Troubles at home
ignored by McSally
While Arizonans are focused on racial injustice, public demonstrations and the rising COVID-19 infection rate, Martha McSally used her weekly email to ask this question: “Do you support holding the communist Chinese government accountable for the devastation caused by the coronavirus pandemic?”
As a constituent and voter, I’m far more concerned about holding the United States government accountable for the continuing devastation here in our country: over 120,000 Americans dead from the virus; black Americans killed without consequences for the perpetrators; racial bias built into our system; economic bounty that excludes many; a president who’d use the military to crush those who speak up.
McSally and her colleagues have some accountability of their own. Instead of distracting with this fanciful Chinese sideshow, I encourage her to confront the real devastation in her own state and country. Coronavirus is the medical threat. Institutional racism and authoritarian disrespect for the constitution are moral and legal threats. Senator, please rise to the occasion. Be accountable.
People are also reading…
Jim Armstrong
Green Valley
No room in America
for brutal, racist policing
First, I wish to express my deepest sympathy to the family of Mr. George Floyd. His death was tragic and avoidable. The widespread protest message from our citizens as to the wrongfulness of the conduct of the officers involved in his death are appropriate and relevant for all police agencies in the United States. As a retired member of the Tucson Police Department, I am disappointed in the actions of the officers of the Minneapolis Police Department.
I remember how difficult my job was after the irresponsible conduct of LAPD officers in the Rodney King incident. There is no room in the profession for officers who are thoughtless, discriminatory, brutal or racist. The police must be held accountable for misconduct. There must be a commitment to the rejection of misconduct, police must redouble their efforts to improve via policy, training and supervision. The message from our citizens is clear, Black lives do matter. It’s time for the police to listen and change.
Richard Harper
Northeast side
Trump would do well
to show some empathy
Re: the June 5 letter “Stop blaming Trump for violent protests.”
You’re right. Donald Trump is not totally to blame for those opportunists that use a peaceful movement to foment unrest, violence and theft for their own perverted purposes.
Not causing the problem is not the same as not doing anything about it!
A real leader should speak out loudly, frequently and with real empathetic and passionate language to all the American people.
Tell us how sorry you are to see the deep-seated resentment playing out on our streets. How you feel the fear of those who are made to feel like second-class citizens.
How about calling for an immediate national advisory board, to create a national ethical and humane way for all law enforcement agencies to treat the people they are supposed to “protect and serve.” Maybe then, you will not have to cry out:
I can’t breathe!
Use the platform of the presidency to be the leader of all Americans.
Maybe, just maybe, we can get back to being “one country” for all again!
Peter Strauss
Marana
Employment outcomes reflect racial inequality
The history of the labor movement is rooted in the struggle for justice. Reeling at the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Riah Milton, Rayshard Brooks and countless black lives who’ve been taken at the hands of police brutality, we cannot turn our backs. Racism has always played an insidious role in the daily lives of all working people of color.
When Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at the AFL-CIO’s convention in 1961, he said, “Our needs are identical with labor’s needs: decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old-age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children and respect in the community.”
That was 60 years ago, and it’s as true today, as ever. Sixty years from now, will we be looking back on our victories for working people of color? Victory against police brutality? Victory against SB 1070 for Arizona’s migrant workers? The time for action is now.
Ryan Kelly
Northwest side
McSally takes on an orange hue
Have you noticed that Sen. Martha McSally’s election posters recently distributed around Tucson (and likely all of Arizona) are printed in an orange that matches Trump’s hair color? Subliminal suggestion? Quite likely.
Scott Lukomski
Northeast side
‘Peaceful demonstration’ becoming an oxymoron
Peaceful demonstration is an oxymoron.
I am told that an oxymoron is a figure of speech in which apparent contradictory terms appear in conjunction.
Peaceful demonstration, when applied to racial protest, is an oxymoron. As race riots engulf the U.S., almost all started out as peaceful demonstrations. Almost all ended in riots and looting. Twenty-seven states and at least 200 cities, including New York and Washington, D.C., have gone under curfew in the United States, impacting more than 60 million residents.
Recently an unprecedented 75,000 paramilitary forces, called the National Guard, were deployed across 31 states in the U.S. In contrast, there are roughly 9,000 U.S. troops currently stationed in Afghanistan and 5,000 in Iraq, as per ABC News.
While more than 10,000 have been arrested so far for protesting against racism and police brutality, the world has also seen widespread scenes of rioting.
As race riots engulf the U.S., we need to redefine peaceful demonstrations.
