Tucson Speaks Out: Nov. 29 letters of the day
Undocumented immigrants
In times of crisis, four presidents ordered the closure of our borders. The 9-11 terrorists entered our country illegally by using forged passports. One can only wonder how many terrorists, criminals, or people infected with contagious diseases could be embedded among the undocumented immigrants. Resources of our border towns have been taxed beyond catastrophic proportions. Article 1 of the constitution guarantees the states the sovereign power to repel an invasion and defend against imminent danger. The undocumented immigrants might be likened to “unarmed invaders”. With millions of apprehended undocumented, the president should exemplify his predecessors and empower border states with the authority and resources to defend themselves.
Matt Drozd
Northeast side
What’s up with President Biden and Iran?
President Biden is again waiving a sanction placed on Iran. It will allow them to receive billions in payments for electricity exports to Iraq. The State Dept. says the the funds can only be used for humanitarian purposes, but the leader of Iran has stated that they will use funds like these for whatever purposes they desire. Biden has been lax in enforcing oil sanctions on Iran, allowing them to sell billions in oil to China on the black market. This follows Biden’s $6 billion hostage deal with Iran. That money was placed on hold after Israel was attacked by Hamas, an Iranian proxy. I have no doubt that the funds will be quietly released to Iran in the future. Iranian proxies in Syria and Yemen have launched over 40 attacks on U.S. installations in the Middle East. So what is it with Biden’s continued “niceness” to Iran? I think he has promised Barack Obama to do another flawed nuclear bribery deal and will do it no matter what.
Mary Ann Starman
North side
LFL football
I have been hearing about the ladies flag football league and was eager to hear more. Yesterday, on facebook I saw examples of their new uniforms. Shoulder pads over sports bra and itsy bitsy bikini panties. So very sad. I had hoped to view a classy professional approach to the new sport. Instead a sexist play on cutesy pictures which made it virtually certain that the so-called sport is doomed to failure.
Phil Reinecker
East side
Don’t forget how war with Hamas started
Yes it’s horrible about the innocents on each side, but because of the blatant overt anti-semitism that has always existed and which is now even more rampant, people are quickly forgetting that there didn’t need to be innocents hurt in Gaza had Hamas not brutally massacred Israelis.
Maureen Salz
Oro Valley
Assault rifles
Re: the Nov. 24 letter “AR-15s not ‘assault weapons’”
Recently a writer expressed his opinion that AR-15 rifles are not assault rifles. This may be a common thought among the 2nd amendment crowd, but the rest of us and the laws call them by that name. Clearly the rifle design was created to give the US armed forces a weapon that was capable of killing the enemy with utmost efficiency.
The author also expressed the opinion that the founders gave us the right to own any firearm. That may have been the intent, but that “right” has been limited since the NFA was made into a law in 1934, subsequently amended in 1968. It is time to add to the list of regulated weapons. If passed the owners could apply for a license, pay the tax and continue to own their ARs. At a reasonable tax amount $4000 the national debt could be significantly reduced. Approx. 20 million AR-15s are owned in the USA. It is no wonder why these are often used in mass shootings.
Jeff Rayner
What is an assault weapon?
Re: the Nov. 24 letter “AR-15s not ‘assault weapons’.”
A recent contributor claimed AR-15s aren’t assault weapons. He didn’t say what an assault weapon is but claims AR-15s aren’t assault weapons because they’re semiautomatic requiring a trigger pull each time they’re fired verses automatic weapons that fire many times per trigger pull. So, if the trigger has to be pulled 10 times to kill 10 humans, it’s not an assault weapon; but if you can kill 10 humans with a single trigger pull, it is?
Then he states, “The founders owned assault weapons.” Yet “the founders” only had flintlocks, and you can’t kill 10 people with a single trigger pull of a musket. That contradicts his definition of assault weapons. So, what is an assault weapon?
Here’s a definition I made up, I call it the “Rule of Ten”: a weapon that a 10-year-old child could use to kill 10 humans in 10 seconds is an assault weapon. If you don’t like my definition, come up with your own.
Floyd Newsom
Northwest side
Fear mongering bad for democracy
President Lyndon B. Johnson once said, “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”
Simply add the terms immigrant, gay or transgender, and you have the core of Republican political strategy today. From Donald Trump to Republican congressional reps like Eli Crane or state legislators like Justine Wadsack, it’s all about creating fear and anger, demonizing the “other” to make their followers feel good and cough up the money.
This is a cynical, backward and deeply un-American way to attract certain voters and deter others. Those who care about democracy must ensure that the more enlightened trends of recent election outcomes continue, reject hateful ideas, and support candidates with positive ways to effect a better future.
Gail Kamaras
East side
Elected officials: do your job!
