Tucson speaks up: Letters to the editor for the week of Apr. 10, 2026
- Updated
Our weekly round-up of letters published in the ӰAV.
National deficit
I just read an LTE concerning "the taxpayers' dime," and it comes to mind that the subject of the deficit hasn't been mentioned since last January. Our current administration is on a spending spree like a drunken sailor on shore leave with nary a peep. The promised tariffs will resolve that situation it was suggested, but we see how that is going. I see our tax dollars being used as a bribe to support the current administration's activities in hopes it will get them reelected by rebates. Now he wants to increase our defense budget and take it out of our domestic budgets to support the Iran incursion.
But not to worry, it's all on our dime.
Fred Thompson
Midtown
Medicare Advantage
I understand Luci Messing's trepidation about the loss of funding to Medicare Advantage plans. These plans offer vision and dental benefits as well as health care through private insurance. The GOP has long supported privatization of many government functions. These private companies are in the business of making profits for shareholders. The downside is how they have scammed the government by upcoding and charging $500 billion for unwarranted charges. If all advantage patients were on traditional Medicare, it would cost $85 million less. Insurance companies are also profiting by refusing or delaying legitimate medical care. People are dying to make people rich. The Trump administration is now looking to cover the trillions of tax breaks it gave the richest people in the GOP Big Beautiful Bill. Also in the BBB, Republicans have deprived affordable health care for many people under 65. It doesn't make sense to have health care for profit. It doesn't make sense not to pay for physician and health care providers education.
Barbara Moore
East side
MAGA voters own this
If you are upset with the man occupying the White House, do not forget the MAGA voters who put him there.
MAGA voters own the incompetence and dysfunction with which Trump is running this country, as well as his Cabinet.
MAGA voters own Trump’s war with Iran as well as the deaths of our brave service men and women fighting a war of Trump’s choosing without a strategy or goal or understanding of history.
MAGA voters own the murder of American citizens by ICE agents.
MAGA voters own the failing economy, rising gas prices, as well as the rising cost of everyday goods and services.
MAGA voters own the demise of our Democracy by the weaponization of the DOJ, FBI, Department of Homeland Security et, al.
MAGA voters own the looting of our country by Trump and his cronies, enriching themselves in unprecedented fashion.
Trump certainly has lied about Making America Great Again!
Lane Randolph
East side
Chavez and the farm movement
We were all shocked to learn that Cesar Chavez had sexually abused women. His holidays revoked, streets renamed, statues taken down, his name now remembered with distaste.
But have we so quickly forgotten why he was honored in the first place? In the 1960s, he brought a nation’s attention to the farmworkers who labored under inhumane conditions to bring us the produce that we need. The work was physically brutal, with no restrooms or clean drinking water. Wages were meager, housing was squalid, and their children worked alongside them as farmworkers were excluded from labor laws. Using nonviolent methods, the farmworker movement led strikes and boycotts, created a union, and got workers registered to vote. True, he is no longer a hero, but his crimes do not undo the lasting good he did. So can we have a Farmworkers Day? Can we spend just one day a year recognizing both those who fought the fight and those who work the fields, people who deserve our gratitude and respect?
Susan Green
Foothills
Misrepresenting Bisbee
As a long-time subscriber to the Star and published Bisbee historian who remembers when the paper was delivered to our doorstep each morning, I've seen good and bad writing in your paper. The article headlined "Cozy Arizona" written by Paige Moore that appeared in the E-Edition of your April 3 edition is one of the worst. It is a recycled article that periodically appears in the Arizona Republic under different headlines. It describes Bisbee as if the writer did a superficial internet search rather than a visit, as having a thriving art district (which it does) some historic hotels and "is said to be the home of many ghosts." It hypes the Bisbee Ghost Tour by name but mentions nothing about our Smithsonian-affiliated Mining & Historical Museum or the Queen Mine Tour, both of which tell Bisbee's story in accurate terms. Ghosts only "appeared" here when tourists did.
