AZ audit, Trump lost, no fraud
I asked my Magic 8-Ball if Biden won the 2020 presidential election. The 8-Ball confirmed that Trump lost. It cost $8.88, far less than the almost $6 million that the Cyber Ninja βauditβ cost, and it has the same level of credibility. Plus, my Magic 8-Ball isnβt a conspiracy nut.
If Arizona is truly interested in solving problems, they should give the Magic 8-Ball a try. Arizona could get rid of those pesky elections altogether. Candidates would just ask the Magic 8-Ball if they won. No exit polls. No recounts. No need for voters. The answer would be instant. Except for the times it answers βTry again later.β
Vern Lamplot
North side
The Fraud-It is over
The Presidential Election Audit initiated by some Arizona State Republicans is over, and they have indeed discovered βfraudβ that has been uncovered. The fraud that has been unearthed is their own devious actions in trying to perpetuate the βBig Lie.β They also spent a lot of our state taxpayers dollars on this sham.
The following is a partial list of politicians that supported this sham. Let us remember their names, next time it comes to election time. They should never be allowed anywhere near elected office again.
Arizona Senate President Karen Fann, GOP chair Kelli Ward, state Rep. Mark Finchem, Sen. Wendy Rogers, Sen. Kelly Townsend, Rep. Paul Gosar, Rep. Andy Biggs and Rep. Debbie Lesko. They have betrayed the trust of citizens of Arizona.
David Keating
Northeast side
City council raises
What we are paying our City Council here in Tucson is an embarrassment: $36,000 to the mayor and $24,000 to counsel members. We lag far behind the seven largest Arizona cities.
For example, Mesa, with a population 40,000 fewer people than Tucson, pays their mayor $73,000 and council members $45,000. And Glendale, with half our population, pays $48,000 and $34,000.
Our last increase was over 20 years ago. That this is a part-time job is a ruse. In my ward, the council member publishes a regular and exhaustively researched newsletter, and if I ever donβt receive a response to a query or complaint within 24 hours, Iβm shocked.
Raising the salaries to $42,000 and $36,000 would cost each Tucson citizen a measly 15 cents a year. And, even if passed, would not take effect in time to benefit the current council. Come on, Tucson: Vote βyesβ on Prop 410, and letβs finally stop the embarrassment.
Denice Blake
Midtown
Insurrectionists present a danger
Whether those individuals indicted are in Arizona or wherever, they remain a clear and present danger to society because they could be so easily brainwashed into committing violence. What is the next big lie they will unshakably believe, without any evidence to the contrary? Will the White House be the next building they storm?
Perhaps they should have given more thought to the ones for which they owe responsibilities, both innocent children and elders. They probably still have the internet so they can complain to thousands over how badly they are being treated, when in fact it is this country they are mistreating.
It is disgusting when the insurrectionists have the freedoms that others would die for. Is it really the time to turn a blind eye to their crime where men died trying to stave off the insurrectionists attack? I think not.
Bevelry Tencza
Rio Rico
Water rights big issue for all
Re: the Sept. 26 article βWells run dry since mega-dairyβs arrival.β
Thank you very much, Debbie Weingarten and Tony Davis, for this article.
Readers, please read this article, and help us start a grassroots movement to regulate groundwater use in rural Arizona. I am a county water user with 3,000 gallons plus of water cisterns around my house. I use my cisterns, have a gray water shower, and cut corners wherever I can.
Why should I pay even more for water when mega-water users like Riverview pay nothing? Justice is needed. Water rights and water scarcity are big issues for all of us, especially in our continuing decadeslong drought, despite this yearβs monsoon.
Sue Thorne
Foothills
Are city elections fair?
In a recent letter to the editor, a woman advocated for Ward-only elections, contending that our current system is unfair. I encourage her to take a broader view. If you are only able to vote for your Ward representative, that representative must still convince several other Ward representatives to support their positions if those positions are going to become law.
Those other representatives can just laugh at you, because they know you will never be able to vote them out of office. With Ward-only elections, you do not gain power β you lose it.
In the meantime, special interests will always have access to all politicians and they can threaten to withdraw campaign support as a way to control those politicians.
Advocating for less power, which Ward-only elections guarantees, is not the answer.
Colette Altaffer
Midtown
Where is outrage toward Trump?
On β60 Minutes,β Rep. Liz Cheney said that Trump doesnβt believe in the rule of law and violated his oath of office. Those things are not in dispute, but the rest of the Republican Party, except for Rep. Adam Kinzinger, continues to accept Trump as their leader and probable candidate for President in 2024.
In addition, Trump incited and then condoned the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, an obvious act of sedition, which is a crime.
If the Republican Party accepts and condones what Trump stands for and has done, they are totally complicit. What a disgrace.
The only thing that will disrupt and stop this bizarre situation is for Trump to be prosecuted, convicted and sent to prison, because a president cannot be allowed to get away with being an unlawful traitor.
There is no reasonable argument to the contrary, so where is the outrage?
Richard Winkler
East side
No time for faint hearts
Newt Gingrich introduced America to ugly hate politics, which Trump honed into our most gruesome political era since the Civil War.
We suffered through the toxic Trump presidency managing to sidestep his last-minute coup attempt.
The Constitution and our cherished democratic republic survived those gruesome four years thanks to the awakening of the slumbering giant of the American spirit and its devotion to the rule of law.
Purveyors of ugly hate politics, lick their wounds and lust to return to power, lurking in the wings plotting another insurrection to overthrow the Constitution, sowing hatred and division, to impose an autocracy.
Frustrated and frightened political pundits, who lack the insight of crystal-gazers, gnash their teeth and wring their hands as they vainly strive to postulate our future under gray skies and fail to conjure optimistic predictions.
Donβt stumble into that quicksand. Instead, resolve to join with other patriots to prepare to fight tyranny and protect our democracy.
Mort Ganeles
Foothills
Treasonous anti-vaxxers
A lesson in hypocrisy: If treason is defined as giving aid and comfort to the enemy, and we are said to be engaged in a war against COVID-19 in which the enemy is a virus, is not the status of anti-vaxxers clear? The irony is that most of them claim to be patriots, not traitors.
Robert Houston
West side
