Tucson Speaks Out: April 25

Someone good to talk about

April 21 was a very sad day for millions around the world. Pope Francis died after battling pneumonia for weeks. I was not raised as a Catholic, yet I felt deep sorrow and a sense of loss as well. He was a kind, gentle, caring man who did not distinguish between a person's race, wealth or ethnicity. He put others before himself. He did not belittle but embraced all. He was beloved and his knowledge, wit and wisdom will be missed. Pope Francis was truly a man of God.

Oh, how we could use thousands more like this Pope now. May he rest in peace.

Sally Mayersohn

Northwest side

Antisemitism in Tucson

What happens in Tucson, can happen in the state, in the nation, then in the world. We as individuals cannot change the world, but we can stand up here and uphold honesty, dignity, and tolerance. A Jewish synagogue in my neighborhood was vandalized recently, with graffiti calling for the elimination of Israel because it is allegedly an Apartheid state. The global slogan “From the river to the sea” means: genocide, or Holocaust 2. Of course, there are many things wrong in Israel, but that is the case in our own country as well. The war in Gaza is horrible, but who started it? Who murdered, raped, castrated, dismembered, and took hostages, holding them in miserable and dehumanizing conditions until today? Hamas. Even the Palestinians in Gaza are demonstrating against that terror regime, but the American media hides that from us. Vandalizing a synagogue here in Tucson reveals the mindset of the perpetrator/s: exert terror, repress people, and impose a radical ideology that threatens us all irrespective of our faiths.

Albrecht Classen

Midtown

The truth about Juan Ciscomani

I believe Representative Juan Ciscomani has done a good job as my representative.

He has been ranked as the most effective member of Congress from Arizona during the 118th Congress, the third most effective freshman, by the Center for Effective Lawmaking. 

He prioritized the Veterans’ Survivors Act (H.R. 1228) to ensure that surviving families of veterans receive the benefits even after their loved ones have passed.

He hosted a telephone town hall with over 4,000 listeners to take questions and hear directly from his constituents.

He sent a letter to Speaker Johnson urging him to protect Medicaid and SNAP benefits.

He introduced the largest water settlement legislation in Arizona’s history.

He sent a letter to the Secretary of the Army to ensure veterans are able to receive their Purple Heart award. 

He hosted the third annual Service Academy Day for students planning to attend a prestigious military academy.

He participated in an American citizenship naturalization ceremony.

He hosted a quarterly meeting with his Veterans Advisory Council.

Great job.

Tom McGorray

Northwest side

Job training for inmates

I am a retired criminal justice specialist. I have 40 years' experience in the field. I want to commend Gov. Katie Hobbs and Ray Thornell, Director of the Arizona Department of Corrections Rehabilitation and Reentry program, for starting a job training component. It has been my experience and studies show that repeat crime is caused by three things. They are lack of education, limited working skills and coming from a dysfunctional family. When putting people in prison with nothing to do, problems are waiting to happen. Upon release, one is tempted to go back to negative behavior, and this results in a return to prison.

Thomas Christian

SaddleBrooke

Residential energy programs

As a retired university professor with a background in technical education, I value smart investments and long-term planning. When my wife and I moved to Tucson, we saw the potential of solar energy and installed a system that significantly reduced our energy bills — thanks to state incentives and the 25D Residential Clean Energy Tax Credit.

Now, we’re preparing to replace our aging furnace and air conditioner with a high-efficiency heat pump system. The 25C Energy Efficient Home Improvement Tax Credit is essential to making that upgrade financially feasible. With my technical background, I understand the real efficiency gains and cost savings these systems provide — not just for homeowners like me, but for the entire energy grid.

I’m concerned that Congress may eliminate these credits, which help families on fixed incomes make smart upgrades while reducing demand on the grid. Repealing them would be short-sighted and costly in the long run.

Craig Storlie

North side

Beyond the tipping point

The city of Tucson is beyond the tipping point of replacing the RTA Next half-cent sales tax with a similar measure. The city should disconnect from future RTA project funding plans and prepare its own half-cent sales tax measure covering in part the city's priority transportation issues. Enough is enough.

Donald Ijams

Midtown

Did you vote for this?

On April 23 a former ICE Chief of Staff is interviewed on MSNBC, saying that the recent action of the current Administration in removing people to El Salvador is “inhumane political theater.” He adds that the current Administration is also degrading the immigration system, e.g. firing judges and other people who promote legal immigration.

Meanwhile, local non-profits have been warned of an imminent assault on their functioning.

Derechos Humanos, fighting for everyone’s civil rights and the Constitution, invites you to march peacefully with us Thursday, May 1, starting at 5:30 at Southside Presbyterian Church, 317 W. 23rd St.

Mobilize Tucson and fiftyfifty.one are also involved. Defend the 278 CECOT prisoners who were never convicted of crimes. The time is now to resist this egregious loss of everyone's civil rights. Immigrants are not the first to be scapegoated and won't be the last.

Gaye Adams

Midtown

Garimella's name is missing

Recently, 172 college and university presidents signed a statement released by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) on April 22 that said they were with “one voice against the unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education.” 

University of Arizona President Suresh Garimella's name was missing.

If there ever was a time to stand up and fight against President Trump's rapid drift to autocracy, it is now. The courts are standing up. The people in the streets are standing up. Higher education is beginning to coalesce and stand up.

The University of Arizona must do the same.