Mike Anderson
Bisbee
Cameras in nursing homes
Cameras in the rooms of individuals in assisted living is just one more way to dehumanize and exploit the elderly. Remember, you too will be old one day. Many people in nursing homes have bedside commodes; would you want surveillance cameras in your bedroom and bathroom? It amounts to voyeurism under the guise of helpfulness. There has to be other ways to determine if someone is getting the care they need. Do not legitimize cameras.
Cindy Hansen
Foothills
Social Security benefits
I appreciate Allison Schrager’s concern about the welfare state and her suggestion to cap the Social Security benefits of “wealthy retirees.” She doesn’t mention, though, that these benefits are not a handout from the government; it is sharing money from a fund we paid into our entire working life. If her concerns are legitimate, why doesn’t she focus on the annual $18 billion handout of our tax dollars to Boeing, Amazon, Intel, and other enormous corporations run by CEOs and CFOs and other Os who are also magically the wealthiest people who ever existed in the history of the human race?
David Gilbert
Foothills
$689.90 x 12 x 2
April 3: $100,000 … is too much. If a couple receives the maximum Social Security of $99,864 during 2026, they will pay $16,557.60 annually in Medicare premiums. That said, capping benefits it isn't unreasonable, sans means testing.
It would be more sustainable to tax all income in the same manner and eliminate the SS wage cap. Investment gains/losses could be recognized, not realized, at period end. Eliminate favorable tax treatment for dividends, carried interest and carve-outs. All income could be subject to SS/MC deductions when recognized. If all income received by natural persons is subject to the same tax treatment, I speculate SS/MC deductions reduction of 70-80% to a combined rate of about 3.06-4.60%, instead of 15.30%. SS/MC could remain solvent.
As an investor, SS/MC deductions are acceptable.
James Abels
Midtown
Getting a qualified sheriff
The most recent revelations about the background, or lack thereof, of the Pima County Sheriff seem to bring up a more important question: Did the voters know of the concerns before the election or were the gaps hidden, and if so, who was behind the hiding of these details? Based on the background, the sheriff is not a Tucson native, which sounds like a planned conspiracy to bring in the Sheriff to Tucson so that cases could be managed in a desired manner. What sounds like the most interesting question is "What needs to be hidden and who would need this service?" Is there something going on in Pima County that we, the residents, would want uncovered? Speaking from a conservative perspective, Tucson has been under Democratic control for too long, and this influence could be why.
Loran Hancock
Northwest side
Kudos: Oro Valley protesters, first responders
No Kings 3 demonstrations were held on Saturday, March 28, across this country, where 8-9 million people gathered to protest the president's policies, including the cruelty of the Trump regime's ICE policy and concentration camps being built across the country. Our theme at 1st and Oracle was Oro Valley Neighbors for Democracy. We counted 3,550 participants on both sides of Oracle Rd. between 1st Ave. and Pusch Ridge Ln. There were another 650 participants on Magee and Oracle, over 8,400 participating along the Oracle Road corridor between 1st Ave. and Wetmore Road, and several thousand surrounding Tucson engaging in their constitutional right to protest. I commend Officer Eric Larter, his OVPD team, Oro Valley Fire Department and EMTs for their professional, responsive and positive interaction and support of our event, along with dozens of volunteers. The event was joyful and safe. I am proud to live in Oro Valley, where our community OVPD and Fire Department are so highly regarded by our community to keep us all safe.
Rachel Rulmyr
Oro Valley
- Ron Nason, Midtown
During Holy Week Jews and Christians reject divine sanction for the brutality of the Egyptian and Roman empires.
Yet during this week our Secretary of Defense invoked the Bible to justify brutal killing in an illegal, preemptive attack on Iran. Over 73,000 migrants, like Jesus, are dehumanized in overcrowded ICE concentration camps.
Instead of dealing with the blowback from the 1950s CIA coup in Iran and Guatemala along with climate change, our actions intensify political unrest and immigration, making us less safe.
