Do Americans deserve democracy?
When only half of people vote, and half of them vote for the wrong person, three-quarters of adults deserve to suffer the bad outcomes while the one-quarter of us innocent victims are helpless spectators.
Bruce Gary
Sierra Vista
Pro(mote) democracy
We know what democracy is. It’s not Germany 1933-39. Historians cite several examples of Germany then. Unemployment went from 30% to 0% due to forced labor with lower pay and longer hours. In the first year, state (government) controls resulted in 25% fewer small businesses. The State controlled personal property ownership. Selected companies received “favor” for business rules and state contracts. Some may have thought it was ok. We know the rest of the story.
But, as Sandra Day O’Connor said: “At the Heart of Liberty is to define one’s own concept of existence … and the mystery of human life. Beliefs of these matters could not define the attributes of personhood were they formed under the compulsion of the STATE.”
Chumpster and his minions and sponsors prefer the German model but will mimic the “liberty” message because they lack creative, let alone free thought. Others, however, do share the values of democracy. Consequently, “we” need to promote, promote, promote the Pro-Democracy Movement.
Jim Keeton
Tubac
Serious people
Logan Roy, the patriarch in HBO’s Succession, gave a terse, withering assessment when explaining his reluctance to name a successor. “You are not serious people.”
The same can be said about the three state representatives for LD17. They literally dress up as gun-toting molls and figuratively wear tri-cornered, aluminum foil hats, thinking they are the second coming of Patrick Henry. They refuse to take calls from constituents who didn’t vote for them. We don’t need politicians with closed minds and gaping mouths.
Candidates Jane Fry and Kevin Volk are serious people who want to represent ALL the people of LD17. They are willing to work across the aisle to get results. They are the REAL freedom team, not the posers who are bankrupting Arizona. The critical freedoms are safe water, reproductive choice and stellar public education, not election denials and conspiracy theories.
Voting for Jane Fry and Kevin Volk means voting for public service over photo ops.
Jim Lombardo
Oro Valley
The second coming
C’mon man ... stop criticizing the MAGAs!
They have good reason to sit on the fence watching immigrants flood through the gaping hole. If they do anything that might help to solve the problem, then the DT serviles have handed a win to Joe Biden. Can’t have that from the supporting cast!
Besides, if things improve at the border, then there is no longer a route for the second coming of the Beloved Messiah ... he doesn’t have a prayer!
David Hatch
Southeast side
Hypocrisy writ large
The Republican majorities in our Legislature are intent on wasting their time proposing and passing bills absolutely certain to be vetoed by Governor Hobbs. Prominent among them are bills dealing with matters of gender and sex, which a sane and serious legislature would recognize as none of its business. Among the most experienced of the Senate majority is Sen. John Kavanagh. Knowing his SB1166 and SB1182 are certain to be vetoed, he has crafted Senate Concurrent Resolution 1013, which would put an initiative on the ballot to let the voters decide much of what is contained in his bills. But wait just a minute: Haven’t Kavanagh and Republican majorities worked overtime for years to limit, if not destroy, the right of the citizens to enact law through the initiative process enshrined in Arizona’s Constitution? And isn’t this a beautiful example of hypocrisy writ very large?
Frank Bergen
North side
You might be a Marxist if ...
Re: the Feb. 8 article “’Marxist’ ideology sua ble, AZ Senate panel says.”
The article brought to mind the old Redneck jokes, “You might be a Redneck if ...”. According to Peoria’s Sen. Anthony Kern and his Republican cronies on the Government Committee, you might be (are) a Marxist if you:
See merit in reducing/monitoring traffic for safety reasons
Think limiting greenhouse gases and lowering global temperatures is a good idea
Embrace healthy eating choices
Agree with recycling and reusing wastewater
I’m sure favoring mail-in voting and supporting voter rights makes you a Marxist, also. According to Sen. Kern and his fellow Republicans, to hold such ideas means you’re part of a movement to “bring in Marxism”, that you’re “anti-God, pro-Marxism”, you’re “anti-freedom and anti-Constitution”. Kern’s bill SB1195 would allow any AZ citizen to sue any public entity for using tax dollars towards a vague and endless list of Republican-determined “Marxist ideologies.” Wokeism has quickly evolved to Marxism.
“You might be an idiot if ...” you keep voting Republican.
Deb Klumpp
Oro Valley
Unfit presidential candidate
The ignorance of foreign affairs and the hypocrisy of Mr. Trump are clearly shown by his latest statement. He would not protect NATO countries who are behind on their financial support for NATO. Not only would he not protect them, but would encourage Russia to do whatever they wanted when attacking them. He concluded, “you gotta pay your bills”. This from the man whose campaign owes at least 14 cities 1.82 million dollars for campaign events. Spokane, Washington; Tucson; Eau Claire and Green Bay, Wisconsin; and Burlington, Vermont; are owed money from 2016. El Paso and Minneapolis are owed money from 2019. The others are Mesa, Billings, Montana; Albuquerque; Battle Creek, Michigan; Lebanon, Ohio; Erie, Pennsylvania; and Wildwood, New Jersey. Just two reasons why this man is unfit to be president. Data on debt is from the CPI, Center for Public Integrity as reported in Newsweek.
Don Ries
Southeast side
Where is justice?
There are a lot of people who believe that Donald Trump is the primary culprit in our political realm. But this is not so, the Donald has used his positional authority to rouse up a lot of discontented (mainly Republicans I believe) who want an authoritarian government to address the issues that are near and dear to them, irregardless of what the majority wants.
