The other guy
How about we all stop obsessing about President Biden’s performance in the debate and concentrate on the former guy. There are pages and pages of fact checking what Trump said, and all of it is bad. The most egregious lies for me are the ones about liberals approving abortion after birth (not a thing!) and the ones about immigrants being sent to this country out of mental institutions and prisons. This is a blatant lie, along with the mistruth that immigrants commit more crime than natural born citizens. In actuality, they commit less crime than others. They also contribute to Social Security for the rest of us rather than receiving benefits.
So many lies, so little time to set the record straight. Please do the fact checking and spread the truth to your friends, neighbors and relatives. There is still time to stop this most unfit man from taking our country to a place we never would have believed possible.
Kathleen Dubbs
West side
Abortion in AZ
Re: the June 28 article "The continued fight for our reproductive freedom."
Kirsten, you are accusing the wrong people for the Arizona abortion problem. Trump and Ciscomani had nothing to do with laws that were put in place by our legislators and governor. The Supreme Court sent the power to make those decisions to the states and that is what is happening. There is where you need to be focusing your attention. Vent about that.
I assume you support the Arizona Right to Abortion Initiative which allows killing a baby right up to before it is born? Why aren’t you talking about that? Probably because you don’t want the voters in the district you are running in to know that you agree with that part of the initiative. Talk about being extremist!
The Supreme Court has made the decision and that settles it. Trump and Ciscomani can’t change that decision. So stop your inflammatory rhetoric and go out tell your constituents how you agree with the extremist abortion initiative here in Arizona.
Susan Kettner
Sierra Vista
To my friends
I believe that everyone has a right to their political views in America and that we can be friends with those that think differently.
To my Democrat friends I would say keep fighting for environmental protection programs. Keep fighting the death penalty. And continue to seek social and economic equality and the civil rights of minorities.
To my Republican friends I would say keep fighting for liberty and economic prosperity, American values and traditions. Work for election integrity and try to restore the American dream. Defend the right to bear arms.
To my conservative friends I would say keep believing in individualism and traditionalism and limited federal government power. Support Christian values, and traditional family values. Favor economic liberalism, and stay pro-business and pro-capitalism. Opposes communism and labor unions, and unlimited abortion on demand.
Above all let your heart and mind lead you and always remain friends with your American neighbors.
Tom McGorray
Northwest side
Ten commandments
Lawmakers in the Arizona Legislature want public school teachers to have the option to post and teach the Ten Commandments. I have just three caveats before we enact this legislation.
One, which of the three versions of the Ten Commandments would the legislators want to post and teach since there are at least three different versions: Exodus 20:2-17, Deuteronomy 5:6-21, and “Ritual Decalogue” of Exodus 34:11-26?
Two, since the Bible has been translated into almost 3,500 languages it has surely lost some of the original context and meaning. Scholars for centuries have continued a discourse as to the meaning of the 7,000 ancient Hebrew words. Translating these words into thousands of languages such as English, which has 600,000 words or ancient Greek which has 60,000 words, could very easily cause inadvertent mistakes.
Finally, let’s leave the Ten Commandments and religion to our parents and the clergy!
Lawrence Mazin, Ed.D.
SaddleBrooke
Trees in parking lots
Trees in parking lots are a great idea to cool areas.
Another idea is to install canopies for shade with solar panels on top. Solar panels do not need water and over the long term give a return on investment.
Do a study to see if charging to park there from May to September is possible with the rest of the year free.
Donald Plummer
Northwest side
What are the odds
The Republican party brought you strategic gerrymandering, reduced voting hours, voting box removals, voting place armed intimidation, over the top ID requirements, unfounded attacks on polling workers (1,000 Mules video, Giuliani's $148 million dollar judgement for innocent Georgia poll workers). They claimed the 2020 election was "rigged".
Trump's party is now opposed to Harris being at the top of the Dems' ticket.
House speaker Mike Johnson said "As God as my witness, this will not stand." Trump said "This should never be allowed to happen in this country". Spoiler alert ... the red team has no way to prevent Kamala from being on the ballot in any of the 50 states.
Thanks to the Pachyderm party for another blatant example of election prevention.
I see a binary choice here ... Side with the party that promotes our 14th amendment voting rights or the party who is trying to suppress it. Your choice!
Rex Witherspoon
SaddleBrooke
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talks Thursday during a campaign event in West Hollywood, Calif.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. can win this election!
Arizona has a majority of non-party-affiliated voters.
A recent Zogby poll showed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at 22% in a three-way presidential race, drawing voters from the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian and Green parties.
His common-sense approaches to America's chronic health issues, regenerative farming/healthier food, border issues, the economy, and human rights encompass what most people say they want in our country.
RFK Jr. can win if enough people know that he can!
Mass media need to give RFK Jr. the coverage his platform deserves, to fully educate and inform us who read their publications.
The website Kennedy24.com contains a wealth of information on his policies, including many interviews, press releases, and media coverage of his campaign.
Anyone who goes through that website will find a viable alternative to the other two major candidates.