Meanwhile, astronauts return to the moon, looking back at Earth as they did on Christmas Eve, 1968. Will this perspective remind us we are Earth’s stewards, not dominators? Will ICE abuses, like those in Birmingham and Selma, awaken our compassion? Will the divisive, fear-mongering culture wars end our 250-year-old republic, or will we have a rebirth of freedom and humanity?
The choice is ours.
Ron Nason
Midtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the ӰAV.
Arizona water situation
Excellent reporting by Tony Davis in Sunday’s cover story regarding Arizona’s water woes.
Long term, I’m a fan of building desalination plants at the north end of the Sea of Cortez and sending the resulting fresh water up to Lake Havasu to recharge the Central Arizona Project’s canals. But that requires pumping water uphill for 200 miles across an international border and through occasionally rough terrain. That’s not impossible, but it cannot be done quickly.
On the other hand, coastal California has huge demands for residential, industrial, and agricultural water just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean.
Let’s make a deal! Arizona would pay for new desalination plants along the West Coast, delivering fresh water to Californians for free. As those plants come online, California would transfer Colorado River water rights to Arizona, gallon-for-gallon. We could continue to use existing infrastructure without digging new tunnels or canals.
Desalination plants are a mature, well-understood technology that can be operated with minimal environmental impact. If we can thrash our way through the paperwork, a desalination deal with California could be the quickest solution to Arizona’s water supply challenges, and a win-win for both states.
Stephen Fleming
Midtown
Trump voters
Ronald Eustice's recent op-ed skirts the real issue concerning his and others' 3-time votes for Donald Trump. Civil discourse is productive, but why would people who say they value civility vote for someone who doesn't? Two words, Mr. Eustice: Character matters. Few presidents were without character flaws, but most brought intelligence and competence to the presidency that mitigated those flaws. Donald Trump brings nothing but flaws. This was evident even in 2016; in 2020, his incompetent and self-serving mismanagement of the COVID pandemic caused thousands of needless deaths; In 2021, he instigated an insurrectionist riot because his fragile ego cannot stand the idea of "losing." Trump never belonged anywhere near the presidency, and his tenure there has immeasurably damaged the country. We are legitimately incensed at voters who repeatedly ignored warning signs about Trump. Your misguided choices put us in the shameful mess you now bemoan, and you shouldn't need to be "cajoled" into changing course.
S. Ross Emmanuel
Southeast side
Trump can be stopped
If the Vice President and most of the Cabinet had spines, Donald Trump could be removed from office using the 25th Amendment.
Instead, they are turning a blind eye to these offenses: profiting from top secret documents including war maps that he stole from the White House, potentially selling out America for commercial gain; obstructing justice by not releasing the Epstein files; lining his and his family’s pockets with tax payer dollars through bailouts and handouts benefiting his businesses including crypto currency; killing civilians on fishing boats and protesters in the streets; lying on Truth Social that progress was being made to open the Hormuz Strait in order to manipulate the stock market; declaring war with Iran without congressional authorization; and disappearing innocent people to foreign gulags.
Congressional Republicans, Cabinet Secretaries and MAGA Supreme Court Justices are not only complicit in Trump’s trampling of our democracy, but they are also willing to undo what America is at Trump’s bidding.
Teresa Jenkins
SaddleBrooke
The new killing machine: drones
POLITICO reports that injuries and deaths from drones far outstrip those from conventional weapons in the current Ukraine-Russian war and are responsible for between 70-80% of those injured or killed on both sides. How important are drones? Russia plans to build a drone production plant in neighboring Belarus with a capacity of up to 100,000 drones a year. The Russian Ministry of Defense recently launched a recruitment campaign at their universities, seeking students with computer and tech skills to bolster its drone forces. The U.S. is using the United Kingdom’s Palantir’s Maven Smart Targeting System to guide many of its 11,000 drone attacks on Iran. The downside of Maven is the limited time to verify targets — a drone struck an elementary school, killing 110 children. This new arms race is real — ramping up drone capabilities to include nuclear payloads. This proliferation of death-delivering drones is spiraling out of control. Given the world’s current political leader’s aggressive actions, hope for mankind dwindles.
