I’m writing this one especially for all the Arizona people of good faith, courage & character; I know you’re out there.
At the end of World War II, as he relates in his history of Phoenix, author Bradford Luckingham notes the City had become a post-war, modern day Gomorrah; a wide open, venal and corrupt urbanity. Las Vegas hadn’t been invented yet, and the US Supreme Court hadn’t ruled California was stealing everyone’s Colorado River water, thus creating the Central Arizona Project. Tucson was a hidden Hollywood & Jewish retreat, and a tweedy University town with an airbase.
Back in a newly formed ‘Civic Phoenix’, Goldwater, Pulliam, Snell, the Rosenzweig Brothers, and other disgusted prominent citizens had reached their outrage-limit; it was time for some action. Defying all the local pimpmasters, gambling kingpins, loan sharks, bootleggers, and courthouse crooks, they discreetly met, conspired, and went to work. But it took 10 years to come to fruition, and another 20 yrs to get up to speed.
They created, pretty much without Mother Nature’s role (i.e. harbors, rivers, farming, oil & gas, etc.), in building great cities, what modern observers’ term, an urbanity’s basic value proposition(BVP). And it’s always a work-in-progress (i.e. growing, adapting, aspiring, or rotting).
But those 1940’s & 1950’s Phoenicians of courage and vision went to their graves truly “accomplished people”; ditto those who stood beside them. Individuals whose memories evoke the Biblical verse from Matthew 5, “so let your light shine before the people, that they may see your good works, and glorify the Father….” That corrupt Phoenix of old was a different kind of Gomorrah vs. the current Tucson mental-maelstrom with zero BVP.
Control of Arizona’s 2nd largest Metro has become very radicalized, almost top-to-bottom, mainly thanks to an ossified University and dominant print media, institutions every bit the desired culmination of the City’s first post-Cold War Mayor; i.e. a crypto-commie Hungarian émigré and UA Political Science professor, who created today’s local government-university template.
Now it’s always angry, self-entitled & sanctimonious; full of identity anguish, enviro doom & gloom, and perceived racial humiliations. Hardly anything productive or innovative can get done in Tucson; routinely consumed by an angry political undercurrent of “We gonna get ours.” IMHO, they deserve an entirely new name, especially in an upbeat, techno-dynamic Arizona.
Broadly reflected in a variety of ways, and all disturbingly Piscean, is their tolerance for an absolute menagerie of urban pathologies. Seriously crazy stuff of every dysfunctional stripe; while the dominant print media, appropriately nicknamed “RedStar”, is a constant 24/7 pander. And they deliberately strive to attract these kinds of people to Arizona.
While I am definitely not homophobic or misogynistic, what runs Pima County & Tucson now is an enviro-academic, gay & lesbian gynocracy of grifters, poseurs, and doo-doo brains. Sadly, unlike postwar Phoenix, there is no emergent civic leadership to bravely confront them, let alone stop the predations.
If you allow it, they fully intend to spread this urban dystopia to all of Arizona; you’re already seeing what they can do with Mayes, Hobbs, public education, development policies, and the Water Commissars. In my opinion, the only way to stop it is to defund as much as you can of Pima County and urban Tucson. Technology, trade, and America’s clearly renewing identity is on your side, and it’s unfolding by the week.
Should you want to know more about why all this has happened, I highly commend this early 2025, 11+ min. video from the (younger) ‘William F. Buckley of Great Britain’, i.e. Carl Benjamin, entitled “Sow the Wind, Reap the Whirlwind.”
As for Tucson, it’s too far gone; the patient cannot be saved; time for some serious urban triage from the Arizona Legislature. Defund it; build a bypass around it.
Sellers is a Southpark, Roosevelt-Republican (TR) living in incorporated Oro Valley; his background is federal technology commercialization, and administers the private group, Tucson E-P-T News, on Facebook
Tucson is a liberal cesspool of indoctrinated fools.
Vote with your feet!
I left Phoenix, due in part to corruption; still in AZ but in a rural area.
I remain hopeful.
