Mailbag

A Call to Just Get Along

While I'm certain Tom Danehy is more than capable of speaking for himself, I feel compelled to respond to Kelly Copeland's letter ("Tom Danehy Is a Bad Catholic Because He Supports Democrats," Mailbag, June 24).

Copeland's letter is a perfect example of an attitude that is at the very heart of our country's problems: having a personal agenda that seeks to turn the tremendous diversity of beliefs and opinions held by Americans into black and white. According to Copeland, either you're a pro-life Christian, or you're a heathen liberal who believes in murder.

Unfortunately for Copeland and other simplistic thinkers, it just isn't that clear-cut, and feeding the divisiveness only perpetuates the conflict, as well as the illusion that ANYONE has The One Right Answer. There are pro-life lesbian vegetarian Republicans, and there are pro-choice homophobic, gun-toting Democrats. And Islamic pacifists, and American terrorists (remember Timothy McVeigh?).

These truths really mess with our heads, because it's so much easier to sort everyone into GOOD or BAD. It is easier, and it's lazier, and it's the non-thinking person's way to deal with life's ambiguities. We're capable of so much more than that.

But the real bottom line is that we simply MUST learn to get along. Period.

Kira Freed


Danehy Is a Traitor/Liberal

Tom Danehy used his opinion column (June 10) to attack Ronald Reagan, a president beloved by the majority of Americans, while many of us were still grieving the loss. He also questioned the motives and integrity of our military service members while looking through the cliché-prism of the Vietnam conflict. Notwithstanding the offense that many of us veterans might feel about Danehy's written assault on our former commander in chief, it should be pointed out that it was the sacrifices of U.S. veterans during war that preserved our freedoms and liberty, including Tom's right to rail away at home-schooled children. But what astounds me most is Danehy's feigned affront to the well-established synonymous terms, "liberal" and "traitor" (June 24).

During war, liberals routinely side with America's enemies, who are then emboldened to murder more Americans. Those who comfort and aid America's enemies, those who undermine the president during war and those who belittle military service members are not patriots. These domestic enemies are in some way culpable for the murders they encourage our enemies to commit.

Moreover, those who use Vietnam as the standard for which all wars should be measured ignore the lesson that appeasing violent perpetrators always leads to greater violence, and that evil genocidal men (such as Saddam and Hitler) and evil ideologies (such as communism) should always be confronted and defeated. For example, "peace" protesters such as Kerry and Fonda actually facilitated the U.S. withdrawal from the France-caused Vietnam conflict, contributing to the spread of communism throughout Asia. This void allowed 500,000 Vietnamese to be murdered, and then Pol Pot of the Khmer Rouge murdered 2 million in Cambodia. By stopping communism, Americans could have saved the tens of millions of lives.

Noble men like Ronald Reagan deliberately challenged the Soviet Union, facilitating the fall of "the evil empire." Tom Danehy chose to oppose home-schooled children. He is such a liberal!

Joseph R. Damron


You Should Have Censored That Last Letter

Excuse me, but do we have to read more of those strange pro-Reagan letters, lauding him for crushing the evil empire? I think it was U.S. taxpayers who crushed the Soviets, if indeed they were crushed. Taxpayers provided the massive amounts of money spent by Reagan. Tax payers are still paying off his trillions of dollars of debt, and it is taxpayers who will have to fund cleaning up toxic wastes. Mr. Reagan lied over and over about Iran-Contra; he employed felons in his administration; he ignored environmental laws. Slap-happy Reagan lovers love to rewrite history. Stop letting them.

Alan Neff


Fees and Increases Are All Garbage

It's not just the garbage fees, though it is immoral to be charged extra for what we're already being charged ("Garbage Fee? Why Not Just Call It the Growth Bill?" The Skinny, June 24). The scariest part of it all is this: Local government and school entities are already raking in gobs of extra money each year, and still can't balance their (our) budgets. All this extra cash comes from the yearly, inexorable and probably illegal increase in property tax valuations by our dear assessor's office. This is a dirty little secret, seldom talked about, because, unfortunately, most people simply pay their property tax as part of their mortgage payment and are unaware of how much it is rising every year.

On top of this, the city, the county, Pima College and most school districts actually have nerve enough to raise their rates every spring about this time.

Remember: At election time, the assessor's job will be open.

John M. Jensen


The Other Chariot Location Is Better

I felt it necessary to drop you a quick note regarding Chariot Italian Bistro (Decent Food, Dirty Walls, Chow, June 10).

I have never tried the location you visited. However, my family frequents the Flowing Wells Road location and has never found it to be dirty. I truly recommend the Greek/gyro pizza.

I believe if you were to stop in at the other location, you might have a different experience.

Diana Anglin


Take a Look at the Wonder That Is Tim Sultan

One thing I have always admired about the Weekly is that you give lots of space to local candidates, but you have really dropped the ball by not covering the candidacy of Tucson's most exciting and brilliant candidate, Tim Sultan ("No Contest," June 17). Tim is taking on the entrenched Republican Establishment Man, Jim Kolbe.

Tim is a native Tucsonan who has worked in business, international relations and government. He's done community work for Primavera, the Job Corps and other local charities. He's fluent in Spanish and has a master's degree from Harvard. He speaks eloquently and informatively on issues.

Most exciting about Tim is that he has motivated so many people like me who are young enough to be disillusioned to the point of apathy with Arizona's good-ol'-boy group of Republicans, and bored to death with the alternative Democrat also-rans. We need him. Please take a look at this charismatic guy, and you will like what you see.

Jenny Hines


Arizona Did Good by Hiring Schriro

My sister, Lorry Foster, is a Tucson resident, and I live in St. Louis, Mo. Lorry sent me a copy of your Guest Commentary about female prisoners (June 24). I read it with interest because she highlighted Dora Schriro's name. Dora and I worked together for the city of St. Louis. Dora was a star here, and we miss her. Her ability to manage volatile prisons and jails is well-known in Missouri. She ran the state prison system and then we were lucky enough to have her run the jail system in St. Louis.

Arizona is really lucky to have Dora. You have made a wise choice.

Pam Ross
Office of the President, Board of Aldermen
City of St. Louis, Mo.


Clarification

In "Return to Dog" (Pick of the Week, June 24), because of a confusing press release, a quote and profession were attributed to a "Neil Weissmueller," when the quote and profession should have been attributed to Doug Weber. Also, the press release spelled Neil Weismiller incorrectly, an error repeated in the article. We apologize for the confusion.