Richard Harper
Northeast side
Support for veterans/not
Rep. Ciscomani has been using a photo of myself and the other veterans in the local chapter of the MOPH in various media. That implies he supports veterans, but every time one of us asks for help we get nothing but crickets! My displeasure isn't about the high (and rising) price of gas - I drive electric. This is about starting a war for no discernible reason and getting people killed, for what? The lack of competence in the current administration is absolutely appalling. They shouldn't be trusted with a slingshot, much less a battle group.
Dave Bertagnoli
West side
Crimes against the peace of the world
Found guilty of this crime, the leaders of the Nazi Party were judged at Nuremberg by the Allied Powers and condemned to prison. Where is the international tribunal now to judge President Donald Trump and his fascist minions for the same crime?
Aggression, murder, breaking treaties, intimidation, collusion and more to break the peace and pursue nationalistic, narcissistic ends. Just like the Nazis.
Not to mention his raging warfare against the national tranquility within the United States. Including the pogrom he has started against minorities, the disadvantaged, the differently able and their advocates.
Where do you stand? Against the Nazis? Against Trump? Or for the triumph of justice within a democracy?
Watch the new film, Nuremberg (2025) to understand where the world has been, and where it may be heading.
Michael Craig
West side
Thanks for the UA heroes
As everyone else in this town, I have Wildcat fever, which will subside by Saturday at midnight or Monday, April 5: win/lose or draw (I will always be a fan) but the fever will break.
In my desperate search for a UA men's basketball shirt, I visited five different bookstores(campus) for the last three straight days. Each place had sold out of the Final Four shirts (some in the first half-hour of opening for business).
At each location, all the clerical staff, cashiers, were tremendously helpful, professional and understanding of my search (yes, I could have ordered online)
Finally, today I had success at the main bookstore.
Just thanks to Administration and Athletic department. So grateful for the small things.
Go Cats.
Go Cats.
Margarita Bernal
West side
Democracy is a verb
Thanks to all those protesters in the “No King protests” and all others who worked making signs and efforts to make sure it happened. It was a great turnout every place in our country. The protesters had to be proactive. Keeping our country safe requires voters to work hard.
Cartoons have been great in the Star as well as all over the country and if you look, all over the world. Podcasts are bringing transparency to political corruption. LTEs and opinions help.
Donations, when possible, help. Promoting solidarity can do a lot.
And just resist.
Pat Bannon
Midtown
SAVE Act
If the SAVE Act is passed, I won't be able to vote until I spend $600 and change my name.
I am 74 years old and I have been a U.S. citizen since I was born. But my birth name is different than the one I have used on all documents since elementary school. And my expired passport is too old.
There are 10s of millions of American citizens who will be disenfranchised if the SAVE Act is passed. It is just part of Trump's attempt to steal the election, like he tried to do in 2020.
Tres English
Midtown
Flight around the moon
Like most people, I was pleased that the rocket blasted off towards the moon with no problems. I guess I am a skeptic because I seem to remember that in the 1960s, we had several trips around the moon culminating with a landing and walk upon the surface. Our advances do not seem historic to me but slow, cumbersome and with a lack of focus. So we walked on the moon in 1969, and 57 years later, we are just getting around to flying around it again. What, another 10 years for another walk followed by building a 14x20 shack on the surface in 100 years. Maybe I'm missing something, but when the Model T was initiated it was quickly followed by more and better. Maybe it's money or technology, but why so snail-like?
Philip Reinecker
East side
- Jack Walters, Northeast side
Middle Eastern countries that use desalinization of sea water to provide fresh water for their people include Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Israel, Algeria and Egypt. We have one such system serving San Diego.
Why does Arizona keep trying to divide up the dwindling resource of the Colorado River when proven technology is available as shown by the above countries? The solution is so obvious it is mindboggling that our leaders can’t get on with solving our water problem.
