Political advertising wrong on Kelly
Re: the Nov. 1 paid political ad on A4
Political advertising is the bane of our democracy. We want free speech, but as Mark Twain said, there are lies and damn lies. The political ad from Citizens for Sanity recently in the Star is one of those.
True, our country faces an epidemic of deaths from drug abuse. That has nothing to do with Mark Kelly and President Joe Biden’s “open border policies.” In fact, they do not favor “open borders.” Kelly has said the border “is a mess.” He has repeatedly sought successfully to tighten border security forces and moved the Biden administration to close border barrier gaps at Morelos Dam in Yuma.
The ad suggests Kelly’s “radical policies” put children in “grave danger.” But border security is just one part of the problem. One has to wonder what else causes these terrible deaths: the state of West Virginia had the highest rate of all.
We must protect ourselves from the paid advertising of Citizens For Sanity.
Beware.
Richard Kopp, Chair,
Sun City Oro Valley
Democratic Club
North side
Slow results
You can roll your eyes and say “OK, boomer,” but I prefer the days when one would show up in person on Election Day, vote, and have the results that same evening. Not so much with “Election Month” and no excuse mail-in ballots.
Mark Moral
East side
Vote your conscienceTo my Republican friends:
Now might be a good time to do some soul-searching.
I imagine you have heard or seen the video clip of Kari Lake speaking about Paul Pelosi. She makes a joke of the brutal physical assault on Paul to get cheap laughs. All he gets is serious injuries.
Is Lake someone you really want to become governor, protecting and caring for all residents of Arizona? I think not! She is an alabaster Queen, coldhearted, uncaring and a vicious person.
Think of how you would want anyone to respond to an attack on your family, neighbors, friends or any other human being.
Certainly not how Lake responded. She is not fit to be governor.
Rob Morton
Green Valley
Helping Lake bring water to Arizona
Kari Lake, your idea to build a pipeline from the Mississippi River to Arizona has some problems. The Mississippi water levels are at record lows. You would have to pump the water from there to here. I have another suggestion. Canada has lots of excess fresh, clean water. Just hold up and look at a map of North America. Notice that Canada is way above us on the map. Clearly, the water will just flow down from up there with no need for pumping or anything. Gravity and Mercator projection map will do it for us. You don’t have to thank me.
Dennis Winsten
Northeast side
Have you no sense of decency?
Dear Kari Lake,
I cannot believe that you responded to the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband with such disregard. Can you not understand that you have, as a public servant, a duty to be decent and respectful? Well, perhaps not ...
Mary Jo Swartzberg
SaddleBrooke
Pelosi’s attack
I do not want a governor (Kari Lake) who mocks an 82-year-old man who was nearly bludgeoned to death with a hammer to his skull, breaking it, along with his hand and arm. The Republicans have been demonizing his wife, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, for decades, which I guess was a good enough excuse to brutalize Mr. Pelosi. The suspect, who is an extreme MAGA follower (like our wannabe governor), admitted to this heinous act, and also told of his plans to brutalize Mrs. Pelosi by tying her up and breaking her knees, with even more heinous acts to come. To put it succinctly, this was a political act of violence.
Let me repeat myself, I do not want a governor who behaves in this utterly deplorable manner. Actually, I don’t see how anyone can.
Laurie Shapiro
Midtown
Critical Race Theory
Why does the right fear CRT? They claim it is because when taught in schools, CRT makes white children feel bad about themselves when they are not to blame for centuries of discrimination and oppression of Black and Indigenous people.
But, really, isn’t it because they don’t want their kids to be coming home asking them about the history, not just of slavery and extermination of Indians, but of the continuous social and political pressure to keep these “others” from owning desirable property, from accumulating wealth to pass down to their children, from becoming well-educated and entering the professions and politics, from using the courts to prevent any policies whatsoever that try to level the playing field, and most of all, from voting: in short, from sharing in the full benefits of our democracy?
Don’t be fooled by demagogues. Seek the truth, wherever it may lead.
Suzanne Ferguson,
retired American
literature professor
Southeast side
Veterinary program at the U of A
Re: the Oct. 30 article “One-of-a-kind program for UA’s vet students.”
Reading the article about the U of A Veterinary Medicine Program stirred several memories of our long-time association with Reid Park Zoo. We’ve been members and supporters of the zoo since 1977. The article reminded us of the earlier days at the zoo and its vet, Dr. Thomas Miller. He was kindly referred to as “Doc” by staff and friends. He was a caring and compassionate healer of exotic animals, ranging from birds to elephants. He also was our vet, caring for our many animal companions at his practice. He was the vet at Reid Park Zoo from 1969 to 2000 and passed away shortly after. Had he lived long enough to see it, we believe he would have taken professional pride in the current program. His mentorship of younger vets helped to carry on the technologically advanced and science-based health care for exotic animals. There is a memorial plaque located in the heart of the zoo in his memory. A life well-lived and remembered.