Yes I guess east LA is a heaven the only one in the state! Its not and basically the western flank is a product of east LA. They think they know best and while pc is a mess its the western part with their crooked politicians and judges that gave us the current state admin. They are giving too much credence to the tucson pols who are as corrupt as ever, but they failed to once again take on the bos in the county. They seem to do less and less and get away with it. They refer to las vegas but dont compare to phx. I dont like to visit either one so I dont. Driving in phx and lost wages is almost the same last time I went thru them. The problem there are NO R’s it seems, and the only time that you hear from them is to get money! Just like on the national scene. Did not get anything from the supposed R’s for this election signs DO NOT show party affiliation anymore so you dont know who is who. Tucson has never had a viable economy and still doesnt yet the streets are crowded and construction continues I really dont know where the cars are going or why there are so many construction sites yet there are no shoppers to go to the new places being built? Whine and cry about PC and the city, but no one seems to want to step up and make changes or even try. I had a hard time trying to understand the point of this article as it was just another rambling incoherent piece serving no real purpose!
As long as Tucson City Elections are city wide and not ward only this will continue. That is the whole crux of the problem. Someone in NW Tucson can vote for someone running in Ward 4 in SE Tucson. This has to stop but it won’t as long as the idiots here in Tucson ( the restidents I mean) continue to vote the same people into office over and over again. We should have term limits for the Tucson City Clowncil as wel las the Pima County BOS but as long as we have city wide elections this will continue.
Bingo!! Was tried before but was part of a multiple topic proposition. It HAS to be a single topic prop and just maybe it will pass. Unfortunately, NO ONE, especially the R’s (Hey Kathleen and Dave) are talking about it!
EXACTLY HOWARD! That’ is ‘exactly what’s occurred in my central Tucson district for some time – our ward ‘representative’ has not won is how ward in some time. SUCKS!!!!
BINGO! I have tried, and tried, and tried to convince the PimaCo GOP this is the absolute crux of their predicament. Former County GOP head, David Eppihimer, to his credit did get a 3-judge panel at the Federal 9th Circuit to declare it a totally crooked legal-construct perpetrated on the voters by their ancient 1929 City Charter. Detailed what happened then in this piece: https://arizonadailyindependent.com/2022/08/06/catching-tucsons-disease-oro-valley-at-large-scheme-returns-status-quo/
As I have posted many times before, the Dirty T is totally a POS city run by idiots that don’t have a clue. They only want power and money and damn, the torpedos, full speed ahead to the end game. IMHO, Tucson is very close to Portland, Seattle and LA as far as idiots do. Give them another few years and with the Toad’s daughter now a sure thing, it is bound to get much worse. Throw in the Chamber of Commerce, the worthless NGO’s and the bastion of WOKE, the U of A and you have the perfect mix to make this crap city worse. So glad I moved back to the midwest in 2018. Have been back a couple of times since and the city is locked in a time warp and the city services are non existant.
Sorry, I disagree. They DO have an agenda and you named it… power and money. Nothing else matters. To them.
you all are assuming ‘there will be a their’ to run into the ground… it’s not that far from the end of ‘our time’ which will moot all of this ‘fluff’ to ‘you’ve been taken’ in the Rapture rescue mission.. or you’ve been left to your end – which has it’s own longer term implications. That draconian Tucson – is from a national sense – Mystery Babblyon – of which we are a part.. which is flourishing in places like NYC – LA – etc. Tuc Son – no different. Solutions – is a Soulution – as stated “for those with an ear” if you desire this not occur to you ‘come out of her’.. move your ‘soul’ to another location.. is that a solution – or staying to watch the end from another view. No fear for those of faith. Its the way it is.. and soon to be. Taco Time.
There’s no hope until Pima county elections are fixed.
If you are retired and live in the foothills or outlying area, you can look down on the ‘sh*t’ city that is Tucson and isolate yourselves from the rot of Tucson, except for the crumbling roads. If you have children, there is no future for them here. No jobs, no growth, the streets overrun with drugs and Commie liberals not yet done destroying, in fact, will amp it up with LaGorda. Easy solution. Move. It’s the best thing you can do for them.
No matter what you say and/or print, the Grijalva machine, the connected (Snell et al), and Diamond Ventures will rule Pima County. BTW, besides the cabal, when LaGorda takes her dad’s place, it will only strengthen their position.
As I have posted before, AZ will be blue by 28……its too late to stop the bleeding. AZ was once a great state but not anymore.
Thanks to the McCain Republicans
Effectively, it has been Blue for years.