Jack Walters
Northeast side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the ӰAV.
More like this...
National deficit
I just read an LTE concerning "the taxpayers' dime," and it comes to mind that the subject of the deficit hasn't been mentioned since last January. Our current administration is on a spending spree like a drunken sailor on shore leave with nary a peep. The promised tariffs will resolve that situation it was suggested, but we see how that is going. I see our tax dollars being used as a bribe to support the current administration's activities in hopes it will get them reelected by rebates. Now he wants to increase our defense budget and take it out of our domestic budgets to support the Iran incursion.
But not to worry, it's all on our dime.
Fred Thompson
Midtown
Medicare Advantage
I understand Luci Messing's trepidation about the loss of funding to Medicare Advantage plans. These plans offer vision and dental benefits as well as health care through private insurance. The GOP has long supported privatization of many government functions. These private companies are in the business of making profits for shareholders. The downside is how they have scammed the government by upcoding and charging $500 billion for unwarranted charges. If all advantage patients were on traditional Medicare, it would cost $85 million less. Insurance companies are also profiting by refusing or delaying legitimate medical care. People are dying to make people rich. The Trump administration is now looking to cover the trillions of tax breaks it gave the richest people in the GOP Big Beautiful Bill. Also in the BBB, Republicans have deprived affordable health care for many people under 65. It doesn't make sense to have health care for profit. It doesn't make sense not to pay for physician and health care providers education.
Barbara Moore
East side
MAGA voters own this
If you are upset with the man occupying the White House, do not forget the MAGA voters who put him there.
MAGA voters own the incompetence and dysfunction with which Trump is running this country, as well as his Cabinet.
MAGA voters own Trump’s war with Iran as well as the deaths of our brave service men and women fighting a war of Trump’s choosing without a strategy or goal or understanding of history.
MAGA voters own the murder of American citizens by ICE agents.
MAGA voters own the failing economy, rising gas prices, as well as the rising cost of everyday goods and services.
MAGA voters own the demise of our Democracy by the weaponization of the DOJ, FBI, Department of Homeland Security et, al.
MAGA voters own the looting of our country by Trump and his cronies, enriching themselves in unprecedented fashion.
Trump certainly has lied about Making America Great Again!
Lane Randolph
East side
Chavez and the farm movement
We were all shocked to learn that Cesar Chavez had sexually abused women. His holidays revoked, streets renamed, statues taken down, his name now remembered with distaste.
But have we so quickly forgotten why he was honored in the first place? In the 1960s, he brought a nation’s attention to the farmworkers who labored under inhumane conditions to bring us the produce that we need. The work was physically brutal, with no restrooms or clean drinking water. Wages were meager, housing was squalid, and their children worked alongside them as farmworkers were excluded from labor laws. Using nonviolent methods, the farmworker movement led strikes and boycotts, created a union, and got workers registered to vote. True, he is no longer a hero, but his crimes do not undo the lasting good he did. So can we have a Farmworkers Day? Can we spend just one day a year recognizing both those who fought the fight and those who work the fields, people who deserve our gratitude and respect?
Susan Green
Foothills
Misrepresenting Bisbee
As a long-time subscriber to the Star and published Bisbee historian who remembers when the paper was delivered to our doorstep each morning, I've seen good and bad writing in your paper. The article headlined "Cozy Arizona" written by Paige Moore that appeared in the E-Edition of your April 3 edition is one of the worst. It is a recycled article that periodically appears in the Arizona Republic under different headlines. It describes Bisbee as if the writer did a superficial internet search rather than a visit, as having a thriving art district (which it does) some historic hotels and "is said to be the home of many ghosts." It hypes the Bisbee Ghost Tour by name but mentions nothing about our Smithsonian-affiliated Mining & Historical Museum or the Queen Mine Tour, both of which tell Bisbee's story in accurate terms. Ghosts only "appeared" here when tourists did.
