Kudos to Fitzsimmons for vote early reminder
I want to applaud David Fitzsimmons on his visual reminder to vote early. His nine panels should trigger many of us as to how important this election is. His whimsical depiction of the smart bird was well done. Sometimes the visual will be easier to remember than wordy signs.
Paula Palotay
Marana
Lack of integrity leaves lesser of two evils
When President Trump stretches the truth to achieve his agenda, he is simply continuing the dangerous precedent that was set by former presidents and presidential candidates.
Joe Biden dropped out as a candidate in the 1988 presidential election, after it was revealed that he had plagiarized a law review article and exaggerated his academic record in law school (he graduated 76th out of a class of 85).
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President Barack Obama sold the Affordable Care Act to Americans, by promising that they could keep their doctors and health-care plans when it was passed. President George W. Bush justified the war in Iraq by saying that they were building weapons of mass destruction. President Bill Clinton stated to the public that he did not have sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky. These are just some of their claims that proved to be untrue.
Unfortunately, when we have candidates from either party that have a lack of integrity, we are left to choose between the lesser of two evils.
Victor Panizzon
Northwest side
Sleepy Joe just one in list of liars
In an opinion piece by Hal Brown, he suggests that Trump supporters should “wake up by November.” I noticed that he did not have a policy gripe only the typical insults. It appears that Hal and others on the left have been schooled in avoiding policy issues.
I focus on issues. You seem to overlook the lies by Hillary Clinton, Sleepy Joe Biden, Barack Obama and the corruption in the Obama Justice Department, the CIA and the FBI.
Trump, with all of his faults, is the most effective president in my lifetime, since Reagan. Promises made and kept: the border wall, lower taxes, foreign affairs, COVID … you name it. I don’t need to “wake up.” I won’t suggest that you do. I try not to be arrogant or self-righteous.
James Deeming
Oro Valley
Safari Club
for little men
Re: the Aug. 4 letter “Congressman Grijalva needs a priority check.”
In a recent letter, the Safari Club CEO whined about Congressman Raúl Grijalva’s reintroduced Cecil Act banning importation of lion trophies, complaining he should have something better to do. Really? Don’t wealthy, mostly white guys, have something better to do than slaughter African wildlife possibly spreading zoonotic diseases like COVID?
A colonial relic for wealthy elite “pale male” recreation, now appropriated for wealthy American vanity hyper-consumption, like many ethical hunters of common game for the freezer, my father viewed trophy hunting as decadent.
Any form of depleted species protection is hysterically called “anti-hunting” by the Safari Club lobby, now successful in reversing the ban on many forms of cruelty-killing wildlife in dens with young; shooting swimming animals from boats, from aircraft, with hounds, etc. All while lobbying to remove species protections for corporate privatization of public lands.
All while wrapped in the American flag masquerading as “conservation.” Nothing better to do?
Candace Charvoz Frank
West side
American aristocracy at work
At the tumultuous presidential debate, each participant had a retinue of family and friends in attendance. Donald Trump’s group entered wearing masks, as did everyone else, since that was a requirement of the Cleveland Clinic (as well as decency and common sense). Once seated, Trump’s group unmasked, and when offered masks by a staff person from the clinic, declined. The photo of them sitting there, imperious, haughty, defiant and unmasked was telling. The staff person said, resignedly, “What can I do?” and left them.
What can be done when a person or group defies a medical center’s mandate to wear masks? You call security and they politely give the people a choice. Put on your mask, or leave. True for you, me, the president’s family and the president’s friends. If they decline, then police can be called to enforce the rule. We see the results of their stupid defiance.
Norman Epstein, M.D.
Midtown
No grown-ups in the room
With regard to the coronavirus, my concern is that our president has given his stamp of approval for the 2-year-old in all of us to take command of our decision-making processes. Businesses request that customers wear masks; the response from many rights-driven customers is “no and you can’t make me.”
Public-health officials with no documented deep-state credentials recommend daily that we all wear masks in public places; a significant number of our citizens breeze down grocery store aisles in defiance of the common sense guidance. State lawmakers in some (red and blue) states spend major chunks of their public service hours finding ways to overturn their governor’s rational decision to mandate public masks during this pandemic. And the virus marches on, into the White House, into more American families and on.
I do not think any American has a constitutional right to be infectious in public during a killer pandemic. Who are these grown-ups and whatever happened to their sense of collective biological survival?
Mark Prichard
Marana
Jeer, jeer
for Old Notre Dame
Rev. John Jenkins refusal to wear a mask at the “Rose Garden” announcement was inexcusable. He has now tested positive for the COVID-19 virus and I pray he has a speedy recovery. However, he made a conscious decision to attend the ceremony without a mask.
