Who’s the worst president?
After chanting “lock her up” and then increasing the penalties for mishandling sensitive documents, who would have predicted that Donald Trump would hoist his own petard?
The signs were all there, though. The man doesn’t take counsel from anyone, including his lawyers. Advised to turn down the heat and cooperate with the investigation, he did the opposite. Assessing himself as a “stable genius,” I presume that he means that he has sufficient intellect to wield a shovel while working in a horse enclosure. Contrary interpretations don’t pass muster.
Historians may endlessly debate about who the best president is. Trump is making it easy for a consensus amongst them about the worst one.
Rick Cohn
West side
Per diem rip off
Re: the June 22 article “Arizona lawmakers criticized for taking payments during breaks.”
With a lousy $24,000 salary, it’s kind of hard to criticize the Arizona legislators for cheating on their per diem like naughty schoolboys. On the other hand, most of them are vacuous, bumbling idiots who have no business holding public office, much less getting paid for it.
When they decide to stop playing political games, approve the governor’s appointees, and act in the best interest of their constituents, maybe the governor can stop vetoing all the nonsense they keep passing on to her.
Maggy Zanger
Midtown
Racism triumphs in education
Conservatives are whooping it up over the SCOTUS decision abolishing Affirmative Action in college admissions. Finally (they say, straight-faced), whites get a break! And a level playing field! We’re a colorblind meritocracy again (as if we ever were)! Red states pretend that America’s racial history is all peace and love, but presumably the whoopsters attended school when teachers could mention slavery, segregation and lynching. Some maybe learned that colleges (corporations, federal programs, entire neighborhoods), barred nonwhites into the mid-20th Century. Harvard, the SCOTUS’s target, established in 1636, admitted its first Black undergraduate in 1847. Yale? 1701/1870. Princeton? 1746/WWII. James Meredith became the University of Mississippi’s first Black undergraduate in 1962, only after two rejections and federal intervention. How many brilliant minds withered on the uneven playing field before Affirmative Action? Then nonwhites got a 50-year break, and white folks crying racism just couldn’t stand it.
Elinor Brecher
Foothills
Adios affirmative action, hello legacy
Supreme Court decisions may occasionally be a bit muffled, but on this one, its silence is deafening. Affirmative Action is out. HOWEVER! Legacy enrollments remain. Legacies are children and general family members of graduates. Ditto for memorable monetary contributors. Now, since next to none of the exceptions apply because there are so few nonwhite graduates or benefactors that legacies are overwhelming white. Tah-dah!
Are we to believe SCOTUS did this by accident?
Susan VonKersburg
Foothills
Cost of saving millionaires
Re: the June 28 letter “Millions to save 5 rich people.”
Responding to the letter to the editor and all the other stories of spending millions of dollars to rescue obviously intelligent (and wealthy persons) who have chosen to take “the trip of a lifetime,” how about a simple solution? I’ve been driving for 55-plus years now, and every year I have been driving I’ve had to buy insurance so that no other party would have to pay for “my” accident. Why not require those taking their obviously risky trips “of a lifetime” to buy insurance which would cover the cost of rescue efforts (or any other liabilities)? It may be expensive, but those who take such trips could certainly afford the additional expense. The insurance companies would be happy to design such plans, and it wouldn’t be difficult to require the companies that put together such trips to add the cost of such policies to the cost of their trips.
Kenneth Cohn
Northwest side
Thanks, Brush & Bulky
A big shout out and thank you to all the dedicated workers of Tucson Environmental Services that provide Brush & Bulky pickup services to our local community. They keep our neighborhoods cleaner, more attractive and safer. They also work outdoors in very difficult weather conditions (hot or cold). A thankless job. To the City and Tucson leadership, these hard-working individuals are some of your finest employees and need to be recognized.
Also, a big thanks to all the waste and recycling drivers, landfill workers and support staff. They carry the load weekly and keep us all clean and fresh. Viva City of Tucson Environmental & General Services!