Mike Anderson
Bisbee
Cameras in nursing homes
Cameras in the rooms of individuals in assisted living is just one more way to dehumanize and exploit the elderly. Remember, you too will be old one day. Many people in nursing homes have bedside commodes; would you want surveillance cameras in your bedroom and bathroom? It amounts to voyeurism under the guise of helpfulness. There has to be other ways to determine if someone is getting the care they need. Do not legitimize cameras.
Cindy Hansen
Foothills
Social Security benefits
I appreciate Allison Schrager’s concern about the welfare state and her suggestion to cap the Social Security benefits of “wealthy retirees.” She doesn’t mention, though, that these benefits are not a handout from the government; it is sharing money from a fund we paid into our entire working life. If her concerns are legitimate, why doesn’t she focus on the annual $18 billion handout of our tax dollars to Boeing, Amazon, Intel, and other enormous corporations run by CEOs and CFOs and other Os who are also magically the wealthiest people who ever existed in the history of the human race?
David Gilbert
Foothills
$689.90 x 12 x 2
April 3: $100,000 … is too much. If a couple receives the maximum Social Security of $99,864 during 2026, they will pay $16,557.60 annually in Medicare premiums. That said, capping benefits it isn't unreasonable, sans means testing.
It would be more sustainable to tax all income in the same manner and eliminate the SS wage cap. Investment gains/losses could be recognized, not realized, at period end. Eliminate favorable tax treatment for dividends, carried interest and carve-outs. All income could be subject to SS/MC deductions when recognized. If all income received by natural persons is subject to the same tax treatment, I speculate SS/MC deductions reduction of 70-80% to a combined rate of about 3.06-4.60%, instead of 15.30%. SS/MC could remain solvent.
As an investor, SS/MC deductions are acceptable.
James Abels
Midtown
Getting a qualified sheriff
The most recent revelations about the background, or lack thereof, of the Pima County Sheriff seem to bring up a more important question: Did the voters know of the concerns before the election or were the gaps hidden, and if so, who was behind the hiding of these details? Based on the background, the sheriff is not a Tucson native, which sounds like a planned conspiracy to bring in the Sheriff to Tucson so that cases could be managed in a desired manner. What sounds like the most interesting question is "What needs to be hidden and who would need this service?" Is there something going on in Pima County that we, the residents, would want uncovered? Speaking from a conservative perspective, Tucson has been under Democratic control for too long, and this influence could be why.
Loran Hancock
Northwest side
Kudos: Oro Valley protesters, first responders
No Kings 3 demonstrations were held on Saturday, March 28, across this country, where 8-9 million people gathered to protest the president's policies, including the cruelty of the Trump regime's ICE policy and concentration camps being built across the country. Our theme at 1st and Oracle was Oro Valley Neighbors for Democracy. We counted 3,550 participants on both sides of Oracle Rd. between 1st Ave. and Pusch Ridge Ln. There were another 650 participants on Magee and Oracle, over 8,400 participating along the Oracle Road corridor between 1st Ave. and Wetmore Road, and several thousand surrounding Tucson engaging in their constitutional right to protest. I commend Officer Eric Larter, his OVPD team, Oro Valley Fire Department and EMTs for their professional, responsive and positive interaction and support of our event, along with dozens of volunteers. The event was joyful and safe. I am proud to live in Oro Valley, where our community OVPD and Fire Department are so highly regarded by our community to keep us all safe.
Rachel Rulmyr
Oro Valley
- Ron Nason, Midtown
During Holy Week Jews and Christians reject divine sanction for the brutality of the Egyptian and Roman empires.
Yet during this week our Secretary of Defense invoked the Bible to justify brutal killing in an illegal, preemptive attack on Iran. Over 73,000 migrants, like Jesus, are dehumanized in overcrowded ICE concentration camps.
Instead of dealing with the blowback from the 1950s CIA coup in Iran and Guatemala along with climate change, our actions intensify political unrest and immigration, making us less safe.