Marlene C. Skinner
Southwest side
Border facts vs. fiction
As reported in the Arizona Daily Star, here are some facts you should know about our borders:
President Joe Biden met with 20 countries from Canada to Chile who agreed to improve their immigration controls and expand their own asylum programs, and pledged financial help to assist them.
Immigration arrests are now limited to those who committed serious crimes, resulting in a 70% drop in deportations.
Border officials now have the power to reject or approve asylum cases directly, accelerating the process and easing the burden on immigration courts.
Border agents now use a monitoring app to track immigrants and help them stay up to date on meetings and court hearings.
Immigration services issued green cards for tens of thousands of highly educated foreign citizens, alleviating labor shortages for companies seeking skilled workers in health care and other industries.
The Border Patrol reports their new processing system has increased efficiency and improved their ability to manage the flow, and although the numbers remain high, there is no turmoil.
Lorene McLaughlin
Oro Valley
Rs sell out
The only thing these midterms will mean is what the polls already show, that the non-MAGA Rs have sold out to their raucous brethren, cheating, violence, and all. If they don’t do that, the Democrats might win and get some things done that are not just favors to the rich. Watch them veto raising the debt limit, etc. If they could, they’d repeal Social Security and Medicare and other programs that favor the non-rich. They are still trying to repeal the New Deal, the success of which cost them five straight presidential elections (1932-48): they are elephants, they don’t forget.
They will cut off aid to Ukraine if they can. After all, Donald Trump says that Vladimir Putin is a genius. And they will erase abortion if our young women don’t throw off their mental hijabs and block them. Think it over: only Liz Cheney and a few other Rs are trying to stop them. Needless to say, the political careers of such dissenters are dead.
Herbert Schneidau
Foothills
‘A’ rating is not failingRe: the Oct. 30 article “School boards should be nonpartisan.”
As a fourth grader in the Catalina Foothills School District, my daughter reads fluently in two languages. She’s mastering math with a depth of understanding I couldn’t have imagined at her age. She’s even studying robotics and computer programming — and has been since kindergarten.
We chose CFSD for their high-quality academics and haven’t been disappointed.
So I was baffled to see Bill Gideon claiming CFSD is losing academic standing — especially when every CFSD school received an “A” rating from the Arizona Department of Education this week. Only a handful of districts have ever received such a high across-the-board ranking.
As a classroom volunteer, I’ve never seen the focus on “ideological issues” Mr. Gideon seems so concerned about. I have seen quality learning at a level rare in our state.
Thrive4CFSD candidates Amy Krauss, Amy Bhola and Gina Mehmert are committed to maintaining this excellence. For the sake of active learners like my daughter, I urge CFSD residents to elect them to our school board.
Janni Simner
Midtown
Trust in campaign messages
Campaigning is too often built on false narratives where credibility and accountability are set aside. We are bombarded with hateful, calculated political ads that distort the truth or outright lie. They are produced not to tell us what’s good about the candidate but to sling mud on their opponent. The roadside is littered with an excessive number of political signs that junk up the landscape. My mailbox is full of flashy but false political fliers that continue the same messages. The people responsible for the lies and ugly mess are the ones we are supposed to trust to run our governments. Is it any wonder why there is little public trust in politicians? There are caring people with good intentions who are sincere about involvement in public service. Politics is a dirty business where getting elected is more important than doing the right thing for the people represented.
Kyle Vance
Northeast side
Unfit candidates
As a registered Republican, I am appalled at the candidates for governor, secretary of state, and U.S. Senate that the Republican Party selected. All three deny the accuracy of the 2020 election, with absolutely no proof. When Rusty Bowers pushed Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s lawyer, for evidence that the 2020 election of President Joe Biden was stolen, he stalled and finally said, “We don’t have any evidence, but we have a lot of theories.” Yet these same people deny the mountain of evidence that climate change is real and devastating Arizona and the planet. According to Trump and his minions, Trump couldn’t lose, but if he did it was because of voter fraud. By this logic, only he could win, so why have elections? This is now the party line, elections don’t matter, we should not use them or count on their results. What is the alternative? Violence. That is what they want. This is not the America I fought for in the U. S. Air Force.
Don Ries
Southeast side
Reap what you sow
Coming from the East, I have lived in Tucson for over 30 years. Although I am a Democrat, I have from time to time voted for a Republican I thought would do a good bipartisan leadership job. Unfortunately, the Republican Party, once a good working bipartisan group, has become only interested in power and control. They espouse lies about stolen elections that have been disproven in our own courts at least 60 times. They want to take away people’s rights that have existed in our country for over 50 years. They insist that their minority opinions are the only right ones and everyone has to abide by them. This will no longer be a democracy if these people are elected. Think carefully on who you vote for. You will have to live with it.
