Who are the real cheaters?
Re: the June 17 letter “Legacy of fraud in Pima elections.”
The writer is correct. Territorial elections were ripe for fraud, the elections of 1880 and 1884 in Pima County being good examples. The names of all eligible voters were put in the Great Register. Ballots were handwritten with the name of the voter and the candidates they wanted to vote for. Poor penmanship and misspellings made it difficult to check names against the register and some voted in more than one precinct as a result. None of this was due to the fact that Democrats were cheating in the elections. In fact, if you read detailed accounts of these elections, you will see that both parties participated in their fair share of election meddling. Also, what many today are unaware of is that the political platform of the Republican Party of late 1800s was far more similar to today’s Democratic Party platform. Conversely, the political platform of the Democratic Party of the late 1800s is more similar to today’s Republican Party platform. So, who then are the real cheaters?
Laura Steele
Northwest side
Who’s paying for this recount?
First of all I want to know who is paying for another unnecessary recount of the 2020 election. Secondly, why can’t we get politicians, on all levels, to act like adults instead of petulant, spoiled 5-year-olds throwing tantrums. This has to stop. Grow up, people.
M. Ann Akers
Southeast side
Los Reales isn’t accepting cash
Please explain how it is equitable to have the city of Tucson’s landfill (Los Reales) not accept cash as payment to use their facility.
Their website states, “Due to safety concerns, the Los Reales landfill will no accept cash payments — Credit and Debit payments only.” How is this not a socioeconomic-based inequity?
When was the last time you saw someone lick a dollar bill and get sick? The city personnel could and should be wearing PPE if there is a concern about safety.
Is it equitable to think everyone has a credit or debit card? Will the city pick up trash that has been dumped on the side of the road because the person only carried cash and was denied access to the landfill?
U.S. currency states “This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private.”
This city policy is discriminatory and needs to be immediately changed.
Paul Ostrowski
West side
The mother of all denigrators
Re: the June 17 article “Numbing bureaucratese invites backlash.”
John Kass takes great offense to the term “birthing person” being used instead of “mother” in federal and scientific documents. He thinks this denigrates and disparages “the essence of motherhood and women.” Seriously? I found Donald Trump’s disparaging of women and mothers far more offensive than the words “birthing person.” Kass suggests Americans will push back for the egregious use of the words “birthing person” in documents. The American people have already pushed back — in November 2020 — by voting out a rude, crude incompetent who also denigrates women.
Deb Klumpp
Oro Valley
A primer for letter writers
Are there any other politically conservative Star readers that are bored reading letters from those on the political left telling us who we are and what we think? Let me illuminate them:
1. Our Constitution has allowed America to become the greatest county on earth. We believe that since WWI the U.S., not the League of Nations or the U.N., have been the righteous, stabilizing force in the world. 2. Regulated capitalism that humanely provides a safety net but no hammock has prevailed, empowering and enriching all citizens. We reject socialism. 3. America was one of first countries to eradicate slavery and the only one that felt compelled to sacrifice the lives of over 100,000 white Union soldiers in doing so. We reject the hate and division of critical race theory. 4. E pluribus unum is what guides us. We reject tribalism. 5. Liberty edges out equality. We reject equity. 6. There are only two genders. We follow the science.
Any questions?
Jeffrey McConnell
West side
Labor shortage has silver lining
Lack of a labor force is the new American crisis. As the economy opens up, people are going to the theater, eating out in restaurants and going to ballgames again. Headlines declare that employers can’t find people to fill the number of jobs available. It’s simply the law of supply and demand. When something or, in this case, someone is in short supply, consumers pay more for it. To fill jobs, businesses need to pay more for scarce labor.
As businesses closed due to COVID and workers received unemployment, it became clear that many people were earning far less than the livable wage. Now that businesses are opening up, low-wage workers should realize they need not work full time and still live in poverty. They are now in a position where they can demand a livable wage. The employer needs workers and workers need a decent living. The pandemic could help solve decades of suppressed wages as people realize how truly valuable they are.
Misty Atkins
Oro Valley
Slavery, genocide can’t be denied
Re: the July 9 letter “CRT not history; it’s propaganda.”
I am having a hard time following the logic of author of this letter. So CRT is “a gross distortion of history more accurately labeled propaganda?” We didn’t massacre Native Americans, enslave Africans or put American citizens in concentration camps?
To me CRT is about owning up to the bad things we have done and trying to learn from it. The goal should be to look at what you do and say without the built-in racist, xenophobic and misogynistic view you get from friends and family.
Do you need to think your ancestors were good people and by extension so are you? Are you afraid you will owe somebody money? What are you afraid of?
Then she says despite what the National Education Association says she knows better and shame on those teachers!
Robert McNeil
Midtown
Focus instead on our strengths
The focus of what we hear and see in the news, from our leaders, the left, and dissent groups is hate and disrespect for America. It is on the wrongs and injustices of the past and present. This focus breeds hate, distrust, fear, disunity, division, violence, disrespect, and hopelessness among the American people.
The focus must change! Shift the focus to the intangibles of what makes America great and why to restore hope and unity.
What makes America great and why? Freedom, liberty, the Constitution and Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, the faith, wisdom, and resolve of our Founding Fathers, government of the people, by the people and for the people, sacrifices of soldiers for our freedom, unique history, unparalleled growth, hope of the world, work and dreams of our ancestors in building this country, free choice in education, occupation, living space and movement without government control and a belief in God and his hand on this country!
This is what makes America great!
Shift the focus!
Rebecca Fuchser
East side