Meanwhile, astronauts return to the moon, looking back at Earth as they did on Christmas Eve, 1968. Will this perspective remind us we are Earth’s stewards, not dominators? Will ICE abuses, like those in Birmingham and Selma, awaken our compassion? Will the divisive, fear-mongering culture wars end our 250-year-old republic, or will we have a rebirth of freedom and humanity?
The choice is ours.
Ron Nason
Midtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the ӰAV.
Arizona water situation
Excellent reporting by Tony Davis in Sunday’s cover story regarding Arizona’s water woes.
Long term, I’m a fan of building desalination plants at the north end of the Sea of Cortez and sending the resulting fresh water up to Lake Havasu to recharge the Central Arizona Project’s canals. But that requires pumping water uphill for 200 miles across an international border and through occasionally rough terrain. That’s not impossible, but it cannot be done quickly.
On the other hand, coastal California has huge demands for residential, industrial, and agricultural water just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean.
Let’s make a deal! Arizona would pay for new desalination plants along the West Coast, delivering fresh water to Californians for free. As those plants come online, California would transfer Colorado River water rights to Arizona, gallon-for-gallon. We could continue to use existing infrastructure without digging new tunnels or canals.
Desalination plants are a mature, well-understood technology that can be operated with minimal environmental impact. If we can thrash our way through the paperwork, a desalination deal with California could be the quickest solution to Arizona’s water supply challenges, and a win-win for both states.
Stephen Fleming
Midtown
Trump voters
Ronald Eustice's recent op-ed skirts the real issue concerning his and others' 3-time votes for Donald Trump. Civil discourse is productive, but why would people who say they value civility vote for someone who doesn't? Two words, Mr. Eustice: Character matters. Few presidents were without character flaws, but most brought intelligence and competence to the presidency that mitigated those flaws. Donald Trump brings nothing but flaws. This was evident even in 2016; in 2020, his incompetent and self-serving mismanagement of the COVID pandemic caused thousands of needless deaths; In 2021, he instigated an insurrectionist riot because his fragile ego cannot stand the idea of "losing." Trump never belonged anywhere near the presidency, and his tenure there has immeasurably damaged the country. We are legitimately incensed at voters who repeatedly ignored warning signs about Trump. Your misguided choices put us in the shameful mess you now bemoan, and you shouldn't need to be "cajoled" into changing course.
S. Ross Emmanuel
Southeast side
Trump can be stopped
If the Vice President and most of the Cabinet had spines, Donald Trump could be removed from office using the 25th Amendment.
Instead, they are turning a blind eye to these offenses: profiting from top secret documents including war maps that he stole from the White House, potentially selling out America for commercial gain; obstructing justice by not releasing the Epstein files; lining his and his family’s pockets with tax payer dollars through bailouts and handouts benefiting his businesses including crypto currency; killing civilians on fishing boats and protesters in the streets; lying on Truth Social that progress was being made to open the Hormuz Strait in order to manipulate the stock market; declaring war with Iran without congressional authorization; and disappearing innocent people to foreign gulags.
Congressional Republicans, Cabinet Secretaries and MAGA Supreme Court Justices are not only complicit in Trump’s trampling of our democracy, but they are also willing to undo what America is at Trump’s bidding.
Teresa Jenkins
SaddleBrooke
The new killing machine: drones
POLITICO reports that injuries and deaths from drones far outstrip those from conventional weapons in the current Ukraine-Russian war and are responsible for between 70-80% of those injured or killed on both sides. How important are drones? Russia plans to build a drone production plant in neighboring Belarus with a capacity of up to 100,000 drones a year. The Russian Ministry of Defense recently launched a recruitment campaign at their universities, seeking students with computer and tech skills to bolster its drone forces. The U.S. is using the United Kingdom’s Palantir’s Maven Smart Targeting System to guide many of its 11,000 drone attacks on Iran. The downside of Maven is the limited time to verify targets — a drone struck an elementary school, killing 110 children. This new arms race is real — ramping up drone capabilities to include nuclear payloads. This proliferation of death-delivering drones is spiraling out of control. Given the world’s current political leader’s aggressive actions, hope for mankind dwindles.