It is both the expectation and responsibility of those we send to Congress to, simply put, pass laws. If someone has been there for say, five years, and can’t point to any legislation they’ve taken part in, then we must reassess their ability to get the peoples’ business done. Our country’s been stuck in the mud because Republicans, who control half of the law-passing branch of government, can’t even get along with themselves! Their in-fighting prevents setting aside differences in order to do what they’re there for. (When’s the last time you got everything you wanted?) The Democrats stepped up and stepped in, compromised with “centrist” Republicans and prevented the shutdown. Bargaining moves legislation along, indeed, our Constitution was written with compromise. Election season approaches, so high time we the people elect only those who can find common ground for moving our state and country forward. Compromise, we should all recognize, is not a four letter word.
Merry Mungo
Green Valley
What is the truth about teachers
Re: the Nov. 25 articles “How to help US teach” and “Pay for performance, drop needless certification.”
I am confused — these articles appeared on the same day, same page, written for the same publication, and they seem to say totally opposite things. Which is the reality? Too many or too few teachers? Overpaid or underpaid? Too many or too few students per teacher? Perhaps these authors should get together, compare notes, and find out what the real situation is. Perhaps we need an independent inquiry and an unbiased report.
My take on all this? What this country needs is a national basic education standard that ensures all students are taught what is necessary for them to become intelligent, thoughtful, logical thinkers, not what is dictated by biased localities. Either we are truly the UNITED States of America, or we are just a conglomeration of squabbling, ignorant small-time fiefdoms where everybody hates everybody else. Good education is the one indispensable requisite for the survival of democracy.
Klara Cserny
Southwest side
Mob rule
A boss keeps his mob loyal by invoking the threat of those attempting to cross the southern border. The desperate migrants at the border are mostly fleeing the less powerful, but so far more dangerous mob bosses of criminal gangs in many areas south of the border. These bosses have managed to do away with the rule of law in these areas through murder and threats. (Consider Mexico has a 93% unsolved murder rate.) Despite claiming that he and his party want to take on and destroy these foreign, relatively small-time bosses, the bosses’ political strategy depends on the terror they create in their communities. Neither he nor his party want to solve the border ‘crisis’ since it’s the main issue they’ve got to run on. His loyalists fail to see the terrible irony of their boss and these foreign bosses feeding off and needing each other and operating similarly through threats. If his loyalists bring him to full power again, the rule of law is in jeopardy here.
Eric Gormally
Oro Valley
Reverse discrimination charge
Re: the Nov. 24 article “District sued over transgender policies.”
In a recent article, Stephen Miller, founder of the America First Legal Foundation, describes private companies’ programs to promote diversity as example of reverse discrimination against white people and men.
That they are. Exactly. If by discrimination you mean working to limit the power and exclusive privilege of those who maintain advantage over others.
The Oxford dictionary defines discrimination as “the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of ethnicity, age, sex, or disability.”
What is lacking in Mr. Miller’s claim is the implicit meaning of the term, which is using power and influence to exclude those who do not share power and privilege.
His lawsuit against Mesa Public Schools should be thrown out on the basis that it allows the people with privilege and power to maintain their privilege and power by calling any challenge “reverse discrimination”.
Scott Morris
Nine out of 10 voters
Regardless of party, regardless of gender, regardless of age, nine out of 10 Arizona voters oppose bans on abortion. If you, your family, and friends are among those who want to protect women’s reproductive rights in our state, please look for volunteers carrying clipboards or manning tables and take a moment to sign their petition.
Their Arizona for Abortion Access petition addresses a woman’s right to a safe, legal abortion to protect her life, her physical well-being and her mental health as determined by her doctor and safeguards them from being penalized for their well-considered actions.
To get the initiative on the ballot, 500,000 signatures are needed statewide by the end of June, 2024. With nine out of 10 voters in support, it should pass, and a woman’s right to reproductive health and safety will be enshrined in the Arizona State Constitution.
Signing events throughout Tucson and greater Arizona available at mobilize.us . With your help we can do this.
Jacolyn Marshall
Oro Valley
Addicted to whom?
Re: the Nov. 27 letter “Addiction.”
This is in response to the letter writer’s latest rant about the Dems, hating Trump, and how everything is Biden’s fault. I’m not addicted to hating Donald Trump. Rather than having “lost all ability to recognize reality and apply any modicum of common sense” I have far too numerous and obvious reasons for my loathing and disdain of Donald Trump. If you lived in reality and exercised any common sense, you would easily recognize these valid feelings. This “hatred” is not blind. No wonder Trump loves the uneducated.
Stanley Steik
LGBTQ book bans
Re: Nov. 27 letter, “GOP’s war on teachers.”
The letter seems disingenuous to the LGBTQ issue in public schools. Example: “Republican-led book banning” (in public school libraries). There is sound reasoning for certain LGBTQ book bans in public school libraries. The suppressed truth in this matter revolves around what is happening at open public school board meetings. That is, when certain LGBTQ books are read to school board members by concerned parents, some LGBTQ content is so immorally-charged that school board members will not allow any further readings at open school board meetings. Imagine that, some LGBTQ books for grade-school children are so offensive to adults’ ears, the adults can’t stand to hear any more of the book’s content. Double standard anyone?
Google and YouTube this LGBTQ premise occurring at school board meetings, and you’ll be inundated with articles and actual reading encounters between parents and school board members. It’s widespread across America.
Daniel Pryor
West side
