Tucson Speaks Out: March 2 letters of the day

New normal: Like old normal, only louder

Long before I became old enough to vote, the bigotry of numerous public figures was starkly evident. These days, there are still those who continue to utter whatever reductive drivel crosses their minds, regardless of its truthfulness or fairness.

Recently, Fox News contributor Raymond Arroyo claimed Black Americans would back Trump because “they love sneakers,” trivializing their votes as if easily swayed by Trump’s latest money-making scheme. Arroyo’s remarks left me feeling disgusted.

I was also reminded of dialogue from one of my favorite movies, Annie Hall (1977).

“I love being reduced to a cultural stereotype,” Allison remarked sarcastically.

In a world increasingly defined by modern tribalism, we must persist in demanding that the media and our political leaders respect the complexity of humanity, steering clear of the caricatures they so lazily sketch.

Rise up. Switch channels. Vote for change.

Kim Miklofsky Bayne

Foothills

The right decision

As a volunteer for the Rialto Theatre Foundation, I would like to thank the staff for looking out for our safety by canceling the Matisyahu concert on Feb. 15.

This would have been Matisyahu’s eighth performance at the Rialto. With security being a concern amid online threats and Matisyahu fearing for the safety of himself and his family, staff members started having concerns for their own safety too.

The morning before the show an unusual amount of last-minute ticket sales came in and seemed suspect. This was a red flag.

Hours before the show, Matisyahu’s team was concerned enough to requested more security, including armed guards. This request could not be met in such a short period of time. The Rialto can screen for guns and drugs upon entering, but they can’t screen for crazy.

Rialto did the right thing.

Matisyahu was paid in full, staff paid and ticket-holders reimbursed.

This could have had a very different ending other than a concert being canceled.

Kim Lovell

Midtown

Both sides now

Re: the Feb. 24 letter “Snowbirds.”

Those awful snowbirds coming to Arizona to escape their frosty climates. Bringing their economic stimulus and residential property value support into Arizona. Maybe we should build another Ducey wall to keep snowbirds and other visitors out. We don’t need their money! We need our elbow room and fiscal contraction!

Two sides (at least) to every story.

James Abels

Midtown

Enemy of the state

Finally some payback for enemy of the state, Wayne LaPierre, the callous and malicious former chief spokesman and destroyer of the once-respected NRA. We can thank him and the soulless minions who supported his crackpot ideas that, the more guns out there the safer we’d all be. How’s that turned out?

Now a country deluged by powerful automatic rifles, handguns, jumbo magazines and tissue-destroying ammo, we lead the planet in gun-related deaths, our number one cause of death among children. There is no safe place in this country; grammar school, college dorm, church, theater, grocery store or Super Bowl festivity. And, there’s no conceivable way out of this nightmare. Thanks Wayne, you’ve done a heck of a job.

Hard to find anyone who has done as much to destroy the fabric of American Idealism except Donald Trump and Rupert Murdoch. If this democracy goes to hell as it seems to be fast headed, we’ll know who to thank and who to blame.

William Muto, retired criminal justice and former NRA member

SaddleBrooke

Abortion rights

Re: the Feb. 23 letter “Abortion bans and shocking results.”

The letter writer refers to the study as “baloney … prepared by far-left pro-abortion rights” groups: he criticizes their “extractions and estimates” of rapes and resulting pregnancies and calls the study “politically motivated to further inflame passion among pro-abortion groups ….” To the letter writer: as an American living in a democracy in the 21st century, one does not have to belong to a far left pro-abortion group to understand that a single impregnated victim of rape forced to carry a baby through term is one too many. Hard to believe that anyone would expect a victim of rape to carry the resulting fetus through the next nine months of her life, and then continue to love and cherish this child.

Kenneth Cohn

Northwest side

Say what?

Re: the Feb. 25 article “New details in OK teen’s death revealed.”

George Orwell famously wrote that “The great enemy of clear language is insincerity.” However, that was before political correctness appeared on the scene. In today’s paper (2/25), I tried to read a brief article headed “New details in OK teen’s death revealed.” I was understanding all until I came to this passage: “the 16-year-old’s eyes had rolled back into their head, their hands were curled and they were struggling to breathe.” I had to stop and reread, wondering, “who else was hurt?” The article continued in that way and I finally had to stop reading altogether. I understand this murdered person was “non-binary” which means not identifying with either sex. But in the name of clarity so that the reader can understand, is it so very wrong to say “she”? From the accompanying photo, the person certainly appears to be female. I teach English, and apologies to all the PC adherents, but — I could NOT make sense out of this article! What’s the solution here?

Kendra Gaines

Foothills

Trump and Putin shere “retribution” motive

Trump has made the idea of “retribution” a centerpiece of his 2024 campaign for the White House, telling supporters at a rally after rally he would use the full force of the presidency to go after his perceived political enemies. “It is a slow, steady progression, with CROOKED, Radical Left Politicians, Prosecutors, and Judges leading us down a path to destruction.” Putin has already shown us with Alexei Navalny what his retribution looks like in Russia.

Clyde R. Steele

Oro Valley

The party of Putin

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In a recent interview Liz Cheney said it all describing Trump and MAGA as the Putin wing of the Republican Party.

Jeff Aronson

Northeast side

Tragedy in Israel

In Shakespearean tragedy, one theme appears repeatedly: its hero becomes the thing he or he despises. Macbeth, heroic defender against treason, murders his king; Othello, who claims his wife Desdemona is his “soul’s joy,” strangles her in a jealous rage.

Perhaps the best example is Julius Caesar, wherein Brutus, Caesar’s friend and a noble man devoted to honor, slaughters Caesar in the most dishonorable manner.

