Now that President Obama’s reelection has been finalized by his inauguration, has Ted Nugent relocated out of the country yet?

So, the town of Gilbert, that bastion of conservatism heavily populated with tea party extremists, is being attacked by that paradigm of conservative virtue, the Goldwater Institute, for daring to operate a gym that appeals to many. Talk about irony!

I’ve never belonged to a union and have never been a major supporter of unions. However, the recent action of the lame duck Michigan Republican-controlled legislature to introduce and pass in one day a bill to defund unions is despicable and speaks volumes of the hypocrisy and duplicity of Republicans.

The attacks by his fellow contenders - Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Rick Santorum, and Rick Perry - on Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney for his successes at Bain Capital are disingenuous. The rivals are acting like Democrats. Romney's time at Bain epitomizes the type of success Republicans normally worship: financial self-improvement at the expense of the working man.

I was impressed when I saw Jeff Flake elbowing his way through the crowd surrounding Gabby Giffords on the House floor.  How nice, I thought, as he leaned over to speak to her.  But then the microphones picked up his comment: “You’re not going to be running for the Senate, are you?”

District 18 voters have clearly stated that the era of hate-filled politics characterized by Russell Pearce, Brewer, Arpaio, and the rest of Arizona’s Republicans is over. Maybe now we can properly fund education so that our work force will be more attractive to large companies that will now want to relocate to a more inviting, hospitable Arizona. Maybe now we will no longer be viewed as the “Mississippi of the Southwest.”

The Mormons can run all the commercials they want and trot out all their propaganda people to give interviews, but that still does not make them Christians. The basic tenets of their organization — the belief that Jesus is not the only son of God, that there are multiple gods, and that any male member of their church can become an equal god — are non-Christian. In fact, for decades the Mormons distanced themselves from Christianity so why the sudden shift in emphasis?

Kudos to former Intel CEO Craig Barrett and others who confirm what many of us have been saying for several years: The draconian cuts to education implemented by Pearce, Adams and Brewer are the major reason why businesses will not relocate to Arizona. Combine that with the climate of hatred perpetuated by these same people and their henchman and it is no wonder Arizona consistently ranks at or near the bottom in all economic categories.

I am so sick and tired of the national bickering over the debt ceiling. Why can't we return to the good ol' days of 2001-2006 when the Republicans controlled the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives. Back then the Republicans did not care about deficits and debt ceiling limitations. They simply spent money like crazy and reduced the taxes for the wealthiest Americans. George Bush never vetoed a spending bill. Even VP Cheney said that "the American people don't care about deficits."

To Edward F. Murphy regarding his comment about the Mormon church being populated with hypocrites: I just wanted to let you know that not one of the members of the LDS church is perfect. In fact, that is true of every religion. I hope you are not that naive to think so. Like yourself we are tempted and make wrong decisions and mistakes. We are each individuals, free to make our own decisions hopefully trying to be better each day. I hope you would be doing the same. To accuse an entire religion of being “the epitome of hypocrites who populate... the Mormon church” is exactly what’s wrong with our society. Although I do not condone drunk driving in any way, I’m not sure what’s worse, driving drunk or judging others? And it doesn’t matter because all I need to worry about is me and being the best person I can be without belittling others since I am far from perfect myself. I guess what I’m saying is lets all try to be a positive contributor to society, since I’m sure we’ve all done hypocritical things in our life too. Especially when a family is grieving over the loss of a loved one and want to remember them in a positive way. You would want others to be kind if it was your loved one.

The Maricopa Country Sheriff’s Office has many large problems, but one that I’ve not heard mentioned is the overweight condition of so many of its officers.

"The type cynicism I read in the Vent, in the Letters to the Editor, as well cynicism and sarcasm that I hear on the cable news is paralyzing the country. We blame the Republicans, then the Democrats, Congress, the President, the previous President, Wall Street, the poor, and everyone in between. We are the owners of our providence, yet we do not blame ourselves for where we are. These Vents are a microcosm of our country: dysfunctional."

It is becoming increasingly apparent that our system of government, as prescribed by our Constitution, is no longer working. A handful of radical representatives of one party are able to stymie the progress of over 340 million citizens in order to further their warped ideology. I do not believe this extremism is what the writers of our Constitution envisioned in the 1780s. Something must be done.

Cochise County Sheriff Larry Devers was heralded as an outstanding role model in his community, a devout Mormon, who stood up to the Obama administration, and was a tough sheriff more than willing and able to enforce all the laws of the land. Well, it turns he did not enforce the laws on himself.

The continued belief among conservative radicals that President Obama conducted an “apology” tour early in his administration proves that these people are not really interested in the truth.

Paul Babeu’s homosexuality is not an issue. I could not care less about that.

In his badgering of Eric Holder, Darryl Issa (R-CA) is demonstrating the level of hypocrisy that permeates the top rank of Republican leaders. Issa, upon assuming the chairmanship of the House Oversight Committee in 2010, plainly stated that he intended to investigate the Obama administration for any indications or hints of corruption. All he could find was the remnants of a rogue program that began under George W. Bush.

It is completely disingenuous for Iowa tea party founder Ryan Rhodes to challenge President Barack Obama about VP Joe Biden allegedly referring to tea party members of Congress as "terrorists." Besides the fact that Biden did not say this, please let us not forget that it is the tea party that has continuously referred to Obama as a socialist; a fraud since they claim he was born in Kenya; a liar including a tea party Congressman shouting that accusation during Obama's State of the Union address; a communist who wants to take away citizens' freedoms; and who is depicted on posters at tea party rallies in the most vulgar and insulting manner possible, the nicest of which portrays Obama as a witch doctor with a bone in his nose.

One unfortunate aspect of the Tucson tragedy is a reawakening of the right of non-law enforcement residents of Arizona to carry concealed weapons without regard to any training, permitting, or, most importantly, the carrier’s mental health.

In his letter attacking another writer, Edward F. Murphy fails to recognize that employers do not have to offer any insurance. My son works for a small business and receives no health care benefits at all. He would be happy to to have coverage that excludes blood transfusions or even to have insurance that covered nothing but broken bones.

Not to create a debate or anything, but I’d like to set the record straight regarding Edward F. Murphy’s letter about Mormons.

Writer Steve Ball’s assertion (Aug. 17, 2012) that the Bush tax cuts actually increased federal revenue proves he is either delusional or a tea party member, or perhaps both.

“...for the President to perform his constitutional duties, it is imperative that he receive candid and unfettered advice and that free and open discussions and deliberations occur among his advisors and between those advisors and others within and outside the Executive Branch.”

Supporters of Mitt Romney enthusiastically tout his private sector success as qualifying him to lead our nation. There is no question that Romney was incredibly successful as a venture capitalist, although admittedly he started a little farther down the road than most people could.