I noticed that some of the attendees did wear masks, and did not succumb to the political pressure of the White House. The University of Notre Dame has had to cancel in-person classes claiming irresponsible student actions were to blame. In any organization, leadership counts. Rev. Jenkins’ failure not only sets a horrible example for his student body, but also a disrespect for human life.
Being pro-life means protecting those most vulnerable in our society to the ravages of COVID-19. He apparently only believes in pro-life politics.
Edward Heller
Northwest side
For sheriff pick, leave party behind
Re: the Oct. 3 letter “LaWall betrays her real values with sheriff pick.”
In her letter, the chair of the Pima County Democratic Party, Allison Jones, says that our County Attorney, Barbara LaWall, should not have endorsed Sheriff Mark Napier because Napier is a Republican. Jones says that LaWall betrayed the party. Really?
I am a traitor if I don’t vote the straight party line? This mentality is what is wrong with the politics in our country. Moreover, the job of sheriff is not a partisan one.
Jones is also wrong when she says that Napier has embraced Trump’s policies on immigration, the border wall and civil unrest. Napier is on record with “no way” to Trump. Napier has refused to use deputies for immigration enforcement and he called Trump’s wall “a medieval solution to a modern problem.”
LaWall has worked closely with both Nanos and Napier. She is an informed source. Do your own research but do not reject her opinion just because she does not follow party lines.
Thank you, Barbara, for sharing your opinion.
Martha Gilliland
Northeast side
A clear and present danger to our values
President Trump, in less than four years, has enabled white nationalists, racists, homophobes and anti-Semites to make the transition to increased physical and verbal violence against African Americans, immigrants, gays and Jews.
If you are having a hard time voting for Joe Biden, convince yourself it is a vote against Trump, who is a clear and present danger to the best of America’s values and norms.
Stuart Sellinger
West side
Why I’m voting
for Proposition 208
Before retiring to Arizona, I was teaching at a private, day and boarding college prep school in Pennsylvania. Because of its small size, small classes and proximity to New York City, tuition was rather pricey. And so, all of the students, except those on scholarship, came from wealthy families.
These students, for the most part, aspired to own a HMO or be the CEO of a hospital, dental, legal or educational corporation. They did not want to be your doctor, lawyer, nurse or teach your children or grandchildren. And so, as you consider Proposition 208, please think about this and remember that most doctors, nurses, dentists and teachers are the graduates of public school systems.
These are the very people that we need and depend on in our daily lives. That’s why I’m voting for Proposition 208, and I encourage you to do likewise. It is ultimately in your best interest.
Ginny Williams
Oro Valley
Don’t let your guard, or mask, down
The protective effect of wearing a mask to reduce the spread of COVID is well established. To provide maximal benefit, the mask must cover the wearer’s mouth and nose. But go to the local grocery store and you will see a substantial percentage of mask wearers only covering their mouth, potentially allowing viral particles to freely enter and exit their noses during the simple process of breathing.
With 50,000 new cases occurring daily in the U.S., this pandemic is far from over. Now is not the time to let one’s guard down, both figuratively and literally. Please mask up — all the way up.
Keith Kaback, M.D.
Northeast side
Our democracy is in danger
How much longer can we as a country continue as a beacon of democracy when our own democracy is holding on by a thread? Our founders separated the powers of government as a protection from autocracy. This is why we have the judicial branch which interprets the law, the legislative which makes the law and the executive which executes the law. What happens to our country if the legislative branch bends to the will of the executive? What happens if the judicial branch disregards its duty and enters the political thicket?
The polarization of this country has reached a new extreme, and it is causing us to throw out the paradigms that have protected us this long. Diversity of thought and debate are great, but only if minds are open to new information. I fear that debate is quickly becoming fruitless. Now more than ever, we need leaders who think critically and lead with their conscience.
Avery Williams
Vail
Thank you to the poll workers out there
On Tuesday morning, my wife and I went to the Pima County early voting site on Broadway to drop off our ballots. We were about ready to place our ballots in the blue bin when I overheard a lady in front of me ask if this bin was going to end up in some ditch (or some words similar to this). The young man there said that the bin would be handled securely.
I was stunned. If this was some attempt at humor, it was rude, callous and definitely unnecessary. I do not have adequate words to express my appreciation to the men and women working at these early drop-off sites. You folks are amazing. Please stay safe and thank you.
Ray Rogers
Foothills
It’s getting scary out there
Throughout my life I have always felt safe in the U.S. Even in 1941, when I came home from first grade in rural Washington State to find my mother solemn and terrified because the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor, I somehow knew that we Americans would be safe.
Can anyone be feeling safe now? Even the coronavirus does not threaten me as much because I trust much of our government would solve that problem were they allowed.
What is strange, now, so many years later, is I fear my own government as it falls apart, and not only because of the eccentric behavior of one man, but of half of our elected officials who have so callously forsaken their commitment to the American people for personal greed and power.
For the first time in 85 years I am really afraid.
Claudia McKay
Green Valley