This is where Netanyahu’s Israel finds itself. Israel went to war in response to Hamas’ savagery, but Israel has savagely butchered tens of thousands of innocents. Netanyahu’s government claims a right to eradicate Hamas, but Israel’s armed forces have left hundreds of thousands homeless and starving. Some ask the question, “Are Israel’s actions genocide?” Does the answer really matter? What’s clear is that Netanyahu’s Israel has become the thing it claims to hate most — savage. Their brutality is a stain on American honor as well; all aid to Israel should cease until this savagery stops.

Jim Christ

East side

The money funnel

Tom Horne and his department formulated the subjects and even selected the textbooks to be used for instruction in Arizona’s schools. The program was adopted by all of the school districts in the state without objection.

Recently he and some legislators have been using the scary word “indoctrinating” to gain support for this voucher program. Please, tell me how can Math, English, U.S. History, Physics, or learning a foreign language be “indoctrinating”?

In the commercial for his voucher program he states, and I paraphrase but the quote is genuine, “our already excellent public schools.” If our public schools are “already excellent” why do we need such an expansive and expensive private voucher program? To the tune of almost a billion dollars it would be enlightening to find out who’s pocket this money funnel is emptying into.

Daniel Poryanda

Southeast side

Stop Socialism! Cut Defense Budget!

If Rep. Kern wants to eliminate Marxism in the state of Arizona, let him look not to our municipalities and counties, but to the most avowedly socialist employer in the State — the U.S. military. Yes, the 18,000+ Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines are a veritable socialist’s paradise. The government trains its employees and then provides them government housing, government clothing, government transportation at work, and even government places to worship. Military families shop at government grocery stores, government department stores and recreate at government-paid-for bowling alleys, movie theaters and tennis courts.

If Rep. Kern really wants to eliminate socialism, he should be railing against our country’s gigantic defense budget, the largest socialist entity in the world!

Bruce Hilpert

North side

Fake Spanish Immigration ads

A few days ago on a visit to Sonora, I was watching music videos on YouTube which were interrupted by two professional Spanish language advertisements encouraging illegal immigration. A handsome, well-dressed, articulate attorney said that President Joe Biden was encouraging people educated in engineering and mathematics to come to the United States without business sponsorship or work visas. The other ad said that the U.S. needs more workers, and that Biden was encouraging hard-working Mexicans to come to the border where their entry would be expedited. These sophisticated fake ads are an attempt to exacerbate the border immigration problem to hurt Biden’s campaign ahead of the November election. Who would benefit deliberately misleading citizens of our neighboring countries for political ends?

Athena Reina

North side

Setting it straight

Re: the Feb. 29 letter “Different viewpoints.”

It dawned on me I might be one of those “very frequent liberal writers” referred to in the letter “Different viewpoints”. I must correct the writer’s belief that we “liberal” writers simply have an issue with differing points of view from “the other side” (as the letter writer put it). I’m all for differing viewpoints from rational, critical thinkers. What I have a problem with are those who turn a blind eye, or worse, show support for egregious happenings in our country such as: blatant lies about election results, a violent deadly insurrection based on those lies, ongoing voter suppression attempts, discrimination aimed at women, LGBTQs, and people of color, science and climate denial, destruction of our public school system, destruction of national security, praise and support of dictator Putin, promises from Trump to dismantle the Constitution, absurd accusations against “liberals” of socialism, Marxism, child grooming and on and on. “Unkind terms”? Totally warranted for anyone supporting such things. And no, we “liberal writers” are not on the Star payroll.

Deb Klumpp

Oro Valley

Retire now

If Biden really does get more done in an hour than most of us do in a day, he should stop. He really does get everything wrong. He opened the border and closed the oil and gas wells. His profligate government spending caused inflation. He was and is too little and too late on Ukraine. He is too weak on Iran, too ambivalent on Gaza and was fatally wrong about the Afghanistan withdrawal. His dealings with China are soft and tainted. Please, President Bungle, retire full time to your beloved Delaware beaches do no more harm.

Wiliam Wolfe

Northeast side

The Supreme Court works for Donald Trump

The SCOTUS did not need to take up the Trump “presidential immunity” case — they could have accepted the D.C. court verdict.

They took three weeks to review the case, and are now taking up another 8 weeks before the hearings begin.

Trump’s other federal cases (notably that of Judge Chutkan) are in limbo until SCOTUS makes a decision, creating the serious possibility that those cases will not continue until after the upcoming election. If Trump wins, he will make those cases disappear.

Justice delayed is justice denied — American voters deserve to know whether one presidential candidate is a convicted felon. Trump has 91 felony charges. He needs to be proven innocent or guilty.

By moving so slowly now (Bush v. Gore in 2000 was decided in four days!), the SCOTUS has proved itself in debt to and working for Donald Trump — the most corrupt SCOTUS since the Civil War.

Jennifer Dawson

Midtown

Letters to the editor

There appears to be a concerted effort to undermine Representative Juan Ciscomani through the Arizona Daily Star. For the last several months Letters to the Editor have denounced many of his votes or actions. Only recently I decided to monitor these. During the past week I have recorded such letters on Feb. 21, there were two letters and a “Tucson Opinion” against him. On Feb. 23, 24, 25, 27, 29 there was one negative letter each day and an Arizona Opinion by Nancy Gutierrez on Feb. 28. The sixth district congressional seat will be open and this letter writing seems to a campaign by a prospective candidate for this position. Is this a novel way of free political campaigning by a potential candidate?

Art Di Salvo

Northwest side