Mailbag

It’s Time to Give Republicans What They Deserve

Tom Danehy’s criticism of the Cash for Clunkers program (Aug. 20) is
politically naïve. The cash should have gone to those who voted
Democratic or didn’t vote at all. That’s rewarding your core
constituency. Similarly, people who voted Republican shouldn’t be
allowed to enroll in the public option for health insurance once it’s
in place. If they like the for-profit system so much, let ’em pay the
higher rates.

Democrats should tell Barack Obama to wake up. Enough of this
reaching across the aisle! The current Republican Party put an end to
that.

Adam Timkovich

Danehy Needs to Actually Do Research on What the Arts Can
Do

Tear down the Steinfeld! And while you’re at it, tear down that
crumbling building behind the St. Augustine Cathedral. But why stop
there? Let’s just tear down any building that looks like it might need
some work, and put in something new, like, say, an Arby’s. What do we
need history for? Why save the Rialto, or the Historic Train Depot, or
Hotel Congress? Was it really worth all the money and effort to restore
the Temple of Music Art? That building is only used for arts events,
and as we all know, the arts and artists are only looking for a free
ride. Never mind that every artist is in essence a small business
person and gives back, both directly in terms of support for local
business and indirectly by bringing people into the center of town.

Tom Danehy (Aug. 20) wants to ignore, and not bother researching,
many studies and examples showing how the arts are the main force
behind downtowns being revitalized. The economic number is a
distraction and misses the point that we have an artist enclave, and
this should be protected with a long-term goal of attracting
development. This is how it has worked for decades in other cities,
including Phoenix. Not only does the art scene attract a crowd; it
attracts a younger crowd and therefore creates a long-term interest in
living in the urban core.

Should we talk about the “green” aspects? Living in the urban core
translates to less driving, and we are seeing the negative side of the
sprawl both with our wallets and the environment.

As for the lame and obnoxious comments directed at Councilwoman
Regina Romero, they were ill-informed. There is a creative class
written about by academics which has been a topic for years as an
important part of the future of our nation’s economy. Romero does her
research and knows what she is talking about. I wish Danehy would
follow her lead and actually do some research of his own rather than
just hurling insults.

Marvin Shaver

Book Author Donated Land for Future Research

I really enjoyed Christine Wald-Hopkins review (“Owning History,”
Books, Aug. 27) of Katherine Wells’ Life on the Rocks: One Woman’s
Adventures in Petroglyph Preservation. The review does not mention
that Mrs. Wells donated 156 acres of her property to the Archaeological
Conservancy, an Albuquerque-based nonprofit organization that acquires
properties to preserve archaeological sites for future research. The
Archaeological Conservancy also owns several preserves in the
Tucson-Marana-Green Valley area and other parts of Arizona.

Allen Dart

Executive director, Old Pueblo Archaeology
Center

McCain Needs to Keep His Finger Off the Fear Button

John McCain’s defense of Sarah Palin’s tirade against “death panels”
(“In Sickness …,” The Skinny, Aug. 27) once again demonstrates his
tendency to pervert democracy into mob rule. These days, the Republican
playbook seems to consistently revert to injecting urgent fear into the
debate in order to stimulate the reptilian portion of the brain and
cause a stampede toward their desired outcome. This is the playbook
that resulted in the invasion of Iraq and the adoption of national
torture policies.

Clearly, McCain sees and portrays himself as a rational person, but
he just can’t keep his finger off the fear button. His defense of the
right-wing hysteria about government death panels making health care
decisions based on level of productivity is the latest example. We
currently live in a society where corporate “death panels” routinely
deny health-insurance claims, and where most of the unemployed and many
of the underemployed are not covered at all. And yet, McCain,
understanding that this is a situation that has not yet affected most
of the mob, opts to stimulate a stampede against any government option.
Apparently, he’d rather stick with the system that allows
health-insurance corporations to skim off one dollar in every five paid
in premiums for profit, administration, advertising and lobbying.

Can’t we do better that this in Arizona? Isn’t it time for McCain to
join Sarah Palin as a private citizen on the wing-nut speaking
circuit?

Peter Else

Correction

In “Heritage Holdup” (Currents, Sept. 3), two groups were
incorrectly listed as supporters of the proposed Santa Cruz Valley
National Heritage Area. The Green Valley Chamber of Commerce and the
Tubac-Amado Chapter of the Santa Cruz County Cowbelles are not
supporters.

We apologize for the error.

This article appears in Sep 10-16, 2009.