COVID vaccine denial
We have two-thirds of a million Americans dead by COVID-19, a terrible disease of suffering, of possible long-term consequences for survivors and of possible death. Millions of people are choosing to take this risk rather than take the vaccine. Some use superstitious beliefs to justify it. What, the vaccine makes you magnetic? It changes your DNA?
What does it do, make you grow two heads? Why don’t you use the one you have? Some are getting caught by their choice and they lose time in the hospital, simply trying to breathe and to live. The cost is large, but they won’t pay it. We’ll pay it, bit by bit, month by month, year by year. They tie up a hospital ICU bed and nurses and doctors. Everybody else who has a heart attack, accidental injuries, stroke, or anything else could be blocked by what they have done.
George Yost
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Vail
Beautiful gift of generosity
We wish to share a wonderful experience which occurred while celebrating our 61st wedding anniversary at a Tucson restaurant. As we prepared to leave we were informed that the couple seated near us had taken care of our check! We were astonished and proceeded to meet and thank them. It unfolded that they too were celebrating an anniversary, their seventh. We have been fortunate to live long and happy lives but this encounter is one of our nicest and most memorable.
In a period when our society appears in division, turmoil, and discontent, it is encouraging to encounter such a wonderful and generous couple.
We plan to pass on their generosity.
Robert and Linda
Hutchens
Marana
Unacceptable behavior
Every day brings news of another person exhibiting antisocial behavior, often violently. It is time we stop accepting this sort of conduct. The next time someone attacks a nurse, a school teacher, or an election official, they should be ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation. In Arizona a person presenting a danger to others can be subjected to a court-ordered 72-hour evaluation. Physically accosting another person, threatening to take a hostage with zip ties, or acting irrationally and uncontrollably in a public meeting represent a clear danger to others. It may only be a matter of time until gunfire again shatters civil life in Tucson. Get these people help before that happens.
Jim Walworth
Northeast side
Another embarrassment for Arizona
When Sen. Kyrsten Sinema was first elected to Congress I was hopeful that she had a vision for Arizona’s future which included representing the people without being sucked into the Washington corruption vacuum.
I was wrong. She has surpassed former Sen. Martha McSallys’ idiocy and now refuses to support older Arizonans who had hoped for some relief from ridiculously high drug prices. Having been bought out by the pharmaceuticals, that isn’t going to happen.
She has failed to show up for key votes. When she does, she accentuates her vote with a childish curtsy. That’s cute in the third grade class play but not in Washington where enough lunacy already resides.
Time for her to slip into her roller skates and make the trip south to Mar-a-Lago where she can play in his sandbox and be cute. Any damage she does there would be miniscule compared to that of the proprietor.
Mark De Grofft
Southeast side
Crooked state government
The only part of Arizona government that was fair, honest, and uncorrupted was the election process. Now the Republicans are working at turning that into another tool of Republican heavy-handed dominance and dishonest government. Under the watch of Gov. Doug Ducey, Sen. Karen Fann, Rep. Mark Finchem, Rep. Paul Gosar and other local and remotely-located acolytes of a former President are working toward a completely fascist state government.
Once Arizona led the country in absurd governance. Now, except for the teaching-people-how-count charade Fann imposed, the Republicans in Arizona are just copycats. Oh, God of stupid and cupidinous professional politicians, where is the honor in that?
Charles Larson
Green Valley
Innovation is useless if prescriptions are unaffordable
A recent letter on drug prices repeated a common misconception — that lowering drug prices will halt innovation. The fact is, Medicare negotiating to lower drug prices can curb the pharmaceutical industry’s pricing power without threatening needed innovation.
Major drug companies spend more on advertising and lobbying than they do on research and development, demonstrating there is plenty of budget for pursuing innovation. Not only that, these companies could lose $1 trillion in sales over 10 years and remain the most profitable industry globally. In fact, Medicare negotiation could actually drive innovation by rewarding truly innovative drugs with the best prices.
The truth is the most innovative drug in the world is worthless if it is unaffordable, and one-third of Americans don’t take their medications as prescribed due to high drug prices. I hope Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly will pass Medicare legislation right away to ensure Arizona’s patients can afford the medicine they need.
Dr. Eric Cornidez
Midtown
Buyer’s remorse on Sinema
In the lead-up to the election in 2018, I knocked on many doors and made even more phone calls on behalf of Democratic candidates, including Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. I now regret my efforts in promoting Sinema from the House to the Senate.
If a competent primary opponent emerges to replace her, I will support such individual, and other predictably reliable Democrats have expressed similar sentiments to me. Simply stated, I do not believe that Arizona Democrats would have voted for Sinema if they knew that she was going to become such an impediment to so many major Democratic initiatives, most notably Build Back Better, which has the potential to reshape this country’s social agenda for decades to come.
While some might consider her antics amusing, their entertainment value is far outweighed by their danger. If Sinema’s goal is to emulate the “maverick” status of former Arizona Sen. John McCain, I paraphrase the late Sen. Lloyd Bentsen in noting that Arizonans knew Senator McCain, and you, Senator Sinema, are no John McCain.
Bruce Skolnik
Northeast side
What are her true colors?
The Democratic Party failed to win big in state and local races in the 2020 elections. Their thin Congressional majorities resulted in the creation of Frankenstein’s monsters like Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who seems hell bent on feathering her own nest at the expense of the Biden agenda.
Sinema spouts patriotic rhetoric like a profound thinker while scheming, since her days as a member of the House of Representatives, to pander to Republican interests while masquerading as a Democrat.
She has become emboldened to go for the gold — campaign contributions — from right-wingers at a Sinema fundraiser with big business, thus proving by her actions that she’s been a conservative wolverine in a more progressive ewe’s garb.
She’s a capitalist tool.
Mort Ganeles
Foothills
Happy with booster shot
My wife and I had our second Pfizer shots last February at Tucson Medical Center. We were delighted to receive the protection they offer. We read that the efficacy of the shots were fading and so were eager to receive the third (or “booster”) shots. Now it is much easier to get the Pfizer shots than it was last winter. They became available so we got our third shots easily on the 28th at a nearby Safeway pharmacy. The pharmacists were professional and pleasant. The minor soreness from the injections we received in our left shoulders was the same as the first shots and are not a problem.
I do not understand the rationale of the anti-vaxxers now filling our hospitals with naysayers who are sick and dying because they refused the COVID vaccines. They do a disservice to their friends and relatives, and, of course, to themselves. This was all unnecessary had they simply received the free vaccines.
Jeffrey Dean
Northwest side
