Tucson Speaks Out: December 22

The price is right

There is a clear need for a new investment platform that tracks the current price of Presidential pardons in dollars invested in $Trump bitcoins and the value of quid pro quo exchanges. Currency purchases of $Trump cryptocurrency, such as $40 mil and $1 mil are easy to track, but defacto trades of praise and absolution for murder in exchange for project development are more difficult. And the trade of zipped lips for Texas country club confinement was almost priceless, but may have been diluted by the release of the Epstein Papers depending on who wields the redacting pen. Certainly the pardon of a major drug dealer will raise concern among those currently bidding for pardons until the price is revealed.

The question raised by these blatant transactions is are they bribery, Emoluments Clause violations or abuse of power?

Todd Ackerman

Foothills

Resist renaming of the Kennedy Center

Congressman Ciscomani,

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is established by law. It is the sole memorial to JFK in DC, much like the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, as well as the Washington Monument. The name cannot unilaterally be changed by a vote of the Center’s Board, but instead requires Congressional action to do so.

For once, demonstrate some level of resolve and leadership to your constituents by stepping out from the shadow of President Trump and demanding that the name of the Center be restored. Do it now.

Scott Feierabend

Northeast side

Faustian bargain

The Encyclopedia Britannica defines Faustian Bargain as “a pact whereby a person trades something of supreme moral or spiritual importance, such as knowledge, power or riches.” Morality doesn’t matter. Character doesn’t matter. Values don’t matter. Calling immigrants vermin and women pigs doesn’t matter. Taking away healthcare from millions doesn’t matter. Cutting USAID, which prevented 92 million deaths in 133 countries, doesn’t matter. Only power matters.

Remember Trump and his photo op at Lafayette Square, where he held a Bible upside down? That was a true image of his plan to turn faith and democracy upside down.

What is true is false. What is false is true. What is good is bad. What is bad is good. Shooting someone on 5th Ave. is a good thing. Cruelty and hate are good. Empathy is bad. Eliminating black and brown people and establishing a new white Christian, theocratic, autocratic, kleptocratic country where freedom is only a memory is good.

We are Trump’s Faustian Bargain.

Rachel Rulmyr

Oro Valley

River of no return

I hereby nominate Rusty Childress for Director of Water Sanity. The drumbeat of his relentless warnings that we must adapt to the Colorado — instead of the other way around — are too dire for most of us to heed. It’s just too scary, daddy, make the bad man go away.

Politicized? You bet. But the head-in-the-sand crowd need only look to their spiritual leader, Ayn Rand, for guidance. Heed her words of advice: “You can ignore reality but you cannot ignore the consequences of reality.”

Rick Rappaport

Oro Valley

What if Project Blue promises not kept?

Many promises about water utilization, power impacts, noise, etc., have been made. What if those promises are not kept? What, if any, are the penalties? Should we be satisfied with just "We're sorry"?

Dennis Winsten

Northeast side

All great empires end

All great countries and empires come to an end and so will we.

To name a few, Roman, Ottoman, British, Russian, German and others.

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Human political nature, being what it is, led to their decline and fall.

We are following the same general path of them with our world leadership position that started during WWII.

In the last year, our decline has accelerated immensely.

Donald Plummer

Northwest side

Colorado River truth

Thank you for printing Rusty Childress's essay on the Colorado River, because every word of it is true. My only hope is that all our elected officials — the County Board of Supervisors, the Tucson City Council, our state legislators, and the governor will read it, see its wisdom, and act on it for the sake of the people who put them in office.

Patricia Cattani

East side

Brace for Trumpfication

Our POTUS will celebrate the completion of his first year in office by ensuring that no one will ever forget his name and that his name will live on forever. The United States of America will now be called The United States of Trump. We have New England, New York, and New Jersey. Washington, D.C., is now New Trumpland. The Trump Majal was formerly known as the White House. The Republican Party is now the Trumplican Party. Mar-a-Lago will be known as Trumpville. Since there wasn't sufficient room to add his face to Mount Rushmore, it was decided to rename it to Mount Trumpmore. The Smithsonian will now become the Trumpsonian. The National Mall will be renamed Trump Mall. Any and all memorials in New Trumpland (formerly Washington D.C.) will have the name Trump preceding the memorial's name. Grand Central Station is now Grand Trump Station. Finally, not to be outdone by the Lincoln Memorial, The new Trump Memorial will be twice the height of Lincoln's.

Max LaPlante

Southeast side

Reponse to LTE criticism

I kindly thank Mr. Van Devender for his response to my Dec. 16 LTE, but I feel like it places me into a box. I am not, in fact, from a wealthy Mexican family, but from a low-income one where economic struggle has marked my life. In my experience, less wealthy Mexican families are more conservative than wealthier ones. And again, just because I lean conservative does not make me MAGA. I don't support Trump nor have nationalistic views. I am 100% not against free speech for Democrats — I actually encourage it among my peers — but I am against hearing death threats against people like the echo across the halls of my campus. That is not free speech. That is harassment, and it is the thing that I am against. I am also not against people or students criticizing or challenging my beliefs; I'm against people trying to box me into MAGA or a political party that does not fully reflect my views and way of thinking.

Hector Guzman

South side

When will they learn?

Again. The Dems fell victim to their own stupidity. This time, the Epstein release. Just last month a promise to vote on ACA subsidies. Coupled with an end to shutdown. The Repubs are like Lucy with the football. The Dems like Charlie Brown. Kicking at air. But still the Dems trust. It is a fool's errand.

Kenneth Haber

Northwest side

Hamas' useful tools

Tom Van Devender's letter accuses Israel of genocide. He states numbers that are demonstrably false, and uses a double standard to judge Israel. Citing 60,000 deaths implies they're all civilians, but Hamas numbers include 12,000 natural deaths in Gaza, 1,900 Hamas misfired rockets that killed Gazans. Just one, at Al Ahli hospital, killed 500 Palestinians, and include 20,000 Hamas terrorists killed. Even so, we can agree many civilians died. What do you think happens in war, particularly a war initiated by Palestinians? Two million civilians died in the Korean War, an average of 54,000 per month, and Saudi Arabia killed 19,000 civilians in Yemen, using U.S. weapons. This is the double standard.

Utilizing dishonest numbers and not acknowledging the lengths Israel has gone to avoid civilian casualties, you succumb to the false genocide charge. It cheapens the word, making it meaningless when needed to describe a real genocide.

Barbara Katz

Green Valley

Why so gullible?

The cost of gasoline in Lake Havasu City averages $3.18 per gallon, while just across the Colorado River, the average cost in California is $4.50. Additionally, the average residential cost of electricity is 15.59 cents/kWh in Arizona and is 30.63 cents/kWh in California. There is no economic reason for the difference. Can anyone voting for politicians who subject their constituents to this unwarranted cost burden be classified anything but foolish? Unfortunately, foolish appears to be accurate by reading the majority of the Star's LTE contributors. The liberal siren song of a utopia and the lure of promised solutions to every problem achieved by spending is alluring. However, the promises are never fulfilled, just money spent with little improvement for the targeted problems. Will voters finally demand positive and long-lasting results and hold those politicians responsible if they do not fulfill their promises? No excuses, accountability. The politicians work for us, not the reverse.

Loyal M. Johnson Jr.

Oro Valley