Tucson Speaks Out: March 24 letters of the day

Re: the March 13 article “Politicians try to keep AM radio.”

Dear Editor: I am writing in support of the ‘‘AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act of 2023’’. Reasons cited in recent news articles include safety and emergency communications in rural areas ... and to that I would add ordinary communications, in rural areas certainly (cross rural eastern Colorado without it? no thanks) but also in urban. AM signals of college and nonprofit stations, as well as AM broadcasts of college sports, are a mainstay of many drivers’ delights. There are other more aesthetic concerns. I learned growing up to turn down the sound on the television and turn on KNBR to hear the best broadcast coverage of the San Francisco Giants. And there was Top 40 on KYA — the end of peace in my childhood home. And remember: “We learned more from a three-minute record than we ever learned in school.” (Bruce Springsteen)

John Leech

Foothills

Mort Rosenblum on the presidential election

Re: the March 10 article “Two towns, two borders, a crucial election.”

It has taken me three days to respond to Mr. Rosenblum’s excellent op/ed piece. Why? He has so much information packed into his column that I had to read it several times to absorb it all. He makes so many important points that I won’t even begin to cover them. I urge everyone to read or reread it, clip it, and share with others who don’t read the Star. I, a Democrat, was considering not voting for anyone for president, but after contemplating this piece, I’ll definitely be marking my ballot for Biden, and I fervently hope that everyone else who felt as I did will reconsider and do likewise. This may well be the most important election we will ever take part in.

Aston Bloom

East side

Geopolitics and Ukraine

Re: the March 10 article “Two towns, two borders, a crucial election.”

The superb editorial by internationally acclaimed journalist Mort Rosenblum makes trenchant points about the urgency of confronting Putin’s aggression and defending Ukraine, as well as the need to approach the major problems of climate change and worldwide displacement of people and refugees with real solutions rather than slogans and soundbites. It is unfortunate that current Republican Party leadership advocates capitulation to Russia’s aggression (Star, Feb. 20), in the name of ‘realism.’ This is the fruit of their Faustian bargain with Mr. Trump — power at the expense of abandoning principle. Curiously, they seem not to know that less than 100 years ago, the Western democracies learned a hard lesson on appeasement. If we abandon the Ukraine and NATO, and capitulate to Putin as these individuals are advocating, we will have abandoned our principles and our allies, and will have neither peace nor security. Mr. Trump does well with slurs and sound bites, but aside from blaming everybody else, he seems to have few solutions to anything.

Abraham R. Byrd III

North side

Unleashed dogs

My dog and I have been charged/attacked three times in the last year walking on the path by La Cañada between Ina and Orange Grove. In all three cases, the dog has not been on a leash while the owners are nearby. The most recent time was last week when a dog came at us from across four lanes of traffic in morning rush hour — amazingly without being hit. I am now carrying a canister of military tear gas and will not hesitate to use it. Is it fair for the dog to suffer when an owner is obligated by law to leash their pet in public?

Peg Green

Northwest side

Don’t get your hopes up

Re: the March 11 article “Saudi business targeted over groundwater use leaving AZ.”

It’s great that Gov. Hobbs ended the leases of the Saudi-owned company that was pumping unlimited free groundwater to grow alfalfa for shipment to Arabia to feed their livestock. It’s a double slap in the face because, in Arizona, agricultural land pays virtually no property tax.

The Saudis live in a desert, so they know how valuable water is. So if a legislature full of suckers somewhere wants to give them free water while their own people are facing a massive drought crisis, we definitely can’t blame them for taking it.

The lease cancellations may end up being meaningless because American farmers commonly export forage crops to other countries including Saudi Arabia and China. So the Saudis can probably just let somebody else grow the alfalfa then and buy it.

Our Legislature could fix this to benefit the people of Arizona as soon as they’re finished debating whether embryos can attend drag shows or whatever they’re tied up with, but don’t get your hopes up.

John Kromko

Downtown

How the House GOP operates

I am surprised by all the letters from people unhappy with Juan Ciscomani’s performance in Congress. Let me explain a few things: Republican candidates are special people. They have no backbones or sense of morality. They owe nothing to their constituents or even care about what is right and wrong. That would get in the way of their only job — taking orders from the Republican Party (now the party of Trump). They have a cushy job and would be lost it if they don’t play along. Just ask Liz Cheney.

Juan Ciscomani is a Republican. He is behaving exactly as expected.

Robert McNeil

Midtown

Heed the warning

If you were going to apply for a job and more than a dozen of the former employees there warned you not to take it — if they told you that the head guy was ignorant, cruel, impulsive, a “wannabe dictator” and has nothing but contempt for the “rule of law,” would you take that job? Probably not.

So, I have to ask those who still support Donald Trump, why do you want to see him back in office? Seventeen of his former cabinet leaders and staffers have come out publicly to say he should not be reelected; that he should not be allowed anywhere near the Oval Office again. Trump’s own VP won’t endorse him.

If one or two of Trump’s former employees badmouthed him, you might call it a case of “sour grapes.” But to have so many who worked with the former president speak out against him? That seems more like an accurate depiction. And a serious warning.

Karen Micallef

Oro Valley

Good to balance the bad

Re: the March 15 article “WWII vet, 100, to wed 80 years after D-Day.”

I was delighted to see a front-page article devoted to bringing a sense of undeniable goodness. It’s a nice balance to the disturbing news we are all facing on a daily basis. The love story of Harold Terens and Jeanne Swerlin warms the heart despite our moral and political alignment. Thank you for sharing such joy.

