Tucson Speaks Out: May 12 letters of the day

For or against?

Of all the pertinent issues riding on the upcoming election (economy, immigration, climate, voting integrity, veterans affairs, education), one issue differs from the rest. Consider this as you cast your vote: Either you vote for women/women’s rights, or you vote against women/women’s rights. The choice is yours.

Ashley Sweeney

Oro Valley

Civility vs. chaos

As election time draws near, and our choice appears to be between Biden and Trump, I find myself reflecting on the past, namely, the events of Jan. 6, 2021.

Being glued to the TV set for most of the day, I witnessed the most horrific events of my 80-plus years of citizenship. A mob of hooligans was storming my Capitol. They were climbing the building, breaking windows, forcing their way inside, and desecrating the symbol of our liberty, all the while being encouraged by our very own President Trump. How could this be happening? How can this leader of our country be urging a mob of insurrectionists to destroy the very basis of our freedom?

I was gripped with fear, not knowing where this was to lead. Eventually, the mob was called off, and order was restored. But the damage had been done. Death and destruction were the hallmarks of Trump’s administration.

We cannot have it again. We must not have it again.

Fred Abood

Green Valley

Voting against your own interests

It’s stunning how retirees and veterans can consider supporting Trump when he does not support them. Democrats don’t need to make up negative stuff. Trump openly admits his plans for health care, Social Security, and Medicare, and a long list of our rights under the Constitution. Here in SaddleBrooke, there is a segment of the population that would vote for a Javalina as long as it runs as a Republican because “the Democrats are going to raise my taxes.” They seem to ignore that Trump and the Republicans are going to end their democracy. The voting public needs to pay attention and stop voting against their own interests. If 50 years of reproductive freedom ended with the overturn of Roe, imagine what other rights will end.

Mary Zimmerman

SaddleBrooke

Hard to believe

It has been several years since the “Access Hollywood” tapes were made public. That release created a frenzy of Republican replies. At least 16 people, including senators, who spoke out were stunned, shocked, horrified, repulsed and disgusted with Trump’s comments. But in short order, the policy of deny, deny, deny convinced most, if not all, to develop amnesia. And they did, all the while silently hoping their orange-haired god would win the 2016 election and they could remain in power. Today, not much has changed. The deniers still deny, lie, spin and pray once again their leader will win the upcoming election. It matters not that the presumed Republican presidential candidate has been found guilty of a sexual crime. What are these “courageous” Republicans telling their daughters and granddaughters now? How can they still be supporting Trump? Where is their outrage at his conviction of rape? Those of us that are still stunned, shocked and repulsed by Trump have not developed amnesia. Again, we will remember in November!

Sally Mayersohn

Northwest side

Faculty Senate Chair should resign

Faculty Senate Chair Leila Hudson refused to issue a resolution against anti-Semitism on campus. Her pro-Palestinian bias clearly clouds her thinking on what should be a separate issue. Antisemitism is not related to any campus demonstrations and is an entirely different issue. As a leader who cannot make this distinction, she should step down from her leadership position.

Eleanor Jeck

Foothills

How about a little autocracy

Re: the May 6 article “How about a little autocracy?” and the May 8 letters “Representative government” and “A ‘Little’ autocracy indeed!”

I wrote the op-ed piece about a “Little Autocracy” published by the Star on May 6. The responses on May 8 were “perfect”. I agree with both of them. If you interpreted my piece literally, you should be frightened by the prospect of autocracy. If you didn’t take the piece literally, you should be frightened as well. I tried to write the piece with some truth and some sarcasm. I believe that it is as clear as it is true that the Founders did not create a pure democracy but created the foundation for representative democracy. What we would do with the foundation for it would be our choice. The rest of the piece is written “tongue-in-cheek” sarcastically. We should all be frightened by the prospect of autocracy. My opinion is this: If you cultivate a garden, you will get some weeds. But, if you cultivate the weeds, you will never get a garden.

Gerald Farrington

SaddleBrooke

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Biden responsible for COVID deaths?

Re: the May 9 letter “Biden mishandled COVID, not Trump.”