Thomas McGorray
Northwest side
A masked president
would have saved lives
Had the president simply worn a mask during his public appearances, “his people,” as he refers to them, would have followed his lead and thousands of American lives might have been saved. Now he is breaking all the rules of assembly for his own selfish political gain. By ignoring medical experts, he will probably be responsible for many more COVID-19 deaths. Our response to the virus is the worst in the developed world.
Please Mr. President, wear a damn mask!
Morton Cederbaum
Green Valley
Oh, to be a fish!
Failing that, vote
Praise the Lord! Roughly 900 helpless fish are rescued from their fire-threatened Mount Lemmon lake home and resettled in beautiful Agua Caliente Lake and elsewhere.
In the meantime, thousands of men, women and children, fleeing violence and deprivation, pile up against our southern border, treated like trash washed up after a flood. In the meantime DACA’s young adults, on the brink of becoming productive adults, are threatened with deportation because they were carried undocumented into the U.S. by their parents in the hope of a better life for them. In the meantime, black citizens are killed at the hands of a few “bad apples” in the police force who are sworn to protect the communities in which they serve.
Should we all hope to be fish in another life? Failing that, let’s speak up, keep our government’s collective feet to the fire and vote.
Fran Marian
Northwest side
Delivery drivers, cashiers risk their lives
Just to let you know, a brave UPS delivery driver passed away due to COVID-19 right here in Tucson. Many more could die.
I am a retired letter carrier from right here in Tucson. Condolences to his family and friends.
Folks, this is real. Good luck to delivery drivers, fast-food workers, store clerks, cashiers and first responders. Wear your masks when out in public, or you could die. It’s all up to you.
David E Leon
Vail
Fire reveals
our ‘values’
Spokesmen for those fighting the Bighorn Fire often allude to the protection of values as their highest priority. The men and machines that all of our taxes pay for are then concentrated to protect these values. Values almost always mean private property like homes, and of course, Summerhaven. Meanwhile, we read that there are no fire crews along the verdant Samaniego Ridge because the fire “isn’t threatening any structures.”
But values can be a relative term. As an old Tucson boy, those forests are of infinitely more value to me than 20 Summerhavens! Why are tax dollars spent to help private property owners, most all of whom have insurance and are served by local fire departments, while the value most of us have a stake in is left to burn?
In 17 years we’ve seen the Aspen, Bullock, and now the Bighorn Fire greatly denude the Catalinas. But, lucky for us, the price-gouging enclave of Summerhaven is still intact!
Timothy George
Northwest side
Mayor, stop
with the masks
For over 200 years, politicians at every level (federal, state, county and city) have been playing this game of gridlock and political feuding and funding. Now, with the pandemic, racism and actual firestorms, many are tired of too much information and too much misinformation. Politicians, ratings-happy news media and social media have turned things upside down.
Our local Democratic mayor spends a lot of her time going against the grain of our GOP governor. For example, the overreaction to the reopening restaurant standards makes it overly difficult for many to make it (and some won’t). The mask rules will put pressure on our short-staffed TPD to enforce and make life harder to an already pandemic-fatigued public.
Someone please tell Mayor Regina Romero to listen to the people of Tucson, instead of trying to run Pima County and the state, too.
Paul Discher
Midtown
Mosher would make
great county attorney
Jonathan Mosher is an outstanding choice to be the next Pima County attorney. I served with Jonathan on a community services board, and his integrity and concern for the people of Pima County was absolutely clear. This is a person who “walks their talk” and he will follow through on his commitments.
He has proven himself as a successful prosecutor and a strong defender of crime victims. His views on rehabilitation and reform of our criminal-justice system are what we need to strengthen our community. I have never written in support of a candidate for public office before, but I feel so strongly about the good that Jonathan will do for Pima County that I was compelled to publish my thoughts. I urge you to vote for Jonathan!
Larry Lang
East side
Governor playing pandemic politics
In Arizona, a spike in COVID-19 cases has resulted in our Republican governor taking no action! Instead the governor is encouraging local governments to take action.
Republican governors are normally quick to mandate statewide legislation in cases involving gun rights, gay rights ... heck we even have a GOP-created law saying no city can legislate against the use of plastic bags! Yep, that’s how tough and in control our Republican governor is on the important issues!
But with COVID-19? They want to avoid blame, so they pass the buck to the Democratic-controlled cities hoping that Democrats, following good science, can actually stop the spike.
But of course, that will bring howls of protest from the militia men, Boogaloo Bois, Oath-Breakers, nutjobs and Donald Trump supporters. Plus, the governor wants to be ready to blame Democrats at the earliest opportunity, because he knows that Trump will back him on this issue.
Yes, that’s the kind of politics we’re playing in this pandemic.
Geoffrey Baker
East side