Carla Pothier

Northeast side

Vote party or country

Once again, we are being required to vote for the best of two very weak candidates. Is this the best the two warring parties have to offer? If we vote for the party we associate with, we are ignoring the best interests of our beloved country. I have been a Republican since JFK passed. However, Donald Trump makes no effort to represent other than his own interests. Poor Biden is a few fries short of a Happy Meal. If Biden is unable to finish another term, we are left with a vice president who is a total unknown. I was a Nikki Haley supporter, however, she bailed after losing several primaries. Apparently, her advisers did not stop to imagine that the vast majority of Republicans are not going to vote for Trump. We are waiting for an alternative to magically appear. If Biden was to cross party lines and name Haley as his running mate, he could actually win. Short of a viable alternative, we all lose.

Bert Stamper

Northwest side

Running red lights

The red-light letterwriters are spot on! During Cologuard, with the police presence, traffic on Sunrise was at the speed limit, less noisy and no red lights were run. It is possible to make the streets safer.

Robert Emery

Foothills

Christopher Columbus Park Phase 2

The new proposed plan for Phase 2 at Christopher Columbus Park is a prime example of fiscal irresponsibility, duplicity, government sham integrity and lack of sensitivity to the wishes of the taxpayers.

Sally Wegner

Northwest side

Poland knows Hitler and Putin

Poland knows Hitler. Poland knows Putin. Poland is constructing bomb shelters throughout Warsaw. Moldova knows Putin. Moldova now seeks further defense protection from France. Georgia knows Putin. Putin has just finalized his 2008 seizure of South Ossetia (with Abkhazia next)—parts of the independent country of Georgia. On its own, Ukraine will fall. Poland, Moldova, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia are next. Moldova will fall after Ukraine because Moldova is not part of NATO. Then, the three Baltic countries will fall and World War III will be launched. Why are Poland and Moldova taking separate defensive steps? They have known Hitler and Stalin. They know dictators. They know Putin. They also know that if Trump is re-elected, NATO will crumble, and United States (with a fledgling dictator) will not come to Europe’s defense. Poland knows Hitler, Stalin, Putin. Poland knows Trump and fawning acolyte obedience in compliant legislative bodies.

Gerald Farrington

SaddleBrooke

AZ lawmakers keen about education!

It is truly heartwarming to know that our Legislature is now keenly interested in broadening students’ educational perspectives. HB2629 would insist on 45 minutes of instruction on the history of communist regimes, addressing poverty, starvation, migration, systemic lethal violence and suppression of speech. Bravo! Perhaps they were too busy addressing other important matters, such as dwindling water supplies in our state to complete a list of similar courses of equal significance. Therefore, I submit that they also insist on 45 minutes of instruction on the history of fascist regimes up to the present time. Actually, there is so much recent activity on that front, including in our own country, that 60 minutes might be more appropriate. A course on gross economic disparities could focus on poverty, starvation, migration, and violence. The list of courses could be endless. How exciting!

Delores Keahey

Southeast side

Call Ciscomani when you see immigrants

Re: the March 13 article “Casa Alitas must be funded.”

The op-ed piece by the Catholic social workers connected to Casa Alitas is an excellent article and a cry for help. Our community has stood up for years to assist the many asylum and immigrants who have been placed in our community by ICE. The program, with hundreds of hours from the entire community (Green Valley, Oro Valley, Tucson etc.), is dedicated to helping resettle these worthy immigrants.

Yet now our Juan Ciscomani, has become window dressing for the Republican party’s border side show. Bringing his colleagues to the border, for photo opportunities.

Now due to the direct inaction by Mr. Ciscomani and his GOP colleagues they refuse to fund the necessary work to complete this humanitarian crisis. Rather, he pledges his allegiance to the 45th president So when you see men, woman and children in the open, on our streets dealing with the 100-degree sun, weather and elements call Mr. Ciscomani 520-881-3586 or 202-225-2542 or Sierra Vista 520-459-3315.

Melanie Heavilon

West side

Two pro-Biden letters March 20

One listed all the major issues facing the world today and stated, “And you wonder why the President occasionally seems confused, stutters or has trouble retrieving a name.” The second echoed the first but stated, “I prefer a President who stumbles his words to someone untrustworthy.”

It is much more than this. Biden is dealing with all these issues while out on the campaign trail nearly every day since the State of the Union address. I wonder if he will be able to handle every issue if he continues to campaign daily for the next seven months.

Something to ponder?

Jack B. Walters

Northeast side

Solutions for homelessness

Re: the March 20 letter “Strategies to address homelessness.”

I must agree with the group of students who approached a solution to our homeless situation here in Tucson and, ultimately, the country. Homelessness is tied hand-in-hand with immigration and needs to be resolved soon because it is only getting worse. Where will funding come from you ask, well “Go Fund Me” projects have been doing quite well lately and there are any number of charitable organizations who are trying their best to help, so back to the students proposal in providing housing, health, and provisions for these unfortunates. There must be a better way.

Fred Thompson

East side

Chips Act benefits Arizona

President Biden was in Phoenix to tout the “Chips Act” which should not only produce jobs in Arizona with federal funding, it will help ensure that America can support the technology of the future. Did No. 45 do anything like that when he was in office? I don’t recall any jobs other than “building an incomplete wall.” In November, try to remember who stands for Arizona and the American people. It’s not the former prez.

John Bingham

Northwest side