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Everything together

Refreshed, heart-warmed, inspired, uplifted, positive is how I felt after reading the “Sunnyside Pair Sets the Pace,� about the high school student-athletes of the week, the “Seniors bring heart, hustle to cross country program� by Elvia Verdugo.

Such a lovely story. Such charming and dedicated athletes, Roxann Valenzuela and Asaph Gurrola-Burgueno, and Coach Marco Rodriguez. And such good writing.

More, please.

Camille Gannon

West side

Ciscomani forgot

CD6 Representative Juan Ciscomani proudly supported the Energy & Water Development Appropriations Act, which passed by a single partisan vote on Sept. 4. The bill cuts $5 billion from renewable energy programs.

Rep. Ciscomani must have forgotten his petition to the House Ways & Means Committee to protect clean energy tax credits, which lowered energy costs, created jobs, and brought industry back to SE ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥. He also must have forgotten his plea to the Senate to save green energy credits that he had just voted to gut. His memory also failed on his promise to solar business leaders to fight for their interests.

Since Rep. Juan Ciscomani took office, EV Lucid Motors, Casa Grande, quadrupled the size of its plant, the SunZia transmission line was ready to carry gigawatts of wind power to northern AZ, and utility solar installations soared.

But Rep. Ciscomani forgot.

Jean Meconi

Oro Valley

Authoritarian

I admire Jonah Goldberg’s insights and writing, but he’s off base on this one from Sept. 5: "What makes the president’s power grab different?� Yes, Trump takes delight in hearing his own bluster, but there’s so much more going on.

Historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat describes the “tools of rule� of authoritarian leaders from Mussolini to present day: 1)Propaganda (continuous lies) (2)Corruption, Shady real estate dealings, Trump U, etc. (3) Virility (misogyny) Sexual assault. “When you’re a star, they let you do it!� etc. (4) Violence: January 6, etc.

Trump checks all the boxes and outshines every previous president. And why wouldn’t he? Those other guys spent years in public service before becoming President of the United States. And what had they learned? How to run a government. A useful thing if that’s what one wants to do. But Trump has bigger fish to fry.

Greg Lewis

Midtown

President for life?

After his attempt to stay in power on Jan 6, 2021, Trump has shown that he does not relinquish power unless forced to do so. His attempt to own the key pillars of power (Congress, SCOTUS and the executive branch) leads one to conclude that he is trying to build a moat around himself to assure that he is untouchable. Does he have the necessary mindset to believe he should be in power for life, like his friends Kim Jong Un and Putin? He has a very abnormal self-image, where he believes he is superior to all others. His extreme grandiosity leads him to believe that he deserves to be in power over the lesser masses. The history of sociopaths/psychopaths (ASPD) in political leadership shows that they feel entitled to be in power for life. Trump is a malignant narcissist (ASPD+ narcissistic personality disorder), as determined by at least 200 mental health professionals. Will he try to claim the presidency for life? It is likely.

Steve Rasmussen

Foothills

Tucson never has any money

Moved here 11 years ago, after observing City & visiting Tucson relatives since the early 1980s, now buried at Evergreen Cemetery. We’ve lived in four other western states, four large cities, where I’ve done business, and in another 5-7 large cities nearby. Tucson is the only western City, a 1+ million metro largely unincorporated (40-45%), that never seems to have any money for anything basic. Like basic streets & roads, basic public safety, basic infrastructure (i.e., no crosstown freeways, no major broadband, etc.), basic amenities (parks, arts, bigger venues, aerial tram to Catalinas, etc.)…. i.e., nice stuff. Outside the immediate downtown, ugliness & squalor abounds. Very strange, very strange.

Bill Sellers

Oro Valley

Two wrongs again

Reading Peter Flaherty's Sept. 8 guest editorial, I wondered if it was vetted by the Trump administration prepublication.

Typical MAGA hypocrisy. The Democrats weaponized the AG’s office. Therefore, MAGA Republicans are justified in weaponizing the AG’s office.

All federal offices should be independent of the presidential administration. All elected and nominated officials should be subject to an ethics enforcement agency that can administer sanctions. That agency does not exist.

I said it before, sometimes you have to fight fire with fire. But don’t claim there is nothing wrong with that by implicitly saying "two wrongs make a right."

Very disappointing. Nothing but the usual unsubstantiated MAGA talking points.

