Tucson Speaks Out: June 22 letters of the day

A worthy commander?

Even MAGAs must realize the folly of allowing their daughters to be unsupervised with creepy predator Donald Trump. Are they willing to sacrifice their daughters to their Minotaur god?

Many MAGAs work to sacrifice democratic elections and justice to satisfy Trump's lust for power and retribution, since a violent mob ransacked the Capitol on January 6 and thugs now threaten judges and juries. Who in their right minds would sacrifice rule of law that permits civilization as opposed to barbarism based on Trump's whims and caprices?

It is shocking that Trump recently held a rally in Las Vegas in near 110-degree heat. Trump said, "I don't care about you. I just want your vote." A true leader would not sacrifice his people's health and welfare to exploit them for donations and votes. Such a reckless military commander would lose his command. How can we trust callous, uncaring, sociopathic Trump to be commander in chief of our whole nation?

Ronald Pelech

Midtown

What if

Woe is us if Trump takes this election. There may be big plans afoot for holding a round-table discussion in the White House for all the major dictators, with Putin and Trump sharing the chair. China, Hungary, North Korea will be well represented, as well as lesser rats around the world.

Items to be discussed are the elimination of the U. N. and how to smother the folly of freedom wherever it springs to life. In this new seat of power, this most august of gatherings could finally have a jolly time with some really good vodka.

Never in history was there ever such a conclave. Washington will be the perfect place for such an event celebrating the start of a thousand-year run.

But for us democrats, it will spark a truly different world with all Americans painted with the same dark brush, as it should be. We let it happen.

Ron Lancaster

North side

SCOTUS without ethics

Addressing John Roberts as “Chief Justice” suggests respect for him, and by extension, the Supreme Court, itself. However, it's painfully obvious (maybe not painfully) that words like “respect” and “SCOTUS” do not belong on the same page, let alone in the same sentence. The recent continuous stream of revelations about the deplorable conduct of associate Justices Clarence Thomas (who has been an anathema to the Court since his dalliances of Anita Hill days) and Sam Alito, make one‘s head spin. If Roberts cared about "respect" for the Court, he would lean heavily on them to make them change their behaviors, or at least to induce them to recuse themselves from ruling on cases in which they have a perceived or actual interest. The SCOTUS is sometimes called the “High Court.” The sad reality is, it’s not so high while Roberts tolerates Thomas’ and Alito’s absence of ethics.

Jack Graef

SaddleBrooke

Supreme Court gifts

Re: the June 14 letter "Justice Jackson accepted expensive gifts."

Thank you to the letter writer for giving us an accounting of the a "liberal" justices gifts/monies they've received while on the court. We all could find out that info on the Supremecourt.gov. For some reason the letter writer thinks this is bad, because Clarence (I've never turned down a huge gift from a partisan supporter) Thomas has been accused of taking so many gifts from Harlan Crow, a huge GOP donor. The difference is that Justice Brown reported these gifts as required, whereas good ole "BOY" used by the GOP has not disclosed most of his gifts. Until recently he said, "I didn't realize I was supposed to report these gifts." Nice try Clarence and by default (letter writer) but facts are facts and you don't get to claim your own opinion as a fact. Sorry.

John Bingham

Northwest side

Rex Scott

Next to the President of the United States, I believe our County Supervisor impacts us more than most anyone.

From roads, police protection, the border, sewer and oversight on our water rates, establishing a budget that meets these priorities, who else is more important? I think we are fortunate to have Rex Scott as our Pima County Supervisor who represents us well on these important issues. It is so easy to get demoralized in today's world with our political representatives, but Rex is clearly a shining star in a dark sky.

Dave Locey

Foothills

Trump

Can any normal person take this clown seriously? If this country reelects this flawed individual, we will be the laughingstock of the rest of the world. The embarrassment I would feel vis-à-vis my friends and relatives in Europe! Think of countries like Russia, China, and many others — how they would gloat! And just imagine what will befall us when he loses again!

Carola Myers

Foothills

Response to letter writer

Re: the June 15 letter "Candidate's words are harmful and painful."

Justice of the Peace candidate Michael Buglewicz, and one other candidate participated in an invited community forum, only two felt the importance to speak with the public. The point mentioned was reference the terms women-of-color and people-of-color. These are commonly used terms to include many or all different racial or ethnic groups. The most important thing you should know about my husband is that he spent his entire professional life helping people, serving his community, serving the Lord. He was raised to be respectful to all people...everyone. He married a woman of color; I am that woman of color. I am Latina and I am Chicana, as are our children and grandchildren. He is thoughtful, respectful and professional. Michael would like to speak to you directly. Please contact us, Michael Buglewicz is an exceptional person. He's the needed change within Precinct 4.

Emmita Buglewicz

West side

Trump and Black voters

Misinformation from Donald Trump and his “people,” (Gangsters of yore never had "friends;" even relatives were suspect), has increased exponentially, exceeding the 30,000+ lies he told during his time in office.

'180 Church' in Detroit was selected to hear Trump speak to attract Black voters. It failed miserably. The city is 80% Black. He claims to have addressed 8,000 church members. The church can only hold 244. The audience was overwhelmingly white, with the majority not being church members or from Detroit, but rather being bused in for the event. Some were paid.

In his audaciously arrogant manner, he claimed black voters preferred him because he has a criminal record and mugshots; therefore, they could relate to him. "I'm one of them!" He said with a bumptious tone, “I have so many Black friends that if I were a racist, they wouldn’t be "friends." That actually came out of his mouth. In the end, the audience was primarily white. He was speaking to his audience.

