'Reasonable' in
eye of beholder
Re: the Jan. 2 article "Manchin, Cheney look presidential."
In this opinion piece, John Vornholt touts the West Virginia plutocrat Sen. Joe Manchin for president (as a Democrat). After all, he’s “the most reasonable Democrat in the country” isn’t he? Not only that, but he gets a lot of attention (by that standard Osama bin Laden would have been a good candidate in 2004. After all, he had a ton of name recognition).
I’m sure partisan Republicans consider Manchin as "reasonable” since he supports them on such crucial issues as tax breaks for the rich and opposing any bills to fight global warming.
Here’s a suggestion — I encourage Republican voters to write in Manchin as their candidate in the 2024 Republican primary and the general election. He’s just so doggone reasonable.
David Steinberg
Northwest side
Helpful donations
of unused drugs
Illinois has a new law which permits people to donate unopened and unused drugs to pharmacies to be passed along to the poor or uninsured. This will help a lot of people and makes sense.
Individuals and institutions will be allowed to donate medication to organizations that are legally allowed to possess medicine through a license or permit, such as pharmacies. Pharmacies will then be allowed to give the medication to patients in need, prioritizing those who don’t have health insurance, are underinsured, homeless or on public health insurance programs such as Medicaid. The medications are to be provided for free to those in need, though pharmacies may charge a “reasonable” handling fee, according to the law. Only medications that are unopened and unexpired, such as an inhaler or tube of skin cream, may be donated. Pills may be donated if they are individually packaged, such as when pills are in individual compartments covered with foil. Loose pills in typical amber-colored bottles won’t be accepted.
Donors must remove any information that would identify the original patient.
Dr. Pamela Farris
Northwest side
A dog-loving
voter's remorse
As I age, I sometimes think about the mistakes that I've made in my life. Recently, two of those came to the forefront — marrying my first husband and voting for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. With my poor choice of a marital partner, however, I at least got two wonderful dogs — a Great Dane and an Irish setter!
Ginny Williams
Oro Valley
Litter blemishes
city's gateways
I am a native Tucsonan. Three generations of my family have called this wonderful desert home. Lately, the amount of trash littering our roadways, especially the gateways used to welcome visitors into our city, is reprehensible and an embarrassment to us all. Over the next couple of months we will welcome thousands of visitors to Tucson. Our city, county and state need to clean up this mess now. Then it is up to all of us to keep Tucson beautiful.
Jeffrey Kane
Downtown
Dems' 'big lies'
on voting rights
Biden, Democrats, and their allies in the Democrat-dominated news media have repeatedly told "big lies" about voting rights in America. Biden appeared in Georgia, which passed voting reform legislation, and compared voting rights of today to the Jim Crow era. Baloney! Jim Crow was a systematic racist separationist system in America. Biden and Democrats distort and mischaracterize Georgia's voting laws. Georgia codifies drop boxes, expands weekend voting hours, allows election workers to provide water to those waiting in line and water dispensers, but not others due to protecting from candidate advocacy handing out free stuff. It allows disabled people to receive help filling out ballots, allows voters to request mail-in ballots 11 weeks before the election, and expands early in-person voting to 17 days. A December 2021 article by Data For Progress titled "Redistricting Going Surprisingly Well for Democrats" projected nationwide congressional seat gains for Democrats. Biden and Democrats need to stop the big lies!
Mary Ann Starman
Northwest side
Not all rules are
rights violations
Automobiles? Guns? Voting?
Nobody denies that Americans have rights or privileges to engage in each of these aspects of our daily life. But each have certain requirements in order to participate: meet basic qualifications, prove your identity, register, provide documentation, and follow the many state and local laws regulating those activities. And, as spelled out in the U.S. Constitution, regulating these and many other activities are powers reserved by the states — not the federal government.
Since I've never heard anyone, progressive or conservative, object or complain that regulation of guns and automobiles is a racist affront to basic human rights, why not take what we Americans have already accepted? Replicate the requirements to own a gun, operate a car and vote. Haven't we already solved this problem of individual states regulating these activities in a nonoffensive way? Want to make things simpler? How about a universal national ID?
Bud Snyder
SaddleBrooke
Sinema harbors
a futile fantasy
When Arizona hopefully elects a Democratic governor this year, I will urge Sen. Kyrsten Sinema to do the honorable thing and resign so that the new governor can appoint in her place an individual who supports the principles and policies of the Democratic Party. Sinema has demonstrated faulty logic and historical ignorance in blocking critical bills on infrastructure and the defense of voting rights that virtually every other Senate Democrat supports and which have the strong support of a majority of voters.
She should make way for a Democrat who actually supports the goals of her Democratic colleagues rather than pursue her forlorn fantasy that Sen. Mitch McConnell’s Senate Republicans will work on a bipartisan basis to enact critical bills. McConnell has only one goal: to do everything within his power to keep President Biden and Democrats from accomplishing anything.
John Covert
Northeast side
Trump inflamed
science doubters
Re: the Jan. 18 article "Americans used to respect public health — then came COVID-19."
This article requires context. Long before COVID came Donald Trump and the GOP. I believe most Americans respected public health, truth and honesty, science, moral decency and even (to some degree) politics until the last few years. When Trump won the presidency and injected his self-centered views into what used to be a principled GOP, and later those two entities into decent American society, a shift occurred. Trump and the GOP rejected public health and science. Long-established norms that defeated polio, tuberculosis and measles in the past were displaced by a president touting injecting disinfectants, taking unproven aids like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, rather than the vaccine that he helped fast-track. COVID-19 just became the litmus test that proved that the science of vaccinations, wearing a mask and responsible social distancing works. Berating science, public health and experts like Dr. Fauci — not so much.
Gary Simons
Oro Valley
