Republican presidential candidates, from left, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and former Vice President Mike Pence, stand together during a Republican presidential primary debate hosted by FOX Business Network and Univision, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Can you imagine
Ron DeSantis stated that he is not running for vice president, which means he is. It is easy to recognize as he is always defending Trump. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School yet obviously does not know the constitution. He cannot be Trump’s VP. This is why. Article II Section 1 Paragraph 3 of the constitution reads: “The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves.” Oh great. Can you imagine a Trump-DeSantis ticket.
Jon Langione
Marana
What if
I got to thinking when I heard the governor of Texas will appeal the court decision to remove his barriers from the Rio Grande. What if these political heads just did their job in their lane? Maybe better supervision of your Secretary of State now facing impeachment? Hey, Arizonians, how many millions are we paying for Governor Ducey’s container walls — millions? Step back and think what those dollars could do in community initiatives — mitigation of climate change, housing for homeless, etc. When you vote think about whether or not this person is truly interested in governing or simply making political noise!
Norman Patten
Midtown
470,000 Venezuelans to stay and work
The Biden administration has announced that it will give 470,000 Venezuelans, who entered the country illegally, with deportation protection and work authorization. Venezuela will be “re-designated” as Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Four hundred seventy thousand people is almost the population of Tucson. The administration continues to move up the date of eligibility as to when they entered the country. I think this move will only provide more incentive for Venezuelans to come here. I believe that under the Biden administration, millions of migrants, single adults, family units and unaccompanied juveniles, have already been allowed entry into America. All allowed entry under TPS and by making dubious asylum claims. I firmly believe that Biden’s premeditated devious plan from day one has been to allow millions of people of color, mostly undereducated and low skilled, into the country, and at some point in the future provide them with citizenship under Immigration Reform legislation. They will be quickly registered as Democrats and forever cement the Democratic party’s power and control of the country.
Marty Jacobs
Green Valley
Invading Mexico
Several Republicans have floated the idea of invading Mexico to take down the cartels. This is a seriously crazy idea. Invading a sovereign nation isn’t the answer. The problem is Americans insatiable appetite for drugs. The war on drugs has gone on for over 50 years and we still have tens of thousands of deaths due to overdoses. Would we be okay with Mexico coming to the U.S. to stop the usage of drugs? It’s time to look at this as a health issue. What we’ve done for over a half a century has been an unmitigated failure.
Craig Miller
Northwest side
Amazon delivers
Re: the Sept. 30 article “Americans trust Amazon more than government.”
Well, duh. Could it be because, unlike the government, Amazon delivers speedily and accurately, and the product can be quickly and easily returned for any reason? As a matter of fact, an Amazon order I placed yesterday just arrived on my front porch as I write this.
Jeff Aronson
Northeast side
A lesson in civility
It’s good to see that Trump is setting new standards for behavior at trials. Apparently it’s now OK to glower at the prosecutor, insult the judge, tell reporters between sessions how crazy the lawyers on the other side are, and write threatening posts on X (also known as Musk’s toy). I assume Republicans are going to encourage other indicted individuals to behave in a similar fashion to honor their beloved leader, whose classiness is unmatched, and whose defense of “I never did anything wrong” is a masterpiece of logic and brilliance. Of course, this can be a dangerous game — maybe the Donald needs a lesson in civility … it seems that contempt of court is what he’s angling for. No gold toilets at Rikers Island I’m afraid.
Norman Epstein
Midtown
How to make math more appealing
Re: the Oct. 3 article “Poor math skills put US at risk, many are saying.”
Early in my career as a high school English teacher, a parent at a Parents’ Night event asked me, “Why are you teaching ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?’” I stammered around with, “It’s a classic; it’s in the curriculum.” I honestly didn’t have a better answer and actually felt a bit offended that the parent would ask. But after that experience I made sure that I knew exactly why I had chosen to teach a certain text or skill and, in fact, invited my students to ask me. As one of the many who did poorly in math classes, I think I could have fared better if the teacher had emphasized exactly why I needed to know what was being taught. And this explanation is most important in the required introductory courses, where the turn-offs typically originate.
Denice Blake
Midtown
Biden: Bumbler- in-Chief
Re: the Oct. 3 letter “Biden: clear, concise and articulate.”
A member of your volunteer Editorial Advisory Board stated Joe Biden to be “clear, concise and articulate”. What? I’ve been listening to this stumbling buffoon for years and his plethora of faux pas have nothing to do with his being a stutterer as she suggested. Don’t think stuttering caused him to shake hands with nobody on stage, calling Harris the First Lady, confusing the Ukrainian people with the Iranian people, calling out for Jackie Walorski (she wasn’t present since she was dead) and so many others too numerous to mention. And as for his spinal stenosis causing his constant falling, should someone like that even think of riding (or almost riding) a bicycle?
She also mentions his humility. Was her whole article written tongue in cheek?
Richard Good
Foothills
Ousting of McCarthy as speaker
What were Democrats thinking? Did they not realize that by voting to dump the speaker of the House they helped strengthen the hands of the radical right wing extremists? Maybe they thought that keeping Republicans in disarray would be a good thing, but this will only make all of Congress more dysfunctional. The worst of this is we now quite possibly may see a Jim Jordan as the next speaker. We’ve seen enough in Arizona — what a nightmare this type of opportunist can bring.
Ygnacio Coppola
Midtown
The Party of Chaos
I am outraged that the U.S. Congress is taking a week off after one of the most momentous and disgraceful moments in U.S. history. The Speaker of the House was ousted for the first time and what do the Republicans do? They take a week off. What are they doing? Celebrating the chaos they created?
Leaving work for a week (paid, by the way) exposes their modus operandi: anger, chaos, and humiliation. Meanwhile, the next government shutdown gets a week closer, Ukraine funding is running out, and no one is doing a thing for a week about anything. Does that sound normal?
The chaos and outrage will continue as long as far right-wing Republicans control the levers of the former Grand Old Party.
Vote, volunteer, donate, and donate again for Democrats and for all our sakes, don’t vote for the chaos-spreading, anti-democracy GOP.
Peter Bakke
SaddleBrooke
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