Tucson Speaks Out: June 8

Is this who we really are?

Let’s stop kidding ourselves pretending that Trump is taking us back to our “golden age.”

In fact, he is taking us back to the 1830s and 1840s when the Locofocos and Know-nothings ran rampant. It was a time when German and Irish immigrants were persecuted for being foreigners and Catholic. And what’s happening is not all Trump’s fault: We have had a do-nothing Congress for decades. There is no immigration system. Even the quota system was better than nothing. Whatever our political opinions, it is undeniable that we need a real immigration system and not one that admits only those who are acceptable to Trump. We need to pressure Congress and hold our representatives accountable. The indiscriminate deportation we witness daily is a shameful reflection on our country — or is it a mirror of who we really are?

Barbara Benjamin

Foothills

Bill’s threat to legal system

Trump’s ‘Big Barbarous Bill’ is a small addition to the cruelty this administration and its selfish, inhumane MAGATES propagate.

There is more innocuous writing deep in the bill that would completely emasculate the Supreme Court, where the criminals hoped it would be overlooked by us. Totally unconstitutional. It is a trillion-dollar barrier to challenging his policies in any court, including SCOTUS.

It prevents courts from charging Trump and other government officials with contempt of court when he disobeys court orders. This means they lose their ability to enforce orders blocking unlawful Trump policies, as they have done 190 times. “We don’t need your stinking laws.” The bill also prevents court-ordered and national injunctions from acting to oppose harm. If passed, judges will no longer be able to find government officials in contempt.

If they disobey, they will be fined, sanctioned or imprisoned.

Litigants would have to post a bond equal to lost grant income (sometimes in the trillions?) to pursue a legitimate issue.

Sheldon Metz

Northeast side

Human development confusion

Quotes from a CFSD high school health teacher in class in 2025:

“There’s a few ways you can transition when it comes to your sexuality. All right, so, first just letting people know [a minor announcing he or she is “transgender”]. What would be the next step? Taking more of a feminine name. Starting to dress female rather than male. OK, excellent!”

“What would be the next progression, then? Starting alterations physically ... starting out with hormones, and then, eventually, probably having surgery, right?”

“The government is saying that children cannot transition. Could your parents make the exception before 18? How do you think most parents are going to feel? Yeah, they’re probably going to resist it. So that becomes definitely a challenge.”

“You know, most parents aren’t understanding, aren’t accepting or whatever.”

Governing board questions:

1. Do the assertions quoted above align with CFSD’s “non-discrimination” policy?

2. Do those same assertions align with the CFSD health curriculum?

3. Which governing board members agree with those assertions?

Bart Pemberton

Northwest side

ASPCA manipulation

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Saw a commercial this morning from ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and they showed images of mistreated dogs with comments about how hot it is outside and how dry the water bowls are and have been for a while. It then occurred to me that this commercial was an attempt by the ASPCA to manipulate my emotions, and I was disgusted that a supposedly honorable organization would stoop to misrepresentations to try and get me to donate money.

Here’s the problem: Treatment of animals like this is illegal, so if animals are found that have been mistreated, they can be confiscated. However, the commercial is showing images and pretending that these dogs are still in this captivity and ASPCA needs my money to set them free. The entire commercial is a lie, hoping I will send them money. While these images may have been true once, but not anymore. Should I send money to support a cause that misrepresents the facts for my money?

Loran Hancock

Northwest side

Threatened for opinions

I am receiving threats for publishing opinions in the Arizona Daily Star about King Trump’s America. Intimidation takes the form of anonymous phone calls, unsigned letters and emails. These communications are violent, malicious and involve the promise of physical force intended to harm me and my property. The warnings come from people protecting their “Supreme Ruler,” angry at interference with their takedown of America.

My journalistic career began in my early 20s, after serving in the Navy and while completing degrees in journalism and broadcasting. A drug lord in Gary, Indiana, threatened to shoot me and blow up the radio station where I broadcast. I was driven off the road and assaulted while serving as a police commissioner. On Capitol Hill, my congressman and I were consistently advised on where to go by hostile constituents.

Fear is emotional. It appears my opposition has prompted a survival response. My objective remains to advance democracy by initiating dialogue while listening to the opposition with respect and consideration. I will not bow.

Jerry Wilkerson

SaddleBrooke

Tucson leadership

Re: the recent complaint about Tucson leadership: I also fondly remember the small town I moved to some 50 years ago. Of the writer’s complaint about “Democratic leadership,” road repairs, police funding, and teacher’s salaries are a function of how much money our Republican Legislature allocates. Free buses reduce the traffic on our downtown streets. I have not seen any stats on how that translates to “crime being transported throughout the city.” Somehow, the image of a burglar waiting to catch a bus to escape a crime scene seems ludicrous. The homeless are in every town and city. That is a national problem, not only a “Tucson leadership” problem.

Morton Smith

Foothills

License, but not artistic

I am dismayed about a recent episode of the Apple TV+ series “Your Friends & Neighbors,” in which characters break into a Catholic church and tabernacle, remove consecrated hosts and desecrate and treat them as a snack, mockingly mimicking Holy Communion and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This scene is deeply offensive to Catholics who revere the Eucharist as the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ.

Such portrayals are not mere artistic expression but a direct attack on the beliefs of over a billion Catholics worldwide. The Eucharist is not a prop or a symbol to be trivialized; it is central to our faith. This sacrilegious depiction shows a lack of respect that would likely not be tolerated if directed at other faiths’ sacred practices.

I urge Apple to issue a public apology. Additionally, I call on media outlets to foster greater sensitivity toward all religious beliefs and avoid normalizing such disrespectful portrayals. Catholics and all people of faith deserve respect, not mockery, in popular media.

Wade Thompson

Midtown

Fear-mongering isn’t journalism

As a retired Arizona teacher, I’ve noticed a steady decline in critical thinking skills, while trust in news outlets has eroded nationwide.

I want to confront the rising tide of fear-based clickbait masquerading as news. Sensationalism has replaced journalism — not to inform, but to provoke emotional, knee-jerk reactions. This corrodes democracy by dividing us with fear.

We can’t function as an informed electorate if every headline is designed to trigger anxiety without providing essential context. I urge readers to notice emotionally loaded terms like “outrage,” “devastating,” or “under siege” — words that create panic but rarely offer real solutions.

In 1933, FDR warned, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Today, fear is a marketing strategy.

To honor his wisdom, we must embed critical thinking and media literacy into education — just as fear has embedded itself into our news.

Mary Patton

Midtown