‘Never befores’
I read the Trump statement after the Mar-a-Lago FBI raid. Trump whimpered that this has never happened to a president of the United States before, to gain sympathy for his supposed persecution. He forgot to note the other “never befores” we have been subject to during his reign.
The way I see it, we have never before had a president who consistently lies, ignores the rule of law, disparages the other parts of government, destroys confidential documents, denies science and medicine, tears down democracy at home and abroad, enriches himself and family using his office, stands up for white supremacists and hires them for his team, and gleefully removes the rights of women and minorities. Not sorry!
Alan Barreuther
Foothills
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2-tiered justice system
On Aug. 8, FBI agents raided former President Donald Trump’s estate at Mar-a-Lago in south Florida. Trump was in New York at the time. Agents reportedly broke into his personal safe, and were seen taking boxes out of his home. The supposed reason for the unprecedented search warrant was Trump’s suspected retention of presidential records not turned over to the National Archives. He and his attorneys had been negotiating that, and some documents were turned over. But why an early morning raid with a federal search warrant? Why not just a subpoena demanding the records? I believe these actions were politically motivated by Attorney General Merrick Garland, who has refused to prosecute abortion rights protesters outside the residences of conservative Supreme Court justices and done nothing on the two-year long Hunter Biden investigation with no search warrants at his residence. The FBI did not execute any search warrants at Hillary Clinton’s residences while under criminal investigation for mishandling of classified materials. We have a politically biased two-tiered justice system.
Ryan Bodsworth
East side
Exquisite hypocrisy
Although both parties engage in hypocritical actions and statements, I think the right wing has cornered the market in this area. The latest example is Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s threat to Merrick Garland to “preserve your documents and clear your calendar.” Clear his calendar for what, after-work, meet-and-greet cocktails? How rich of him, while he and his fellow travelers eschew the fact that their boss has eaten, flushed down the toilet, confiscated and stolen what may prove to be highly top secret documents while in the White House and after his ignominious slithering away to Mar-a-Lago. I say let’s check with Roto-Rooter to investigate the possibility of retrieving any of Trump’s documents that may still be in the White House plumbing.
William Muto
SaddleBrooke
Global warming, global platform
Re: the July 28 article “World desperately needs climate course correction.”
I think Doug Pickrell is a global alarmist who claims that if we don’t implement his top-down plans to reduce our carbon footprint, we will suffer “massive ecological and humanitarian disasters,” yet he offers no proof that these disasters will actually occur.
Pickrell admits that global warming is a global problem. With China, India and Russia building ever more coal-fired power plants, anything we do here in America to reduce our carbon footprint will make no difference whatsoever in the years and decades to come.
Due to fracking and natural gas, America has already reduced its carbon footprint more than any other industrialized nation, yet Pickrell would limit fossil fuels while supporting massive subsidies of green energy that will serve no purpose other than to heap onerous costs on businesses and individuals alike.
David Pearse
Foothills
Secret strategy meetings
Re: the July 28 article “Amnesty: Taliban crackdown on rights is ‘suffocating’ women.”
The Taliban and the Republican Party must be holding secret strategy meetings.
Thad Appelman
Northwest side
Deaths aren’t ‘their problem’
Gun manufacturers act like Pontius Pilate, washing their hands with the blood of children. On July 27, the Committee on Oversight and Reform’s investigation into gun industry practices and profits revealed the following: The gun manufacturers — Bushmaster, Daniel Defense, Sturm, Ruger, et al. — have all made and sold AR-15-style weapons that have been used in mass shootings. Bushmaster made the assault weapon used at Sandy Hook Elementary and the Buffalo supermarket. The committee documented that gun companies collected more than $1 billion over the last decade from selling military-style assault weapons to civilians, even as gun violence increased across the United States. Additionally, gun manufacturers do not track or monitor deaths or injuries that result from the use of their weapons. They target sales to young men, but once the gun is out the door it is not “their problem.” The management of these companies call these mass shooters murderers, but that is after they have profited millions from their sales to these immature and irresponsible young men.
Richard Harper
Northeast side
Tell senators to vote for climate
Re: the July 28 article “Senate leaders agree on budget.”
On July 28, the Star reported a Senate breakthrough to address inflation, health-care, energy and climate. The Inflation Reduction Act is completely paid for ensuring that the largest corporations and the wealthiest pay their fair share and will reduce the deficit by $300 billion.
The bill helps combat climate change by speeding up the decarbonization of our economy. Independent analysis estimates reductions of 31%-44% by 2030 — very close to the 50% that we need. Transitioning from fossil fuels will ensure true energy independence, make gasoline price shocks a thing of the past and help turn Arizona into a clean-energy powerhouse.
Every Democratic vote is needed on this bill. Contact Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly and ask for their support now. A quick phone call will let you leave a message. It’s fast, simple, and the best thing you can do for the climate. Sinema (202) 224-4521 and Kelly (202) 224-2235.
