Tucson Speaks Out: July 26 letters of the day

Teaching the Golden Rule

Re: the June 26 letter “Commandments and beatitudes.”

This letter offered a good idea. I would like to add another. How about the “Golden Rule” in classrooms? Teaching children the basic “treat others the way you would want to be treated” covers the whole gamut of don’t kill, don’t steal, etc. The added benefit is that it would touch all children in our schools no matter what faith tradition they are coming from.

When I taught World Religions classes to Catholics, I discovered that every religion’s moral code has a “Golden Rule” that sounds much like the Christians. Examples: “Do not offend others as you would not wish to be offended” (Buddhism); “Not one of you will be a true believer who does not wish for his brother the same that he wishes for himself” (Islam) ... etc. Imagine a classroom poster with these universal “Golden Rule” quotes from many religions. What unity and respect that could create!

Sister Karen Berry, OSF

Midtown

TPD working for our community

I generally don’t write about the police departments, even though I sat through hundreds of hearings involving cases filed by TPD police officers in my 26 years on the bench at Tucson City Court, but I have to say I am truly relieved to live and work in Tucson. After an exhaustive investigation, by the US Justice Department, a report finding a “systematic pattern and practice of misconduct” by Phoenix City PD, toward homeless people, protesters and generally citizens of different, racial and ethnic background, was damning.

Contrast that to Tucson Police Department, which under different police chiefs, has continued to create an agency of integrity and dignity in their professionalism: in recruitment, training and continued training. Recently Asst. Chief Kevin Hall was admitted to a evidence-based policing national institute. A rare and worthy group.

Are there areas of concern? Absolutely. Every officer involved shooting must be investigated and evaluated.

But we as Tucsonans should be very proud to have Tucson Police Department working for our community.

Margarita Bernal

West side

Defining the Republican Party

Re: the June 26 article “Giving Republicanism a bad name.”

Kimball Shinkoskey did a good job of defining the Republican party, but perhaps space limitations prohibited more.

Ronald Reagan started the war on unions, and the middle class in general, by firing the air traffic controllers, and he removed Jimmy Carter’s solar collectors out of spite and ignorance.

Our own Sandra Day O’Connor helped give us George W. Bush instead of letting the wheels of democracy work. He gave us one unwinnable war and an unnecessary war and layered huge tax cuts on top.

It took Barack Obama eight years to dig us out of W’s caused Great Recession, and hand Trump a flourishing economy — which he squandered by the end of his term.

The pattern Republicans have set is one of giveaways to the wealthy via tax cuts and deficits to cover basic government operations. Democrats run deficits too, but they direct the money to projects and people that build the economy and social services.

Ted Morrison

Midtown

Bring back trains

With the current airline mess, we need to look to Europe, Japan and China to see what can be done with high-speed trains up to 222 mph but more often 124 mph.

First to be built would be those that are too far to drive and too short to fly. Then look into transcontinental routes with overnight trains between major cities and with compartments, dining cars etc. As long as we have extreme weather events the airlines are at a disadvantage.

It would be a program like the interstate highway system of the 1950s, justified as a military necessity, could guide us.

It would put a lot of people to work and reduced air pollution and reduce transportation costs

Donald Plummer

Northwest side

Democrats are not behaving like winners

The huge number of Democratic officials and pundits who called for Joe Biden to step aside does not bode well for the party now or in the future. The Democrats have found a way to shoot themselves in the foot and help the Republicans in the November elections.

Fran Gordon

Green Valley

Joe Biden

President Joe Biden announced he will not run for the Democratic nomination on July 21, but he still has the responsibility to serve the remaining six months of his four-year term. His family, his staff and most of the media have been hiding almost all of his accelerating physical and mental issues for several years. I won’t be surprised if he is forced to resign the Presidency sometime during the next six months.

Douglas R. Holm

East side

Character vote results

The results are in from the recent character vote taken in the U.S.:

Joe Biden 333.3 million

Donald Trump 0

Stephanie Cady

SaddleBrooke

Who’s incompetent?

Where are the Republicans with the courage to question the abilities of their presidential candidate?

Teresa Davis

Midtown

Unfair coverage

Biden did the right thing for the country by stepping down. Would Trump ever put anything before him? I do feel the media unfairly picked on his misstatements, some are due to his history of a stutter, but gave Trump a pass on statements that are insane. Airports in Revolutionary War, obsessions with electric vehicles, sharks, Hannibal Lecter, who he doesn’t seem to know is fictional, didn’t know what state he was in. The 30 thousand lies in office, this shows a significant degree of of dementia, not fit for office due to mental status and morally unfit.

Craig Miller

Northwest side

Men in Black

I was raised Catholic and stopped attending church decades ago. I grew weary of being preached to about right and wrong by morally compromised men in black robes. The abuse of children was not a few isolated incidents, but a systematic global activity ruining the lives of many thousands.

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A relative recently married a Catholic woman and was required to fill out a questionnaire with several queries about his sex life. This was a requirement for the privilege of being married in the church. He was not allowed to ask the priest about his sex life.

Today, the Supreme Court, with six Catholic justices, are imposing their brand of morality on U.S. citizens. Like the priests, these men in black robes (along with Amy Coney Stepford) believe their activities are above reproach and refuse to be held accountable for their stunning conflicts of interest. While I’m certain any attempts to impose ethical standards will be ruled unconstitutional by the justices, we must at least try.

Jim Lombardo

Oro Valley

Demeaning and disrespecting women

Re: the July 23 letter “Be careful what you wish for.”

