Women in leadership roles
Re: the Aug. 8 article “Local women thriving in 1st responder roles.”
Thank you to Caitlin Schmidt and Elvia Verdugo, for their story on women leaders as first responders. This topic is long overdue and very important.
In my 26 years as a judicial officer at Tucson City Court, I heard hundreds of cases, with many different officers. Without sounding too sexist, many cases did not end up in court or an arrest, due to women police officers presence and calm demeanor, which in turn de-escalated the circumstances and resulted in a referral and not an arrest.
The importance of the promotions of these women highlighted in the article, cannot be overstated. Our leadership in police departments must reflect our communities.
It appears most of these women earned their promotions in the last five years, primarily due to TPD Chief Chris Magnus and his command staff’s wisdom and judgment. Bravo.
Margarita Bernal
West side
Governor of death
Gov. Doug Ducey’s cynical politics continue to put Arizonans at risk. His refusal to allow mask or vaccine mandates for schools and universities will cause misery and death once again.
But this time he is failing our children. Two places with similarly cruel governors, Oklahoma and Texas, have ICU’s overrun with children, often on ventilators.
The delta variant has changed things. It puts Arizona in the CDC’s red (top) category for two reasons: Ducey’s pitiful “leadership” and the people who refuse to get vaccinated.
Vaccinations and masks work. They protect our children, our neighbors and our jobs. Universities, schools and cities all over the country are mandating masks and vaccines so children can go back to school safely.
But not our governor. He has earned a new title: Governor Death.
Johnna Matthews
Midtown
Protect our children
When Arizona Republican legislators and Gov. Doug Ducey tagged a law onto the state budget preventing public schools from mandating protection from the COVID delta variant, they recklessly disregarded the health of our children under the age of 12 years.
The most vulnerable population includes your 10-year-old neighbor who just scored her first soccer goal, your best friend’s toddler who just learned to swim and your infant grandson who has a 6-year-old stepsister entering first grade.
Why aren’t Ducey and Arizona Republican legislators concerned with these precious little ones? Because their children go to private schools (on tax payer vouchers) where protection mandates are excluded from the draconian law prohibiting public schools from implementing protective measures?
Remember who put your children and grandchildren at risk on election day.
Judy Gillies
Oro Valley
Ducey doesn’t understand science
Gov. Doug Ducey says he does not want to allow mask mandates in schools because he wants to allow parental choice. This makes no logical sense.
Research has shown that a person is best protected from COVID-19 if others sharing indoor air with that person are wearing masks. The mask is mostly to protect the others, not the one wearing the mask.
To protect one’s child from this potentially deadly virus, a parent should choose to send the child to a school in which masks are mandated for everyone inside the school building.
But, Ducey has endeavored to prevent this choice for parents. Ducey clearly does not understand the science relating to the airborne coronavirus and the way masks protect against the risks of morbidity and mortality associated with it.
Amelia Cramer
Downtown
Opinions have become politicized
Re: the Aug. 11 letter “Blame game gets us nowhere.”
I agree with this letter. Over the past few years, politics have become a source of utter hate between friends, family and casual acquaintances.
Like blaming Republicans or blaming Democrats for spreading the COVID virus, not wearing a mask, not getting vaccinated. Or, how about every single thing you do or not do is because you’re a Republican or Democrat racist. How did we, as free Americans, resort to this behavior?
What you can put in the bank, is that every single thing that is wrong with our country or right with our country, can be blamed squarely on every, and I repeat, every elected official in Washington, D.C., including the president of the U.S., and the state governments.
What I suggest is: educate yourself with facts, not social media, nor opinions of others. And surprise — the internet is not always factual. Go to the horse’s mouth.
Louise Nath
Benson
Too stupid to live
Re: the Aug. 12 article “Ignorance, stupidity might bring us down.”
Excellent commentary by Leonard Pitts. We are clearly living in the age of stupid, where fear and ignorance are running rampant.
Far too many Americans choose to ignore well established facts and buy into “crackpot theories and screwball beliefs.” When confronting two of the most dire and challenging issues we are ever likely to face (a global pandemic and climate change), these folks choose to take the advice of charlatans rather than follow the recommendations of our most esteemed doctors and experts.
Because of their selfishness and ignorance, anti-vaxxers are responsible for the ongoing spread of COVID and any resulting restrictions or lockdowns. Since much of their wisdom and information comes from social media, check out my postings on brain surgery.
And to anti-maskers: If you don’t wear a mask, the deep state can track your every move through facial recognition technology. Indeed, too stupid to live.
Stanley Steik
Midtown
The failure of Afghanistan
One month ago, I contacted Sens. Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema and Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick about the apparent plight of hundreds of thousands of our Afghan allies who have supported our troops for the last 20 years.
While they did not reply with the usual form letter, I don’t understand why this impending betrayal is not a “code red, hair-on-fire” issue. An excerpt of what I sent to my representatives:
“Why weren’t our Afghanistan allies — the interpreters, pilots, and all those who helped us — not withdrawn months ago? This is going to turn into a disaster and a blood bath for those we have left behind …”
As the Taliban continues to take over Afghanistan and the fall of Kabul appears imminent, I fear a safe exit strategy passed long ago for the estimated thousands of our Afghan allies and their families still needing to be evacuated.
It is reported that their capture and slaughter has already begun.
Kathy Krucker
Midtown
My body, your consequences
My body, my choice! That is the freedom cry of the anti-vax Republicans. Seems they are in agreement with the women who have said for years, “My body, my choice.”
But not quite. The anti-abortion argument is that women should be denied the freedom to make choices about their bodies, because it involves the life of another potential human.
But doesn’t the freedom to remain unvaccinated involve the lives of many actual living human beings who may be exposed to the deadly virus?
Hypocrisy? Anti-female?
Sandy Katz, M.D., J.D.
Foothills
Anarchy as teaching tool
Re: the Aug. 8 letter “TUSD teaching anarchy.”
A recent letter absurdly accused TUSD of teaching anarchy. Anarchy is what we saw on Jan. 6, 2021, when Donald Trump incited his throng of violent supporters to attack our Capitol.
That murderous day should be studied in all age-appropriate classrooms. No doubt the Republicans will try to whitewash or omit that day in the teaching curriculum (as they have done in all other venues) as part of their war on the accurate portrayal of history.
Deb Klumpp
Oro Valley