Edward Beshore
North side
Reality check
With all of the conspiracy theories floating around, it’s time for a reality check — so here it is:
The CIA did not kill JFK. The moon landing was real. Bill Clinton did not have Vince Foster murdered. Sept. 11 was not an inside job. Hillary Clinton did not conspire to kill Americans in Benghazi. Obama was born in Hawaii. “Q” was a minor Star Trek character. A good guy with a gun rarely stops a bad guy with a gun. Conversion therapy doesn’t work. Outlawing abortion will result in needless deaths. Trump lost the popular vote twice and the electoral vote once. The “Great Replacement Theory” is racist and false. The Jan. 6 rioters are seditious traitors.
Now that we’ve got all that straightened out, we can all get back to believing that global warming isn’t real.
James Nesci
East side
Not critical of border now
Re: the July 31 article “Sheriff oversteps his authority.”
To me, Tim Steller, a politically liberal columnist, is a hypocrite. His own Arizona Daily Star has “inserted” themselves into elections by endorsing candidates, Democrats last time including Biden, Grijalva, Kirkpatrick and O’Halleran. Essentially telling readers whom to vote for. The Star finally ended the practice this election cycle, following the Gannett-owned Arizona Republic’s decision not to do so. I think Steller should focus on the border as he did under Trump. Do some similar critical stories, this time of Biden’s border policies. Maybe take a drive over to Yuma and see the hundreds of people illegally crossing every day or go over to the Rio Grande River in Texas to observe the thousands. In 2019, Steller won the Pulliam fellowship having a monetary prize and stated that he would use it to address politics in immigration. Whatever happened to that? Maybe he meant only during the Trump administration?
Alfred Chompski
Midtown
Funding elections
I wonder if alleged Democrat Sen. Kyrsten Sinema would vote to retain the carried interest rule and other tax increases in the current bill under consideration in Congress if we had publicly funded elections? I doubt it. Then she’d be accountable to voters, not Wall Street.
Donald Trump only said one true thing in his entire political career: the system is rigged. It is rigged, riven with the kind of corruption only money can buy. We can thank our Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling for the farce our “democracy” has become.
At a time when the U.S. has the greatest wealth and income disparity in 100 years, when inflation is hurting families, when our earth is literally burning, it’s status quo when it comes to taxing the wealthy, right, Senator? I mean, how else can you fund your reelection?
Michael Seibold
Midtown
Becoming what they condemned
Re; the Aug. 5 article “Dems have become what they condemned.”
Ever since muskets were first used against bows and arrows, people have learned from their enemies. Megan McArdle’s article “tut tutting” about Dems using dirty tricks they learned from Republicans seems a bit hypocritical. Trump is the elephant in the Republican room. The fact that many Republican voters (and almost all Dems) are turned off by Trump’s antics makes it a logical conclusion that if the Trumpiest Republican wins a primary, there is a strong possibility that Dems in that district will be encouraged to turn out and vote in the general election in opposition. People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
Morton Smith
Foothills
Why Trump?
To my neighbors who think Donald Trump should still be president — why? Trump got little legislation passed to address crime and gun violence. Nothing to address the insatiable appetite of millions of Americans for drugs. Nothing to address the deficit or the national debt. He sent love letters to North Korea’s dear leader but got no deal to denuclearize the peninsula. He ripped up the Iran deal and now Iran is closer to having an atomic bomb than ever. He couldn’t even get the Republicans in Congress to give him money to build the wall — because they well know it’s a fool’s errand — so he stole money from the Defense Department. Mexico never paid a nickel. Billions were spent, along with millions of gallons of precious water squandered and untold environmental devastation. Trump did get a budget-busting tax cut through Congress but he promised it would rev up economic growth to 6%, yet GDP stayed at about 2% — about the same as under Obama.
Nancy Silberschlag
Foothills
Guns vs. catalytic converters
Re: the Aug. 8 article “Catalytic converter thefts soar.”
I see our Legislature has decided that we need protection from catalytic converter thieves and have passed legislation requiring anyone who buys a converter privately to report the purchase to the Department of Public Safety. While the theft of my converter would certainly be a nuisance, it is the private gun sales that our elected officials should be more concerned about. A converter in the hands of a criminal is one thing. Our continued refusal to take any step toward gun safety rules is quite another.
Rick Unklesbay
Midtown
Why hasn’t medical board acted?
Re: the Aug. 7 article “Records: Mormon officials didn’t stop years of abuse.”
This story about the failure of LDS Bishop John Herrod to report the yearslong sexual abuse of a child by her father was heartbreaking and enraging. As reported, the church is hiding behind an alleged religious exemption to Arizona’s mandatory reporting law, ARS 13-3620. What the story failed to address is Bishop Herrod’s requirement as a physician to report abuse. ARS 13-3620 says, “Any person who reasonably believes that a minor is … the victim of physical injury, abuse, child abuse … shall immediately report … this information to a peace officer” and explicitly names a physician as a mandatory reporter.
An online check reveals Herrod is still licensed to practice medicine in Arizona, and, in fact, his license was renewed last December, despite his admission that he never reported this child’s abuse to law enforcement.
Why is Herrod not being prosecuted for failure to report? And why is the Arizona Medical Board, whose mission is “judicious licensing,” still allowing this despicable man to practice medicine?
Laura Penny
Foothills