Richard Harper
Northeast side
Support for veterans/not
Rep. Ciscomani has been using a photo of myself and the other veterans in the local chapter of the MOPH in various media. That implies he supports veterans, but every time one of us asks for help we get nothing but crickets! My displeasure isn't about the high (and rising) price of gas - I drive electric. This is about starting a war for no discernible reason and getting people killed, for what? The lack of competence in the current administration is absolutely appalling. They shouldn't be trusted with a slingshot, much less a battle group.
Dave Bertagnoli
West side
Crimes against the peace of the world
Found guilty of this crime, the leaders of the Nazi Party were judged at Nuremberg by the Allied Powers and condemned to prison. Where is the international tribunal now to judge President Donald Trump and his fascist minions for the same crime?
Aggression, murder, breaking treaties, intimidation, collusion and more to break the peace and pursue nationalistic, narcissistic ends. Just like the Nazis.
Not to mention his raging warfare against the national tranquility within the United States. Including the pogrom he has started against minorities, the disadvantaged, the differently able and their advocates.
Where do you stand? Against the Nazis? Against Trump? Or for the triumph of justice within a democracy?
Watch the new film, Nuremberg (2025) to understand where the world has been, and where it may be heading.
Michael Craig
West side
Thanks for the UA heroes
As everyone else in this town, I have Wildcat fever, which will subside by Saturday at midnight or Monday, April 5: win/lose or draw (I will always be a fan) but the fever will break.
In my desperate search for a UA men's basketball shirt, I visited five different bookstores(campus) for the last three straight days. Each place had sold out of the Final Four shirts (some in the first half-hour of opening for business).
At each location, all the clerical staff, cashiers, were tremendously helpful, professional and understanding of my search (yes, I could have ordered online)
Finally, today I had success at the main bookstore.
Just thanks to Administration and Athletic department. So grateful for the small things.
Go Cats.
Go Cats.
Margarita Bernal
West side
Democracy is a verb
Thanks to all those protesters in the “No King protests” and all others who worked making signs and efforts to make sure it happened. It was a great turnout every place in our country. The protesters had to be proactive. Keeping our country safe requires voters to work hard.
Cartoons have been great in the Star as well as all over the country and if you look, all over the world. Podcasts are bringing transparency to political corruption. LTEs and opinions help.
Donations, when possible, help. Promoting solidarity can do a lot.
And just resist.
Pat Bannon
Midtown
SAVE Act
If the SAVE Act is passed, I won't be able to vote until I spend $600 and change my name.
I am 74 years old and I have been a U.S. citizen since I was born. But my birth name is different than the one I have used on all documents since elementary school. And my expired passport is too old.
There are 10s of millions of American citizens who will be disenfranchised if the SAVE Act is passed. It is just part of Trump's attempt to steal the election, like he tried to do in 2020.
Tres English
Midtown
Flight around the moon
Like most people, I was pleased that the rocket blasted off towards the moon with no problems. I guess I am a skeptic because I seem to remember that in the 1960s, we had several trips around the moon culminating with a landing and walk upon the surface. Our advances do not seem historic to me but slow, cumbersome and with a lack of focus. So we walked on the moon in 1969, and 57 years later, we are just getting around to flying around it again. What, another 10 years for another walk followed by building a 14x20 shack on the surface in 100 years. Maybe I'm missing something, but when the Model T was initiated it was quickly followed by more and better. Maybe it's money or technology, but why so snail-like?
Philip Reinecker
East side
- Jack Walters, Northeast side
Middle Eastern countries that use desalinization of sea water to provide fresh water for their people include Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Israel, Algeria and Egypt. We have one such system serving San Diego.
Why does Arizona keep trying to divide up the dwindling resource of the Colorado River when proven technology is available as shown by the above countries? The solution is so obvious it is mindboggling that our leaders can’t get on with solving our water problem.
Jack Walters
Northeast side
Disclaimer: As submitted to the ӰAV.
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