. Don’t blame the courts; put the blame where it belongs — on Trump’s misdeeds.
Lenna Burnham
North side
So you think you can referee?
A few days ago, you had a brief letter demeaning referees. After having the pleasure of serving as an Arizona referee of basketball and volleyball for 25 seasons, I encourage anyone who thinks that they can do a better job to enroll, attend meetings and work scrimmages every year before the season to gain proficiency. Putting on a striped shirt with a whistle and watch a fast paced game and make a split second call will cause most of you to realize that perfection will never exist. A referee does not have the luxury to see countless replays before you make the call or take the time thereafter to see if it was correct.
I have worked in many venues and before many coaches and realize that their job is no cakewalk either. Players try but they will never be perfect, coaches give instructions but will never be perfect. Fans complain and while some know the game, too many should just cheer for their team.
Jerry Schuchardt
Foothills
Good guys with guns
Where are the news stories about the good guy with the gun who stops the bad guy with the gun? Rather media sources tell of sad and tragic incidents of gun violence, mass shootings, accidental, gun deaths, murders and, most recently, 3 US marshals killed while doing their duty “as good guys” attempting to maintain law and order. I encourage every gun ownership advocate who insists on minimal gun restrictions, in order to ensure every responsible, upstanding, God fearing American gun owner has access to all the guns and ammunition their apparently “terrified of humanity” souls can afford, demand that the media begin reporting the “good guys with a gun” stories so the rest of us can know how effective current gun laws are and, thereby, become more enthusiastic about America’s gun proliferation experiment.
John Persson
Northeast side
Pima County Attorney election
There is nothing permanent except change [Heraclitus: Fragment]. We can embrace it or dig in our feet to delay the inevitable. In the Star we have recently heard from disparate voices regarding the local race for Pima County Attorney. Some supporting the incumbent Laura Conover for reelection. Others taking issue with her policies and supporting her Democratic Primary opponent, Mike Jette. Before Ms. Conover’s election in 2020 the Pima County Attorneys Office administered more or less the same policies between Barbara LaWall and her predecessor Steve Neely for nearly 50 years combined. New philosophies regarding prosecution were already emerging in other cities across the country. It was time for a change. Inevitably. Longtime former Deputy County Attorney Lou Spivack would know. Full-time Conover detractor Dave Berkman has made his point many times over. It’s time for Barbara and Dave to enjoy retirement and let the new leaders like Laura Conover run the show. Hey, they can still get together for coffee and a chat about the “good old days”.
Paul Simon
Northwest side
100 Acres now closing
When I first saw the piece on 100 Acres Homeless encampment I was torn. I was concerned that the attention to the problem would cause negative repercussions which at the time of this writing is in fact what’s happening. In a more hopefully vein I thought that maybe the author of the article had enough foresight to put in place some kind of help to be available.
What’s really sad is the fact that if you stopped and had an actual conversation with some of these people forced into this situation you would realize that simple directions to the appropriate organization where they could receive help is what’s needed. Issues like Social Security payee problems or in some cases regarding SMI situations, a simple nudge in the right direction to the appropriate resources would go far in resolving their problems. They don’t want to be in this situation any more than you or I. Instead of any help it’s the city’s decision to evict this already displaced population.
Susan Barrett
Southeast side
Liberal letters
I write a lot of letters to the editor at the Daily Star. Many have never been printed. Many have been delayed in printing for some time after I have sent them. Some have quickly elicited letters from people with differing opinions from mine. Nobody in a million years would label me as conservative. Tucson has a liberal leaning government and populace that elects those representatives. I would be surprised if the majority of the letters printed in the newspaper were not liberal in thought.
Bette Bunker Richards
Midtown
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