David Keating
Northeast side
What is fair?
Many people are vigorously opposed to student loan forgiveness because they see it as unfair. “I paid for my education, why should I subsidize people that took out loans?” is the common refrain.
Many of these same people support Arizona’s voucher program for paying private school tuition. Well, I paid to send both of my kids to private schools. Why should I subsidize parents that want to do that now?
Lee LaFrese
Northeast side
Vote no
Remember the winter storms of 1983 when there were horse barns tumbling down the swollen Rillito? A two-story office building east of First Avenue collapsed into the expanding river and had to be demolished. Monsoon rains frequently make Rudasill Road impassable because of deep water running across the road between First Ave. and Oracle Road. The golf course on the south side of Rudasill functions as a river delta, converting a river to acres of swamp. The course survives.
There are places where the Pima wash is as narrow as 60 feet. Centuries of flow have carved 15-foot high walls which channel the monsoon flows. Much of the sandy soil north of Rudasill has been developed, now presenting to storms countless square miles of nonabsorbent roofs and pavement. They deflect rain, sending it via smaller washes and storm sewers to the Pima wash.
Building 320 houses and apartments in a delta? Sounds perilous. Planning and Zoning, VOTE NO!
Clyde Robinson
Foothills
What Hobbs has and hasn’t done
Re: the July 2 article “Hobbs is not preparing for future catastrophic Arizona heat waves.”
I agree with the urgency that Mr. Allen expressed in his opinion piece. Governor Katie Hobbs is aware of this existential problem but is unable to focus the state legislature on the need to concentrate on the reality of Arizona’s actual problems as opposed to the unrealities and the imagined problems of our state. I feel for her because she has had to read over 100 silly bills presented by the legislature for her signature.
Hobbs has, however, moved on to protecting our groundwater by creating her Water Policy Council and appointing as chairman Mr. Buzschatke who has worked for 40 years on Arizona water issues. The Governor has also appointed legislators and tribal representatives to this Council, all of whom have deep concerns about our dire water situation. Hobbs also kept her promise to rescind foreign farms’ additional drilling permits so they could not profit from our groundwater.
The rest is up to the legislature and the local governing bodies.
Cindy Soffrin
Northeast side
Affirmative Action college admissions
The end of Affirmative Action in terms of race-based admissions does not mean the end of improving diversity on campus (a goal that is good for all students, regardless of race). The correlation of students from lower socio-economic environments and reduced access to quality K-12 education and, consequently, lower test scores is well documented. An admissions policy that allows for certain academic deficits of those students while evaluating potential success based on a holistic approach seems to me a fairer way to go. Something called the socioeconomic disadvantage scale, or S.E.D. is already being used at some highly selective colleges and grad schools. Results have shown a marked increase in admitted underrepresented students across the racial and socioeconomic spectrum. This is not an “end around” approach to affirmative action. It is a real attempt at equity, which is about making resources available (quality higher education) for everyone, not a handout or tipping the scale for a particular group of people.
Mark Hanna
Foothills
Opposing Wadsack and book bans
I am writing to express my deep concern about Senator Justine Wadsack’s bill to allow parents more power to ban books in schools. As a concerned citizen who values intellectual freedom, I believe this proposed legislation poses a significant threat to our democratic principles and the fundamental right to free expression.
As vice chair of the Education Committee, Senator Wadsack’s legislation undermines the principles of open inquiry and intellectual growth.
Censorship stifles creativity, limits the exchange of ideas, and impedes intellectual progress. Diversity of thought is essential for a healthy democracy. Book bans deny individuals the opportunity to engage with differing viewpoints and engage in informed discussions. The irony of banning books in the home of the Festival of Books is stunning.
I would encourage your readers to support the recall petition being circulated by residents of LD17 so we can get a more sensible person in that leadership position.
James Schultz
Northeast side