James Abels

Midtown

1930s Revisited

The Supremes believe that a group of non-whites, foreign language speakers, congregating harmlessly, are subject to arrest, incarceration and potential deportation, and that it's time to re-open Manzanar. Get the black hobnail boots out of the trash.

Kenneth Haber

Northwest side

Trump told us who he is

Regarding the opinion "GOP, we need to push back on Trump," the author stated that he voted for Trump in 2016, 2020 and 2024. After seeing how Trump so crassly and rudely treated his fellow Republicans in the 2016 primaries, did the author seriously think that he sounded presidential?

His complaint that Trump "challenged election results...claiming fraud" after losing in 2020 falls on deaf ears because he voted for Trump again in 2024, even after seeing him urge his supporters to storm the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Now he is surprised that a man with seemingly few genuine values or principles wants to make, in his words, "America look more like a dictatorship than a democracy."

I applaud the author's belated conversion to the belief that many Americans have held for years because Trump has been telling us who he is since 2016 through his words and deeds. In the author's own words, Trump is "unbalanced ... and unacceptable."

Ron Locher

Oro Valley

America's top cop

"Bondi is not serving Trump alone — she is serving the American people." from Peter Flaherty. opinion piece. He gives examples of previous attorney generals. He sees previous AGs as misguided. Bondi is overreaching her authority to rubber-stamp DT. Most alarming, Bondi's Justice Department has demonstrated a willingness to use criminal law to exact revenge against Trump's political enemies. Since her appointment as the nation's top attorney, Bondi has sided with Trump on every controversial and constitutionally questionable order. No thought to it. Bondi's history of unwavering loyalty to Trump suggests she possesses neither the independence nor the integrity to serve as AG. As Don Kusler says in his opinion piece, "Dropping key criminal cases, running out 'disloyal' employees, opening clearly political probes — all to serve Trump and MAGA — defies Bondi's oath and job function." Her job is to follow the law, not make it or break it with impunity.

Peter Bisschop

East side

Expedited naturalization for military

In grammar school in the fifties, education must have been more advanced. I remember learning about the Constitution's Articles, what they stood for, and the 22 Amendments. We had to memorize the names of all nine Supreme Court Justices (Chief Justice Earl Warren, Hugo Black, Felix Frankfurter, William O. Douglas, Harold Burton, William Brennan, John Harlan, Charles Whitaker and Tom Clark). We also had to memorize all the prepositions.

In my seventh-grade civics, I was taught that if you were not a citizen, you could become one by serving in the armed services. After one year of active duty, and some paperwork (Forms N-400, Application for Naturalization, N426, etc.), veterans are still eligible for expedited naturalization as U.S. citizens under Section 329 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Citizenship can even be obtained posthumously.

So why is Trump’s administration denying this right for non-citizen current U.S. military service members, veterans and military families by targeting them for immigration enforcement?

Sheldon Metz

Northeast side

Renaming

War should always be the last resort in deciding conflicts. War occurs when all else fails. Naming the Department of Defense, the Department of War seems to put any conflict in the direct fire line of war. No in-between.

Renaming bodies of water and federal agencies to align with a presidential whim is childish. I suppose the next President will be able to rename them back to what they were or come up with something different. Is this the purpose of a leader?

Tariffs are put in place. Tariffs can be taken off. Policies that are put in place can be taken off. Wipe on, wipe off.

Any successful business will have policies that stand the test of time. CEOs retire, they die, and they are fired.

A successful continuum of leadership will span the decades, adjusting to differences that occur, but should not result in such a radical realignment to establish a Department of War when war should be avoided at all costs.

Where will this end?

Ed LeGendre

East side

Jim Click Kia protests

Our Good Trouble Action Group has been protesting and blockading the entrance to Jim Click Kia on Wetmore. On Aug. 27, eight of us were arrested and released to bring publicity to the fact that Click is a substantial donor to Juan Ciscomani, who cast his vote to eliminate Medicaid, and other services for ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ns.

By some estimates, 220,000-300,000 ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ns will lose their healthcare coverage. And 73,000-150,000 children will lose part or all of the nutrition benefits (SNAP) they receive. 

Click has curated a positive image locally, and I've heard he has done good things. But he also supported Trump's big, ugly bill with his financial donation to Ciscomani. Our group, along with other local organizations, is shining a spotlight on how Click's financial and political dollars are hurting Tucsonans, unlike the pretty image he portrays. Click has amassed great wealth from the Tucson community, but with his financial support of Ciscomani, he is harming struggling ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ns. What is good about that?       

Deena Angeley

Midtown