Phineas Anderson

Catalina

Sobering thoughts

Under this Administration:

— DOGE has no issue cutting lifesaving programs and peoples' livelihoods, but spending $3+M a week for Trump to golf is no problem.

— Due process is now "What I do is the process."

— Our once-benevolent nation is now belligerent.

— The melting pot has become a boiling cauldron.

— Facts are optional. If officials even think you are bad, you are at risk. Guilty without the option of proving innocence.

— DEI bad, guns good.

— National secrets can now be transferred to Mar-a-Lago over Starlink. No need to store boxes in bathrooms anymore.

— It's now government by the peephole. Big Brother is watching.

— For a mere $5M, the USA is for sale. Apparently, the $5M Gold Card has Trump's image on it. Obviously not to be taken at face value.

— In-person town halls discouraged. Telephones are way easier to mute.

It's driving me to drink.

Dianne Lethaby

East side

China jumps for joy

So, the State Department has now been branded as "bloated, bureaucratic and beholden to radical political ideology." Meanwhile its undersecretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights, who used to advance American values worldwide, has been sacked.

Marco Rubio, the new Secretary of the newly eviscerated State Department, also plans to close U.S. embassies and consulates in a number of unspecified countries. China will no doubt jump on these closures to expand its own presence worldwide.

By the way, China has already overtaken the U.S. with the number of global diplomatic missions it supports. Great work, Marco! Xi Jinping couldn't be happier.

Melody Sears

North side

'Peace' in our time

Let me get this straight: In order to achieve "peace" in our time, President Trump and some so-called "pragmatists" want Ukraine to cede 18% of its land plus Crimea to the Russian aggressor. Trump also wants Ukraine to repudiate any consideration of joining NATO. Is that what we stand for today? Fulfilling the desires of the country that perpetrates a war and rendering the victim the loser? It's food for thought to consider what we have become.

Barbara Benjamin

Foothills

Letter of protest

I was moved by a recent LTE entitled "Congress Must Act Now". In it, L. Eisenstein proposes a categorization of the multiple betrayals of our Constitution to be documented in a unified "Letter to America." In this letter, we demand that Congress reject the blatantly autocratic actions bombarding us constantly. If you agree that this despotic behavior is unacceptable in America, let’s start now. We the People object to the following un-American actions:

1) Ignoring due process in deportations plus incarcerations

2) Selecting unqualified, sycophantic cabinet members

3) Gutting vital service programs

4) Establishing counterproductive trade wars

5) Countenancing racism and xenophobia

6) Losing valuable expertise with unilateral DOGE cuts

7) Withholding vital science funding for political revenge

8) Banning books and undermining our free press

9) Undoing vital environmental progress

What would be your additions?

Joy Mills

Northwest side

The Ukrainian 'deal'

Over two years ago, or almost exactly one year after Putin invaded Russia, I wrote these words in solution to the war, words that I hate as much now as I did when I wrote them:

1. The West recognizes roughly 7% of Ukraine as Russian, including Crimea and the Russian-speaking areas of Donetsk and Luhansk — roughly the territory Russia claimed in 2014.

2. Ukraine, whose economy has crashed, gets to retain all of the territory they had prior to the 2022 invasion, gets peace, and the funds to rebuild, substantially but not solely provided by Russia.

That is exactly where we head now, only after another 30,000 innocent non-combatant deaths. It is not a brag, but a cracking volcanic blast at cowering, wimpy Presidents who can’t get off their knees when challenged by a country whose economic power is half that of California’s.

This proposed deal never needed to happen.

Richard Kimball

Midtown

Re: Ideology over electability

Alam, in his op-ed, recommends that Democrats choose pragmatism on issues of immigration, reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ civil rights. These issues are complex and nuanced. I would rather see Democratic leaders better educate the public on all three issues. Too often, the debate relies on knowledge gained in middle or high school. Mature adulthood on these issues requires better understanding of biological processes of fetal development, sexual and gender variance in biological and social development, and economic, social, historic and legal factors in immigration. Republicans often rely on an immature understanding of issues to garner votes, often utilizing fear to perpetuate ignorance. Democrats more often try to treat voters as adults and make their case on complex understandings of these concepts. My wish is that more voters were intellectually curious enough to grow past their high school knowledge when voting.

Richard Muszynski

Midtown

Trump's successes

Here is a list of Trump's "successes:"

1. Dividing our people by using lies against people who aren't white, straight, and Christian

2. Hurting our integrity with allies around the world

3. Attacking veterans, and working to reduce their hard-earned benefits, while installing an incompetent man to lead the Department of Defense

4. Marginalizing people of color and immigrants

5. Convincing his base he cares about Jewish people, while coveting the Proud Boys and white supremacists

6. Breaking down the guardrails that protect our environment and our National Parks

7. Quashing the 1st Amendment for those who speak out against atrocities

8. Removing due process

9. Dismantling our government agencies without regard to their importance, or contributions of the workers in those agencies

10. Giving a private citizen (Musk) access to highly secret material and Americans' private information

11. Dumbing down every department in government by installing his cronies and removing those with the actual knowledge and expertise required to run them.

And I could go on ...

Terri Hicks

Northwest side

Picking a president

Canada picked a guy with a PhD in economics from Oxford. Mexico chose a woman with a degree in physics and a PhD in energy engineering. The U.S. handed the job to a carnival-barking senior citizen with multiple felonies, 30,000 lies and still counting and six bankruptcies under his belt.

Terry Louck

East side