Trump’s ‘word salad’
As a teacher, I would occasionally talk about a student’s paper as being nothing more than a “word salad” — a tossing of random assertions with no coherence or veracity. The required word count was there, but it did not deliver. Reading Trump’s recent rants about everything from his fraud trial to his self-proclaimed soaring status in the polls, his remarks are all “word salad.”
His diatribes are all nonsense, and they never stop coming. Is it any wonder we tune out, hoping a miracle will happen in the legal system to disqualify him and put a stop to his chaotic ramblings?
How many times did we hear the word “unprecedented” during his time in office? From an unprecedented rise in hate crimes, unprecedented violence against women, unprecedented mass shootings, and an unprecedented attack on democracy on January 6th. We cannot become complacent with things that shouldn’t ever happen.
It’s time to vote a straight democratic ticket. It’s how we can get our country back.
Tina Whitley
Northeast side
Our overuse of plastic bags
I loved Barbara Reuter’s letter addressing our overuse of plastic, but I disagree when she appears to place most of this responsibility with the government and not the consumer. Arizona’s brilliant Republican Legislature has banned local governments from banning single-use plastic bags.
It is up to each of us to reduce our use of plastic. Shoppers leave stores with carts packed with countless plastic bags. Few cashiers ask if you would like a plastic bag before bagging what is sometimes only a single item. Only Target works to discourage plastic bag use by crediting a nickel for each bag you bring with you. I have had my dog for 9 years and there are so many plastic bags littering our streets that even though I always pick up his poop, I have never had to buy a poop bag. Every day I pick up more plastic bags than I can use. Please, keep a few cloth bags in your car and use these when you go shopping.
Kenneth Cohn
Northwest side
A reason to give thanks
Permit me to interrupt the letters filled with complaints, criticism and character assassination and relate what happened to me at Bashas the day before Thanksgiving. The self-checkout terminal I was using froze up and the clerk took me to the service counter to check my groceries. As she was finishing and I was getting my credit card a woman said “Excuse me” and stepped in front of me and asked how my day was going. I was a little annoyed that she interrupted my transaction and I jokingly said “Are you paying for my groceries?” She said, “Yes.” I looked at the clerk and she shrugged and said, “She does this every so often.” I was stunned. I’m sure I thanked her but not nearly enough. So let me thank that woman again for her kind generosity. I hope she and her family had a blessed Thanksgiving. I know I did.
Deedee Bruster
Northwest side
Re: the Nov. 24. article “Local opinion: Change has to happen
Take action to make change
Dear Editor,
Robert Nordmeyer’s thoughtful piece on our current challenges demands thought and action. If like Mr. Nordmeyer, you are not pleased with the world we are in and what we are creating for the coming generations, time to take action. Say what? Yes, take a step to make it better.
There are many members of Congress who care, why not find out where your members stand. Ask them what matters or send them Nordmeyer’s opinion and ask them what they are doing about it. Ask them to pass the American Family Act, which contains ladders out of poverty for millions of Americans who are hurting, stressed, and too often hungry. Child poverty doubled last year, in America, the world’s wealthiest country. That is a policy choice. Ask your representatives to turn that around. And then follow up. Our voices matter. Use yours — it can make a difference to bring about positive change.
Willie Dickerson
Northwest side
Child neglect kills
The 11/24/23 edition of the Arizona Daily Star reported on the 30th Annual Child Fatality Report. Dr. Mary Ann Ellen Rimsza noted that deaths of children by abuse and neglect had gone up by 12% since 2022. She emphasized that neglect was more common that physical abuse as the cause of death. She urged more support to lower-income families so they can take care of their children. I agree. In the meantime, the Republican legislators stopped or lowered funding for many of those services and financial supports that keep children in their homes and help return them to their families. They did this even though there was a budget surplus. Please vote for legislators and candidates who will vote to stop these child-neglect deaths.
John Higgins
Southeast side
Definition of AR-15
To the writer who claims the AR-15 is not an assault weapon: The definition of assault weapon is more legislative than technical since it varies based on the law. States like California under the 1994 assault weapon ban, categorized the AR-15 as such. The bottom line is that the AR-15 has such a strong capacity that gunmen don’t need to aim, just shoot into a crowd of people.
The mass shootings in Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida (17 dead), Buffalo N.Y. (10 dead) and Uvalde, Texas (19 dead students) represent just a few where an AR-15 was used. This certainly wasn’t target shooting, hunting nor home protection. Tell the relatives and friends of these horrors that an AR-15 isn’t an assault weapon. Finally, our founders didn’t own assault weapons (cannon is laughable) and did not write the Second Amendment just for the right to own and the words “self protection” do not appear.
Chuck Cabrera
Northwest side
Wildcats, why all the antics?
Why must so many of the U of A basketball players stoop to making gestures like muscle flexing, screams, stare downs, etc. after making a good play against their opponents? Can’t they simply play hard and show respect for their opponents and for the game by hustling after a good play without the insulting antics? Why doesn’t Coach Lloyd show his disapproval of such behavior? Did the great players of old like Russell, Chamberlain, West, Frazier, and all the others ever resort to such conduct? It would be so refreshing to see the U of A players, and all players for that matter, imitate the greats of the past in this regard.
Reed Palmer
East side
No appearance of prejudice?
Arizona Supreme Court Justice Montgomery claims he has no duty to recuse himself from the upcoming abortion case, in which planned parenthood is a party.
The code requires recusal when a judge harbors bias or prejudice against a party. Montgomery has said that planned parenthood is responsible for “the greatest generational genocide known to man.” Apparently worse than Hitler, Stalin and pol pot combined.
How can anyone claim with a straight face that comments such as these don’t, at the very least, demonstrate an appearance of prejudice against a party appearing in the court, regardless of whether or not he was a judge when he made them?
By insisting on remaining on the case Montgomery is throwing the entire matter into disarray. The issue is divisive enough without justices whose comments cast doubt on the fairness and integrity of the process. He should recuse himself so the public can have some modicum of faith in the fairness of the proceedings.
Larry Fleischman
Northeast side
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