The writer is parroting the new talking points line of the GOP, “DEI hire” in reference to Kamala Harris. She is a lawyer, a former prosecutor, attorney general, senator, and VP. What were Trump’s “qualifications” before running for President?

Is the term “DEI hire” now going to be used to refer to any woman or person of color holding office? How should we refer to white men, since they have been handed positions of power without question for centuries? Were they all deserving? Once again, Republicans show their disrespect for women and minorities.

Mary Jordison

Northwest side

A time for wisdom

Most people have a filter when an untrue (stupid?) thought comes to mind. We all occasionally have them. However, mature people stop themselves. Exercise self-control. Remember what it means to be a responsible adult.

Apparently, today’s MAGA Conservatives (in government, industry, media, religion) have emptied themselves of this God-given check. They go ahead and display their stupidity. Out loud. Then, for days they repeat ad nauseum the untruths throughout their echo chamber of distortion.

This is not surprising, since their idolized leader does the same thing. Shaped by a lifetime of lying to himself and others with ease, and I dare say, even talent, they descend down the same vile rabbit hole.

MAGA’s responses to Biden’s decision not to seek a second term, and to Harris’s inspiring candidacy fall into such categories of untruth and insanity. Expect to hear more, Americans. Be wise.

Ron Rude

West side

In the year 2025

A great song from 1969 sung by Zager and Evans, titled “In the Year 2525” has the following lyrics: “In the year 2525, if man is still alive, if woman can survive, they may find.”

Project 2025: Donald Trump and the Republicans want to shorten the period by 500 years until there is irreparable dystopian rule. Project 2025 is a blueprint for Trump’s presidency spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation and dozens of Trump administration officials. It is essentially a wish list for his administration that plans to expand his executive authority, replace civil servants with ideologically aligned appointees, crush abortion rights, and impose an anti-immigrant agenda, among other policies.

We have been warned, voters. Vote responsibly this coming November.

Mike Villalobos

West side

Southern border

Recently there have been several letters to the editor concerning migrants coming across the southern border illegally. The letter writers insist that it is Congress, not the President, responsible for the mass of migrants crossing our Southern border.

Congress is responsible for making laws. It is the responsibility of the executive branch, led by the President to enforce laws.

U.S. Code title 18 section 1325 makes it a misdemeanor to enter the U.S. anywhere except for ports of entry. Section 1326 makes it a felony to illegally enter after being deported.

If our laws were ENFORCED there would be no southern border crisis.

Don’t put the blame for the border crisis on Congress. Look at who is (or isn’t ) enforcing the laws already on the books.

Thomas Wenzel

East side

Talk about voter suppression!

I was talking to a friend of mine about mail-in voting. She was complaining that she and her neighbors were not getting their voting materials in the mail. She went to the recorder’s office on Broadway and Kolb and they told her to go downtown to the main office. Long story short, after her search down the rabbit hole, she finally got a hold of the right person. According to the Pima County Recorder’s office, my friend was told that she signed paperwork that she “NO LONGER” wanted a mail-in ballot. What? She was livid! She had never signed anything of the sort! Her neighbors? Same thing! They had never signed any paperwork either! Talk about voter suppression! If you haven’t gotten your voting materials, you better check and see if someone signed papers on your behalf to stop your mail in ballots.

Linda Schaub

Southeast side

Shouldn’t it be MAGAA?

Having been born in this great country I have always felt fortunate. Growing up, my parents had jobs, I could safely play in the parks and I got a great public school education.

About nine years ago, a political candidate decided that the USA needed him to Make America Great Again. Silly me, I thought America was already Great. The American voters trusted this politician and elected him (though not with a majority vote) to be our President. And what did he do? Bloated our national debt, gave tax breaks to the wealthy and eliminated a woman’s right to health care.

America gave him four years and he failed and yet he’s still wearing a silly MAGA hat and asking us to be fooled again. Shouldn’t his hat say Make America Great Again (Again)? He fooled us once, shame on him. If he fools us again, shame on us.

Don’t be fooled by this charlatan again. He had his chance and he failed us all.

Ken Freed

East side

Who’s a DEI hire?

Editor,

U.S. Representative Tim Burchett attempted to put down Kamala Harris by stating that she was a “DEI hire.” This is an all-too-common way of suggesting that she lacks merit, that the only reason she is where she is today is because of her gender and skin color. Unfortunately, too many women and people of color have lived with such insults their entire lives.

The truth just might be that many women and people of color are where they are today despite their gender or color. I wonder if Tim Burchett has ever given any thought as to whether or not he would be representing the great state of Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives today had he been born with Black skin?

Dave Gallagher

Foothills

Copper World is a health threat

Re: the July 17 article “New anti-pollution measures are good.”

As per Dr. Eve Shapiro’s well-written article, air pollution can create permanent damage to young lungs and worsen life quality in elderly compromised populations. Hudbay is now asking for public comments on its Class 2 Air Quality Permit that was applied for on October 21, 2022. Unfortunately, this permit does not have to comply with the new air quality standards as described in the Clean Air Act of 2024 that she lauds in her opinion piece. Recent severe wind storms have shown how difficult it is to contain dust in the atmosphere. Dust from mines includes not just large and small particulate matter, but toxic metals like cadmium, lead, mercury, arsenic and copper. Of these, only lead is monitored by the EPA. We must demand that this mine comply to a Class 1 Air Permit to mitigate some of the impending damage to Pima County’s 1 million plus residents.

Elaine Wolter

SaddleBrooke