Hal Brown
East side
Those political ads
Over $6.4 billion has already been spent on political ads by all candidates.
Here’s the problem — almost all the politicians lie, left and right, both Republican and Democrat.
We should be shocked. We should be outraged. But we forget about them.
Numbed by the sheer volume of fibbery that enters our weary brains. We figure they’re politicians. What more can we expect?
Ad-watch PolitiFact is a fact-checking website that rates the accuracy of claims made by politicians. Examining the latest political campaign ads they use a truth-o-meter that determines if the ads are True, Mostly True, Half True, Mostly False, False, Pants on Fire.
Examining the latest political campaign ads and issue advocacy ads, a scorecard reads as follows: True 0%; Mostly True 11%; Half True 20%; Mostly False 31%; False 34%; Pants on Fire 2%. Sixty-seven percent of the ads are false, mostly false or pants on fire.
What a waste of money and time.
Thomas McGorray
Northwest side
Blame vs. solutions
Republicans are quick to blame Democrats for inflation and high gas and food prices, but most knowledgeable economists attribute these hikes to factors no American president could control—the COVID epidemic, a war initiated by Vladimir Putin, prices set by foreign oil producers, and price gouging by corporate investors, including many Americans. Voters understandably want a change, but what solutions are Republicans offering? Would another tax cut for the wealthy help pay the bills of low- and middle-income Americans? Would the cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid proposed by Republican candidates help?
No administration can solve all our problems, but actions taken in the first 20 months of Biden’s administration have made Americans healthier, safer, and more economically secure. These improvements will be on the chopping block if Republicans gain control of our state and federal legislatures. Republican candidates are already voicing their plans to eliminate or reduce Medicare, Social Security, reproductive freedoms, voting rights and democracy itself. When they tell you what they will do, believe them.
Lynne Hudson
Northwest side
The quandary continues
Re: the Oct. 25 letter “Hypocrisy.”
The response in “Hypocrisy” continues the quandary regarding abortion vs. vaccination “rights.” He mentions abstinence to avoid potential pregnancies as if this is the only option to avoid pregnancy. Does he also favor other methods to avoid pregnancy other than abstinence, or is this also a choice taken away? If not, then once again individual choice is taken away, period.
Why should he not make the sacrifice to get the COVID-19 vaccine, even with the risks, to protect himself and others from this disease? I guess he is not willing to make that sacrifice for others. His “right” to avoid or to choose the vaccine, no matter the consequences, allows for individual choice he is not willing to provide to those who wish to choose or to not choose abortion.
If we can save lives by forcing continued pregnancies, we also should be able to force vaccines to do the same. So again, the quandary remains.
Craig Whaley
Oro Valley
No tax on groceries
Re: the Oct. 28 letter “Grocery tax: What?.”
Thanks to the letter writer for reminding Arizonans that there is a “no tax on groceries law” in the state. There is a story about that fact.
In 1975, Sister Clare Dunn, CSJ, won election to the Arizona House of Representatives. One of 100 bills she and aide, Sister Judith Lovchic, CSJ, wrote, offered tax relief through no tax on groceries. Her bill was repeatedly denied until Democrat John Kromko won election and threatened a statewide ballot initiative, which would have passed. Republican Burton Barr, then Arizona House Majority Leader of the Legislature, intervened, considering the bill’s impact on Phoenix.
The compromise? Tucson has no tax on groceries, Phoenix continues an off-and-on grocery tax, and rural communities choose to tax or not; most, if not all, prefer the income.
Kari Lake is either uninformed or disingenuous in her sudden campaign promise to initiate a law that already exists that has lowered tax on the poor for decades.
Norah Booth
East side
Goldwater Institute dissimulation
Re: the Oct. 29 article “Part of World View deal struck down by court.”
In this story on World View’s land lease and the court-ordered changes to it, Timothy Sandefur from the Goldwater Institute is quoted as saying the order was a “major win for Arizona taxpayers.” The money involved is about $9 million. That statement is a crock of disingenuous bull.
Where was the Goldwater Institute when Gov. Doug Ducey twice told the voters and taxpayers of Arizona, contrary to their vote, that the rich people of the state will be given, at taxpayer expense, $7,000 for private school tuition while they are paying $10,000 to $20,000 now. The amount given to the wealthy who want more money will run in the $40 million dollar a year range.
The average Arizona taxpayer gets shafted big time while those in power do everything to make sure the very rich get richer.
Timothy Canny
Oracle
Summer camp
“Summer camp” sounds like a good way to spend state money. We all want our kids to get the best education possible. That makes a good headline, but where are the state monies that should be supporting our schools throughout the school year? We rank 48th in the country when it comes to spending on public schools while we are sitting on a $5.3 billion budget surplus. We certainly could do more for our kids’ education than a summer camp!
Mary Lou Damiano
Northwest side
