Opinion category, Page 403
Jonah Goldberg: Twitter used to correct the narrative. Now it writes the narrative.
“What is the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull?” the president of the United States asked 10 years ago at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. “A pit bull is delicious.” Of course, to echo E.B. White: Explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog. You understand it...
Letter to the editor: Remembering St. Xavier fire
I remember well the fire at St. Xavier Academy 50 years ago (“Former Catholic academy in Unity could see rebirth as nature preserve,” April 22, TribLIVE). As usual, I was leaving from home in New Alexandria to pick up my two young daughters at school there. As I came close,...
Letter to the editor: Can killers be reformed, forgiven?
To letter-writer Keith Kondrich (“If we respect life, we must end death penalty,” April 25, TribLIVE): Did you know that the U.S. has more prison inmates than China, Russia and Japan, just to name a few? How can you reform a personality that has no respect or compassion for life?...
Editorial: The decision that matters on Roe v. Wade
Every Pennsylvania voter will have his or her say if a leaked document from the U.S. Supreme Court, indeed, alters the landscape of abortion in this country. The document is a draft opinion from Justice Samuel Alito, a George W. Bush appointee now in his 16th year and known as...
Letter to the editor: Radar about revenue, not safety
Regarding the letter “North Park no place for speeders” (April 22, TribLIVE): The public has been misinformed about radar and “speeding.” Radar should be banned in Pennsylvania and not extended to municipal police. There is no epidemic crisis of speeding. Speed is a cause of accidents 5% of the time,...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: Right wing creates God in its own image
“I was a stranger, and you did not invite me in … .” — Matthew 25:43 A few words on creating God. Last week, Right Wing Watch, the liberal watchdog group, flagged online video of a recent interview with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene by one Michael Voris of Church Militant,...
Kristie Weiland Stagno: Building back for justice requires expanded Child Tax Credit
Who is most likely to be poor in America? Children. Their pre-pandemic poverty rate of 1 in 7 exceeds that of most developed nations. During the 2022 tax season that ended last month, many low-income families rejoiced over their refunds, but the celebration was bittersweet. A key tax break to...
Gordon Tomb: Disconnected politicians lose those who ‘vote their jobs’
After a protracted battle with lawmakers, Gov. Tom Wolf’s unilateral push to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) now moves forward. At risk are tens of thousands of jobs, including private union jobs held by people that contributed to his reelection in 2018. It’s a strange reality amid the...
Letter to the editor: How about a special day for families?
With this crazy world of special days, why can’t we have a special day for wives, husbands and especially families? R. Patrick Campbell Unity...
Letter to the editor: Strangled by green tape
In 2020, Nancy Pelosi blocked passage of a much-needed infrastructure bill to assure that President Trump would fail in its enactment. When President Biden took office, infrastructure spending suddenly became very important as Democrats stretched the “infrastructure” definition to include social programs and “green” projects rather than more typical spending...
Letter to the editor: The cost of fossil fuels
The Biden administration’s infrastructure plan that includes addressing the dangers of abandoned mines is great news for Pennsylvania. For too long we have had to deal with the negative aftermath of mines. Abandoned mine runoff is the primary cause of water quality issues in Pennsylvania. In Westmoreland County we have...
Editorial: Does bail work the way it should?
What is bail? You might think you know even if you have no experience with the criminal justice system because you have watched television and read mystery novels. You have heard the word. You’ve used the expression “bailed out.” But bail is not quite what “Law & Order” would have...
Tom Purcell: Let’s unleash the entrepreneur
I started my first business in the fifth grade when I convinced a neighbor to allow me to cut her grass with her electric lawn mower. That project ended in immediate failure. The mower was powered by a long extension cord — a cord I ran over and sliced in...
Sheldon Jacobson: The dark side of gerrymandering
Most states have already finalized their new congressional maps, with candidates jockeying to gain their party’s nomination, and hopefully win a seat in the 118th Congress during the upcoming November midterm election. Ohio is bucking this trend, with the first Republican supported map invalidated by the state’s Supreme Court back...
Alexander Motyl: U.S. never considered Ukraine a vital interest, until Putin’s ambitions changed that
President Joe Biden and NATO allies in Europe are trying to help Ukraine fight off Russian aggression — but not so much that Russia will retaliate militarily against them. These leaders’ deliberations and calibrations are all taking place against a fundamental background question: Is Ukraine a vital interest to my...
Letter to the editor: AIPAC undermining democracy
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC for short, recently launched a super PAC called The United Democracy Project. Yet despite the name, it has only worked to undermine our democracy. Here in Pennsylvania District 12, it recently launched a political ad attacking Rep. Summer Lee, suggesting she is...
Letter to the editor: Goldie’s Act will save dogs’ lives
A dog known only as Golden Retriever No. 142 was raised in a USDA licensed puppy mill in Iowa, one of hundreds of dogs living in horrific conditions. She died there after months of suffering extreme neglect. USDA inspectors were witness to her deterioration and were responsible for protecting her...
Editorial: Bullying is more than a school problem
Bullying is an idea that conjures images of elementary school playgrounds and high school cafeterias. We think of mean girls. Jocks ganging up on nerds. The fat kid. The new kid. The weird kid. But is that fair? Are kids being tagged as the perpetrators when the problem is much...
Letter to the editor: Citizens shouldn’t be paying for illegal immigrants
The following is from the Federation For Immigration Reform (FAIR), under the headline “The Only Thing Rising Faster than Inflation under President Biden is Illegal Immigration”: “U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered 221,303 migrants illegally crossing the southwest border in March. The March totals are the highest since February...
Editorial cartoons for the week of May 2
Editorial cartoons for the week of May 2....
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of May 2
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of May 2....
Mona Charen: In Utah, Democrats get serious about democracy
Fighting Republican authoritarianism means sometimes delaying political gratification. The Utah Democratic Party did something extraordinary last month: They threw their support behind a Republican. Well, a former Republican, anyway. Evan McMullin, who ran for president as an independent in 2016, is now seeking to unseat Sen. Mike Lee. At the...
Anthony Hennen: Pa. county demolition funds for blighted properties — a rural and urban divide
Blighted properties are a problem in every county across Pennsylvania, and a proposed bill would make permanent a new fee counties can impose to raise funds for demolition. Senate Bill 439, sponsored by Sen. David Argall, R-Berks/Schuylkill, would remove a 10-year sunset provision from Act 152 of 2016 that authorizes...
Letter to the editor: Why no sanctions on Putin’s girlfriend?
The headline on the front page of the April 25 Wall Street Journal, “Putin’s Reputed Girlfriend Spared U.S. Sanctions,” is incomprehensible. The woman who is allegedly Putin’s girlfriend, who is the mother of at least three of his four children, is not going to be sanctioned by the U.S.? Why?...
Letter to the editor: Socialism and capitalism
Socialism or capitalism? You decide. With socialism, government controls business, industry and prices; with capitalism, individuals control the means of production. With socialism, individual rights are curtailed for the “common good.” With capitalism, individual liberties and free markets are protected. Socialists share existing wealth, while capitalists create wealth and, therefore,...