I don’t know whether to cry or laugh over the recent letter claiming that because more people died of COVID during Biden’s first year in office than died during Trump’s last year in office means Biden mishandled the pandemic. I think I’ll cry for those who lost their lives to COVID under both presidents, but laugh at the letter. When Biden became President, COVID was still a raging wildfire, and the anti-vax movement was in high gear. I think that most of those who died in Biden’s first year did so because they unintentionally signed their own “death warrants” through their decisions not to take any of the COVID vaccines. How that morphs into Biden mishandling the pandemic is something I think is sustainable only in the fantasy world of highly political partisans rather than by the realities of why what happened.

Michael Price

Midtown

Rubber bullets still lethal

Re: the May 9 article “UA’s Gaza encampment a sign of hope.”

No matter what side you may fall on with regards to the Israeli vs. Palestinian conflict, the use of rubber bullets against UA protesters should raise public concern for all Tucson citizens. Someone could get killed.

Plastic and rubber bullets are lethal weapons. They can cause blindness, brain damage, or death. Amnesty International and the ACLU condemn their use, stating they are “not an appropriate weapon for crowd management.” The Physicians for Human Rights declared that at close range, they “become similar to those of live ammunition.”

Their use by the Tucson Police Department and other law enforcement authorities must be stopped by the Mayor and Council, as they should also cease all coordination between local law enforcement and the Israeli Defense Forces. There should be no place in Tucson for the use of lethal force against anyone for exercising their First Amendment rights.

Scott D. Egan

Barrio Hollywood

Fox Theatre ripoff

I recently bought two tickets to see the band Guess Who at the Fox Theatre in November. Price was $49.50 per ticket plus $14.86 in fees for a total of $113.86. A week later, I got an email stating the concert was canceled. Fox will refund me the price of the tickets but not the $14.86 for their fees. Why do I have to pay these fees? Shouldn’t the promoter have to pay them? I didn’t cancel my tickets; they did. I understand Fox has to pay someone to do all the refunds but it shouldn’t be the customer who did nothing wrong. I love the Fox Theatre, but this is just wrong!

Thomas Sommerville

Marana

Create your own reality

Re: the May 9 letter “Biden mishandled COVID, not Trump.”

This letter put forth an alternate reality. Trump may have green-lighted vaccines, but did nothing to promote them — just the opposite. He made false claims about COVID — “it’s a hoax”, “kids don’t get it”, “it will disappear”. He admitted he purposely downplayed the deadly virus. He politicized it, promoted quack cures (who can forget the unbelievable, embarrassing performance suggesting we might ingest cleaning chemicals, as Dr. Birx stared at the floor). He wouldn’t push masking or social distancing. He and his minions denigrated health experts and healthcare workers. Recall how Dr. Fauci was vilified when he became very popular — Trump’s ego couldn’t take it. MAGA followers bought Trump’s misinformation, and embraced politicization of COVID, spurring massive spread and many deaths, which took until Biden’s term to peak. Biden begged all to get vaccinated, mask and social distance, but for many in MAGA world, defiance trumped science and common sense, so COVID numbers, of course, rose under Biden. That is reality!

Deb Klumpp

Oro Valley

Response to “response to Trump damage”

Re: the May 9 letter “Trump damage.”

This letter ended by asking, “how much more damage can Trump do, comparing him to others. I guess he wasn’t watching the Jan. 6 four hours of live coverage where Trump allowed rampage on our Congress. His dereliction of duty to protect our government is the worst I’ve seen in my 74 years and that my father saw in his 98 years.

And he must have been asleep when Fauci was trying to keep Americans alive while Trump ignored vaccine advice and continued partying, spreading the virus. I sure didn’t see Fauci as merely trying to get “media” attention as I Iaid paralyzed in the hospital for 17 days on a ventilator. Trump knew the virus was coming for months but didn’t want to upset us!

The only thing worse I can imagine is Trump’s buddy, Putin, deciding to drop a bomb on us when he’s done with Ukraine. Remember, Trump believes Putin over our own intelligence agencies.

Connie Amspaugh

Southeast side