I watched the Arizona Legislature on TV and was appalled at what I saw

I was watching our Legislature at work on azleg.gov when three incidents caught my attention.

When Rep. Analise Ortiz, D-Phoenix asked Sen. Justine Wadsack, R-Tucson, for evidence to support her bill, Wadsack spit out “I don’t owe you anything in the way of proof.”

OK.

Then I watched Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, quoting Dr. Martin Luther King to support his bill banning the use of government money for diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

You know the quote – the one about judging people on the content of their character rather than the color of their skin.

Well, I judged you, Jake Hoffman, on the content of your character as you bullied Dr. Theresa Cullen into withdrawing her bid to be the director of the Arizona Department of Health Services.

The third instance was in the Senate Elections Committee when Sen. Sonny Borrelli, R-Lake Havasu City, got so angry at a person testifying against proposed election restrictions that he had to leave the room to cool off.

These are just three of the people Arizonans elected to represent them. Do they represent you?

I urge you to watch our legislators at work and let their behavior direct your voting decisions in the next election.

Kathleen Dubbs, Tucson

Ban all farming? Big mistake

Kudos to Joanna Allhands for her excellent column on getting farmers to save water.  Far too many political commentaries are totally one-sided and add nothing to the discussion. Allhands’ column brings reality and substance.

As she thoughtfully explains, banning all farming in Arizona to conserve water isn’t the best solution.

While the proportion of land used for farming will decrease, banning all farming, as some extremists advocate, would do serious harm.

As Allhands notes, Arizona produces some critically important crops. Getting them from other locations could be risky and would result in environmental damage.

More letters:Washington El was right to cancel that contract

And some Arizona land is uniquely suited for certain crops, including alfalfa, resulting in very high yields here. Producing these crops elsewhere would require much more acreage to achieve the same yield.

Serious research and experimentation are underway, including at the University of Arizona, to try to reduce the amount of water required to grow alfalfa and other crops and even to identify other plant species that could replace alfalfa as livestock feed.

Allhands also points out that lots of Arizona farmers are embracing these alternative initiatives.

Conserving Arizona’s limited water supply is a task all Arizonans, urban and rural, residential, commercial and industrial, need to participate in. Wiping out Arizona farming is not the right answer.

We need more and better funded research to find cutting edge technology and solutions. Allhands deserves to be commended for adding to the discussion!

John Shadegg and William K. Perry

Shadegg represented Arizona in Congress from 1995 to 2010. Perry is a fourth generation Arizona agricultural entrepreneur.

The well-armed are also polite

Montana was recently identified through Google search data as “the most polite state” in the union with people always saying “please” and “thank you.”

They were also recently identified as having the largest number of firearms per person of any state. The obvious conclusion is that a well-armed populace is a polite populace!

Ray Jussila, Gilbert

Why make Trump a martyr?

I am not a Donald Trump supporter in any way, but at the same time, I fail to understand Democrats who want to put him behind bars.

The Dems are absolutely desperate for this and are openly wondering why Trump has not yet been arrested.

Folks, be careful what you wish for. If you succeed at putting Trump in prison, you will make him a martyr for the MAGA Republicans. Do you really want that?

In any cause, having martyrs tends to give them strength and greatly increased support. Martyrs gain followers at an alarming rate. Do you really want that?

The best way to move beyond Trump is to soundly defeat him once again at the polls in 2024. If you make him a martyr, he will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.

Is that what you really want?

Parker Anderson, Prescott

Trump allegations perfectly suit him

Columnist Phil Boas’ argument that the Stormy Daniels case is “the wrong case to indict Trump” suggests DAs should pick and choose more carefully the crimes they prosecute, which is an odd argument when applying the law.

Personally, I think a case involving sleaze, bribery, hush money, sexual peccadilloes and a cover up, totally befits the character of the man.

That 74 million Americans voted for him is no argument at all and a reflection of a system that can elevate someone of dubious moral character to the pinnacle of power.

Alan Austin, Phoenix

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona senators are out of bounds. This is how they behave in public?