Opinion category, Page 272
Letter to the editor: Neither DEP’s name or role should be changed
Thank you for publishing the well-written letter “Ramifications of DEP name change” (June 12, TribLIVE) about the Pennsylvania Senate’s attempt to change the name (and role!) of the Department of Environmental Protection. Pennsylvanians do need protection from pollution produced by big industries. We have a right under the Pennsylvania Constitution...
Sounding off: Methodist split
Is Trump above the law? The responses of congressional Republicans to President Trump’s indictment, as described in the article, “Trump’s GOP defenders in Congress leap into action on charges after months of preparation” (June 10, TribLIVE) show, that these supporters are more concerned about Donald Trump than about the safety...
Letter to the editor: Trump defense, comparisons ridiculous
I am in utter disbelief that people not only continue to defend Donald Trump on this latest indictment but also try to draw comparisons to others who had classified documents. Mike Pence and President Biden immediately turned everything over and allowed full investigations to be conducted. Trump was given well...
Editorial: Pittsburgh and Philly bridges should lead nation in safety
Pittsburgh and Philadelphia seem to be eternally locked in competition. If one city is in the hunt for the Super Bowl, the other is a contender for the Stanley Cup. If one is up, the other is down. If one scores a win, the other wants to top it. Politics,...
Gary Franks: We need new political choices
I remember when Satchel Paige was pitching for the Kansas City Athletics in 1965. He was at least 20 years beyond his prime, much like President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are today in politics. In his prime his pitches were very difficult to hit. But at an...
S.E. Cupp: Starting the primaries in South Carolina gives Biden’s challengers an opening
“History will prove us right.” It was New Year’s Eve, 2007, and one of Rudy Giuliani’s 2008 presidential campaign strategists, Brent Seaborn, emailed supporters an upbeat memo promising that they were “looking good” heading into the Republican early state primaries. History, as it would turn out, proved them wrong. Giuliani’s...
Christian Appy: ‘Courage is contagious’ — Daniel Ellsberg’s decision to release the Pentagon Papers didn’t happen in a vacuum
In 1971, when Daniel Ellsberg arrived at a federal court in Boston, a journalist asked if he was concerned about the prospect of going to prison for leaking a 7,000-page top-secret history of the Vietnam War. Ellsberg responded with a question of his own: “Wouldn’t you go to prison to...
Minerva Canto: Are book bans unconstitutional? They are certainly political.
In Missouri, the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel “Maus” about the Holocaust faced possible removal from schools for at least the third time over its depiction of a female character in a bathtub. In South Carolina, an Advanced Placement teacher has been forced to abandon her lesson about systemic racism using...
Letter to the editor: Let’s end ‘witch hunts’ once and for all
Thank God for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. He called his ouster “political theater” and not a “witch hunt.” Here’s an idea to end that saying for good: A political cartoon with Elmer Fudd in his hunting outfit telling readers to “be very, very quiet, I’m on the hunt,” and...
Letter to the editor: False promises of reparations
The Democratic Party in large cities and now state legislatures and the U.S. Congress continue to pander to Black Americans with false promises. Their latest and most troubling promise is that of large cash payments as reparations for slavery. This is dangerous because many Black citizens believe it will actually...
Lori Falce: Titanic loss prompted change. So should Titan’s
The Titanic often is thought of as the quintessential example of a shipwreck. It isn’t the only boat to sink. It isn’t the only ocean liner to meet a watery end. In fact, the famously “unsinkable” sunken ship was part of a family of three identical sisters of the White...
Laurels & lances: Air show and shelter
Laurel: To a high-flying event. For some people, summer starts with the end of school. For others, it’s Memorial Day or that day on the calendar when the solstice officially begins the season. But, for many in Western Pennsylvania, the kickoff is about airplanes. The Shop ’n Save Westmoreland Airshow...
Letter to the editor: ‘Good stewards’ in Norwin?
Dear Norwin School District, The Norwin School Board prefers to eliminate positions through attrition to maintain a “balanced budget.” Now we are praising them for being “good financial stewards” (“Good financial stewards in Norwin,” June 13, TribLIVE). The letter-writer focused on school board member Bob Wayman’s comment of the district...
Paul Kengor: The absurdity of a $15 beer
I recently attended a Pirates game. As readers know, that’s no small step for me. I boycotted Major League Baseball after its ideological commissioner, Rob Manfred, needlessly thrust our beloved national pastime into the nastiness of partisan politics. Manfred and MLB boycotted the city of Atlanta in protest of Georgia’s...
Matthew Yglesias: America can fix its highways much faster, if it wants
The collapse of a section of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia, smack dab in the middle of the densest region of the U.S., is an obvious disaster for the nation’s transportation network. But the demolition work, which began within hours, is already ahead of schedule, the repair work will be expedited,...
Cal Thomas: China’s economy and America’s opportunity
Many have tried not buying items made in China, but it is a near impossibility. Everything from prescription drugs to you name it seems to originate in a country whose regime is proving to be America’s greatest adversary and growing enemy. Which is why now may be the ideal time...
Letter to the editor: Kennedy’s vocal condition not a disqualifier for presidency
In regards to the letter “Biden and Kennedy are the best Democrats have?” (June 7, TribLIVE): Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a rare condition called spasmodic dysphonia that affects his voice. Spasmodic dysphonia, also known as laryngeal dystonia, is a lifelong neurologic disorder that causes the muscles that generate a...
Letter to the editor: Trump deserves 4th Amendment protection
Democrats frequently whine that, “No one is above the law.” The Fourth Amendment of our Constitution reads: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause,...
Editorial: Dissenting votes should be applauded amid political rhetoric
On Tuesday, the Allegheny County Council did something that doesn’t happen very often. It overrode a veto by Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. By a vote of 10-5, the council decided that its earlier vote to establish a minimum wage for the county’s employees would stand. It was only the...
Letter to the editor: Explaining the Methodist split
The article “Some Western Pennsylvania United Methodist churches make split official at conference” (June 15, TribLIVE) needs some context. Wesleyan theology would have that those who believe in a new life in Christ are first called to be holy in conduct. Traditionalists of the UMC are saying all people are...
Jonah Goldberg: Most Americans think life was better 50 years ago. That’s ridiculous.
“Remembrance of things past is not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were.” — Marcel Proust Nostalgia, a term that originated as a medical diagnosis for Swiss mercenaries suffering from homesickness, is the sorrowful longing for a lost past. An April Pew survey found that nearly 6 out of...
Letter to the editor: Environmentalists harming the planet
Radical environmentalists and the Democratic Party are killing the planet, despite their claims to be saving it. They started about 50 years ago with their campaign to eliminate the use of heavy paper sacks for groceries. Greenpeace radicals resorted to violence like spiking trees to get their way. They got...
Peter Morici: Biden is vulnerable in 2024, but Republicans offer too little in response
From a legislative perspective, Joe Biden is the most successful president since Ronald Reagan, but he faces skeptical voters in his bid for reelection. The American Rescue Plan, Infrastructure Act, Chips and Science Act and green energy, electric vehicle and other industrial policy initiatives embedded in the Inflation Reduction Act...
Ron Klink: Biden must put American workers first and fight corruption overseas
As President Biden hosts Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House this week, Modi will become the third world leader to be honored with an official state visit by our president. As India implements economic reforms and emerges as a global economic power, the Biden administration must do...
Letter to the editor: Animal rights activists pick and choose
Animal rights activists pick and choose what they are outraged about. In 1975 they delayed by three years the building of a dam in Tennessee because of a 3-inch-long fish called the snail darter. Today windmills kill over 500,000 birds, including the American eagle, and solar panel farms fry over...