But what is really happening is that we have an insurrectionist running for president and the courts are dragging their feet, and delaying justice. These repeated delays in meting out justice have emboldened the Donald supporters to the point where another insurrection is more than likely. All of this happens because justice delayed is justice denied. And justice denied is wreaking havoc in our democracy.
Vincent Allen
Northwest side
Imagine
Re: the Feb. 11 letter “Mankind is mankind’s demise.”
If no religion tells you to kill other religions, why are so many religions the cause of so many deaths? The crusades and the Salem witch hunt, to name a few. Oh, let’s not forget the current slaughter in the Middle East. The Jewish state of Israel, probably the strongest military in a small country, is taking a criminal event as an excuse to wipe out the Islamic population of a strip of land it wants. Religious war. Wars are perpetrated by countries (Russia) and religions (Jewish). Sometime try listening to the actual words of John Lennon’s “Imagine”. Beautiful music and lyrics from a genius who was cut down by violence. He proposes a beautiful world we probably will never attain, because of, yes, humans. Yet every time I hear it, I have hope.
Thad Appelman
Northwest side
What are the REAL threats to democracy?
The latest catchphrase this election cycle is used to describe former President Trump as being a threat to democracy.
His notoriety notwithstanding, let’s take a look and see what has happened since he left office.
Weaponizing the IRS
Weaponizing the DOJ and FBI
Open borders
Giving non-citizens voting rights
These are just to name a few.
Trump had nothing to do with any of these. Seems to me the threats to Democracy aren’t limited to just Trump. There’s plenty of evidence to suggest the same Democrats who accuse Trump of his misdeeds have also themselves been guilty of threatening Democracy as well.
The 2024 Presidential Election will go down in history as the most divisive election ever.
Tom Peña
Northwest side
What wars did Trump get us into?
I am sick of the Democrat news media and Star Democrat writer attacks calling Trump a dictator, comparing him to Hitler, and saying he would get us into WWIII.
Trump was the president for four years. How many wars did he get us into? He pressured NATO countries to pay their pledged GDP amounts toward their national defense and was tired of their 70 years of using America to protect their behinds from the Soviet Union, now Russia, while they spent lavishly on social welfare programs. That strategy worked, and NATO’s defense spending soared. Putin invaded Ukraine under Biden, not Trump. That was the second time under Biden! NATO countries love Biden because he could care less about their GDP spending obligations, just his extremist climate change agenda. Biden’s appeasing/accommodating of Iran facilitated the current Middle East crisis. Biden, not Trump, is the dictator, not through rhetoric, but through his many authoritarian actions, i.e., expansive use of the EPA and DOE imposing punitive regulations on American industries.
Alan Jeffords
North side
Republican presidential candidate and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks Monday following a campaign event at a Harley-Davidson dealership in Elgin, S.C.
Come together — unity ticket
We are in polarizing times. In the name of patriotism and unity, I propose that Joe Biden replace Kamala Harris with Nikki Haley on the 2024 ticket. This could unite the country and put a stake in the heart of MAGA’s corrosive politics, and foster a renewed era of cooperation.
Kamala has been a loyal VP. She deserves better, maybe becoming an excellent Attorney General.
Nikki would face the wrath of the MAGA fringe but could give moderate Republicans a reason to vote for Biden while being a heartbeat away from becoming the first female POTUS.
The Democratic Party would balk at this. It’s been done before in times of polarization. Republican Abraham Lincoln ran with Democrat Andrew Johnson in the 1864 Presidential election during our most turbulent time.
Presidents James Madison, Franklin Roosevelt and Teddy Roosevelt served two (or more) terms with a different VP. Pretty good company for Biden to emulate.
Unity over politics. Let’s get together!
Ed Doklan
Midtown
A new space race?
Republicans attached conditions preventing ‘green’ initiatives to the ADOT renewal bill, referring to them as part of an ‘insane social agenda.’
The GOP is the only major conservative party in the democratic world with a climate-denialist agenda. The others recognize that humanity-driven climate change exists and the renewables industry is an economic engine for growing their economies.
China installed more than 500 million solar panels last year — more than the total installed capacity in the US. China’s rollout of renewable energy is accelerating; their emissions are predicted to peak and begin declining years earlier than expected, possibly this year. (WSJ)
Those who feel that reducing US emissions is useless because of China’s emissions might want to adjust their assumptions.
AZ legislators who wish to discourage plans to reduce emissions in Arizona might reconsider their policy, since renewables are a growing share of our economy.
Remember the space race in the 1960s? Do we want to sit out the current world competition for dominance in this technology?
Barbara Hall
Midtown
Hamas vs. Israel vs. Egypt
When Hamas committed the unthinkable atrocities of Oct. 7, it was the last straw for Israel; Hamas must be militarily and politically neutralized and Gaza must have a new Palestinian government. In these five months, the Israeli offensive that began in Gaza City has pushed Hamas southward through Khan Younis to Rafah at the Egyptian border, destroying all tunnels and military infrastructure while costing significant combatant and civilian casualties. Many Gazans seeking refuge from the fighting now find their backs to the fence at the Egyptian border.
There are three ways to minimize the coming carnage.
1. Israel could respect international calls for pauses, cease-fires, and increment hostage release, but they won’t. Don’t underestimate their resolve to remove Hamas.
2. Hamas could surrender, but they won’t. This is their last stand, their Waterloo.
3. Egypt could open the Gaza border to receive non-combatants and provide humanitarian aid to their Arab-speaking Moslem brethren, but they won’t.
The last one is inexplicable to me.
Jeffrey McConnell
West side
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