If you, like most Arizonans, prefer a more middle-of-the-road approach in government, politics and society, you will find it in the presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Renée Neumann
Green Valley
We're not going back
Kamala Harris's presidential campaign slogan "We're not going back" is a brilliant way to distinguish Democrats and MAGA Republicans. The Democrats, including those "childless cat ladies" that J.D. Vance denigrated, are looking ahead with the goal of a positive future for our children. Republicans sadly want to go back to another time. The way to move forward is to look forward. We cannot go back!
Robin Carter
Marana
Student athletes
I am sorry, but why don't we just drop the 'student' from student-athletes when referring to U of A and college sports. Many are paid professionals via NIL, and for some, this may be the highest paying job they will ever have. Note how many athletes, especially in basketball, aren't looking to leave early because they can build a nest egg before venturing into the professional world. Good for them as they reach financial literacy sooner in life. And for the 98% who will never play beyond college, they should be able to arrange favorable class schedules during the season such that travel won't affect them as much. Who will be impacted more are the older coaches and staff. Oh well, that's what happens in the search for big bucks.
Thomas Rothe
Foothills
Trump needs to withdraw
Is it too late for Donald Trump to withdraw?
He clearly is too old and physically and mentally ill to continue to run.
Alan Rubens, MD
Northeast side
Cockeyed optimists
Cock-eyed optimist — "staying positive while many are not and being buoyed by the anticipation of brighter, sunny days ahead."
What a stressful burden it must be to go through life as a pessimist, seeing everything through doom-and-gloom glasses. Looking for the worst in everyone and everything. Blaming everyone else.
In 1961 President John F. Kennedy stated that the United States "should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth." The best and the brightest — focused, engaged, dedicated — worked together, and Apollo 11 became a "mission accomplished."
Barack Obama's presidential campaign was one of optimism and hope, "Change we can believe in. Yes we can. Si se puede!"
Kamala Harris is also a breath of fresh air: young, enthusiastic and optimistic. Her bandwagon awaits us cock-eyed optimists. Jump on board.
Camille Gannon
West side
Dad jokes for the ages
Were you fed up with the constant jabs at Biden’s age? Yeah, me, too. Now that DJT is the Oldest Presidential Nominee in U.S. History, it's gloves off. Here are my freshly minted Dad jokes about Trump’s age.
- Donald Trump is so old, his first indictment was for stealing fire from the gods.
- Donald Trump is so old, his first wife had to cross the land bridge from Asia.
- Donald Trump is so old, he tried to profit from the discovery of the wheel and still went bankrupt.
- Donald Trump is so old, his first campaign slogan was Make Mesopotamia Great Again.
- Donald Trump is so old, he told Noah the flood was just fake news.
- Donald Trump is so old, he suggested drinking arsenic as a cure during the Black Plague.
- Donald Trump is so old, he once debated a court jester — and lost.
Kim Miklofsky Bayne
Foothills
Border propaganda
Re: the July 22 article "Biden is leaving a shameful and disastrous border legacy."
In the recent opinion piece, Biden’s Disastrous Border Policy, a little research would go a long way. Again the author cries wolf about the criminals, rapists, and unsavory foreigners flooding into our country. And of course it is a Democratic ruse to get more voters. As well as maligning migrants who seek safety and economic security there is the usual charge they are being brought here by Democrats to pad the vote. Read the facts about the citizenship process. On the average it takes a person five years to attain citizenship. Having been a poll worker, voters don’t just show up without legal identification which is double checked against Recorders records. Unless there is more data than the Cyber Ninjas uncovered, undocumented are not flooding into this country to vote. They don’t risk their lives coming through the Darien Gap just so they can vote in our elections. Our immigration problem is not going to be resolved by promoting false information and accusations.
John Kautz
Midtown
If Will Rogers were alive today
Will Rogers (1879-1935) was a humorous and a Social Commentator. Rogers said, 'I am not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat.' With that in mind, today he would probably say he was a Republican. The Republican Vice President Nominee, Vance and others want to sue to keep Joe Biden on the November ballot even though the Democrats have not held their convention to name their candidates.
The RNC and a number Republicans who lost their 2020 elections have tried to overturn the results before Federal Judges appointed by Trump and lost. He did succeed with a Judge in Florida who killed the confidential documents case. He also won at the SCOTUS on July 1st because of the three Trump nominated Justices who put him above the law.
Rogers also said I never met a man I didn't like, but he never met Donald Trump.
Dave Glicksman
Northwest side
Can we make driving in Tucson less terrifying?
I work for insurance giant Allstate. We recently ranked the 100 most populous American cities for driving behavior. Tucson came in at 91st — in other words, it's within the top 10 for risky driving.
I'm a 42-year-old with two young children. Every time I drive in Tucson, it feels a little like I'm playing Russian Roulette with my family's safety. This morning, my husband was rear-ended — hard — by a man talking on his phone. (The dude kept chatting as he stepped out of his vehicle to check on the damage.) My son was in his car seat, and thankfully seems safe and sound.
Every day when I'm driving, I see numerous accidents at our large intersections, many of them with injuries, many of them taking place just moments before I passed through. Don't you see this, too?
Another fun fact? Tucson rose to the third deadliest city for pedestrians in 2024 (it used to be 13th).
Let's create safer intersections and encourage better driving behavior in Tucson.
Sophia Strosberg
Midtown
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