Sheldon Metz

Northeast side

Bump stocks and abortion

Ethically compromised Justice Clarence Thomas wrote last week’s Supreme Court decision to remove the ban on bump stocks. For context, a rifle modified with a bump stock was used in the 2017 Las Vegas shooting which resulted in the deaths of 58 people and the wounding of 500 people in under ten minutes! How is this anything other than aborting post-natal humans?

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While Thomas purports to be pro-life, he has foisted a decision upon the public which benefits special interest hobbyists and will potentially cause countless deaths in the future.

While there is disagreement about when human life begins, there is little doubt when it ended for the victims in Las Vegas. Weapons of war sold to mentally ill people who use them for purpose of killing as many people as possible as quickly as possible is insanity and nothing more than abortion for sport.

So much for the sanctity of human life.

Jim Lombardo

Oro Valley

AZ in the hole

For decades AZ Republicans in the Legislature underfunded public schools, creating a distressed education system. Their solution? The ESA school choice program. It transferred funds from public schools to parents for tuition at unregulated private schools. The AZ education budget is now in the hole for over $600 million.

What is the Republican solution to the problem they created? Cut education funding 2024-2025 K-12. Seeing a pattern? Parents should ask themselves who really values education and vote accordingly.

A tried-and-true political winner for Republicans is “cut taxes.” Republicans drum up a tax problem by claiming that the tax system wasn’t “fair.” We must tax the multi-millionaire almost the same percent as you and me. But Republicans didn’t count the money. The “flat tax” resulted in more than $700 million shortfall.

What happened to that surplus that Ducey bragged about? Squandered by a slim Republican majority in the legislature. You can’t vote for the same party repeatedly and expect different results.

Cindy Doklan

Midtown

Subdivisions cost more than they generate

Re: the June 19 article "Ciscomani's efforts to secure infrastructure funding supports housing."

A recent editorial by the president of a home builders association, you know, someone who makes a buck off new housing, claimed that new subdivisions were great because they generated tax revenue. That is not the full story.

Several years back I was appointed to a long-range planning committee. What we learned about new subdivisions was startling. While they generated tax revenue, in fact they were a net tax drain on the community. Along with those subdivisions came tax costs for local fire, and police departments. There were also tax costs for water and sewer improvements and upkeep, roads, and other infrastructure. The same net drain was true of shopping centers. All of these so-called improvements ended up costing existing homeowners and renters extra taxes to make up the shortfall.

Building on vacant lots in established areas did not have these drawbacks. I am not against all new subdivisions, but let's have an honest conversation about the added costs of these subdivisions and ensuing shopping centers.

Howard Strause

Foothills

Left-turn arrows

First the City of Tucson and Pima County quit using in street traffic detectors such as embedded wires and the old metal plates years ago. They now use cameras which are easier to replace and cheaper to use. Accordingly, they can count the cars in a lane when they determine that is the best solution.

The problem really is that left turns are the most inefficient traffic movement that happens at an intersection. When the light is green for you all thru traffic must stop and wait. So if you are on a six-lane street crossing a four lane street you have tens lanes of traffic waiting for you. In addition the traffic control systems are designed to keep traffic moving as much as possible to reduce congestion. I am no traffic engineer but I suspect that they are just trying to keep the greatest number of cars moving.

Dale Calvert

Northeast side

An illusion of democracy

The United States is a democratic country, at least that’s what I’m told. But I’m beginning to have some doubts. Certainly the people speak by electing their representatives. But the issue that is bothering me is do we have what is essential for the existence of a democracy, namely, an informed electorate? There certainly are a plethora of news and other information sources, but unfortunately many of them do not speak the truth. So the issue becomes whether or not the electorate is capable of distinguishing truth from falsity. Based on what I am seeing today I’m no longer sure. RIP, Democracy.

Gerry Maggiora

Foothills

SEL and DEI benefits

Re: the June 20 article "Unfounded fear of social emotional learning and DEI."

I applauded the clarity and thoughtfulness of the writing by Dustin Williams, Pima County School Superintendent. His precise definitions and explanation of SEL, Social Emotional Learning and DEI, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion was followed by the numerous benefits of each and the misconceptions causing harmful legislation to restrict their use. He notes “some legislators have developed an almost visceral reaction to these terms,” and follows with the faulty logic of those opposing the methods. Noting the benefits for emotional development and critical inclusion for all individuals in the educational system, Williams expands the positives of these methods to society as a whole. He finishes with “It’s time to move past unfounded fears and embrace the transformative potential of SEL and DEI. Amen, Dustin Williams.

Roger Shanley

East side

Those ubiquitous Ciscomani signs

The outsized cardboard presence of Juan Ciscomani on every street corner is a poor substitute for his notable absence in our community except of course for his regular presence at SABHA, Tucson Metro Chamber and Arizona Mining Association meetings.

Sheldon Clark

Vail

Robbins

Dear Editor:

Add my name to the list of people who’d like to see President Robbins remain in the top job at the University of Arizona. As so often happens, people have overreacted to UA’s budget “crisis’’ and politicians tow to the noisiest elements in the room. Getting rid of Bobby Robbins may be the biggest mistake the Board of Regents will ever make. It’s not too late to change course.

Sincerely,

Randal Dix, President, Transwest Properties, Inc.

Foothills