Opinion category, Page 438
Ryan Shafik: Time to end corrupt endorsement process
Every year in Pennsylvania Republican politics, there is a dog-and-pony show that occurs mostly unseen by the average voter. Known simply in Keystone State political parlance as “the endorsement,” it’s a protracted process of wannabe candidates cloyingly ingratiating themselves to the few hundred apparatchiks comprising the Republican State Committee (RSC),...
Letter to the editor: S.E. Cupp not credible
I agree with Frances Olyarnik’s letter “Why run S.E. Cupp’s bitter diatribes?” (Dec. 21, TribLIVE). In her column “Fox News is selling toxic snake oil” (Dec. 17, TribLIVE), Cupp calls Fox News hosts Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson “liars” and “snake oil salesmen.” This is after more than...
Letter to the editor: Domestic violence shelters need share of covid relief funds
Westmoreland County has a serious problem with emergency housing and services for women and children in abusive relationships. Beds for emergency use in the county are limited to 65, and the maximum stay is 30 days. This means that if an abused woman cannot find alternate housing and a permanent...
Lori Falce: Helping hands and the art of snow shoveling
I talked to Bob on Tuesday. It was the day after snow fell for almost 24 hours, piling up around the area to the delight of kids who got to build snowmen and go sledding. The problem for Bob was that he isn’t a kid anymore. He’s a senior who...
Letter to the editor: Right-wing rhetoric continues to divide
In his letter “Extremists on the Democratic side”, Dave Majernik attempted to compare Democratic and Republican extremists. His examples follow the rhetoric being spewed by right-wing media that is not only incorrect, but continue to cause divides at every level. The issue of defunding police was never a Democratic platform....
Paul Kengor: The big picture on Big Ben
As Steelers fans size up the end of the Ben Roethlisberger era, I suggest not words but an image. The image sticking with me came at the end of “Monday Night Football’s” extended coverage of Ben’s final home game in Pittsburgh Jan. 3. This may sound sentimental, but I think...
Laurels & lances: Donations, driveways and change
Laurel: To a great birthday present. When legendary comedic actress Betty White died on New Year’s Eve, it was both a crushing end to 2021 and the way everyone should go out — living 99 years and having the whole world agree it wasn’t long enough. But in celebration of...
Kelly Hunt: SBA helps entrepreneurs keep New Year’s resolutions
Taylor Bryner-Spaw and James Kunkel are having a busy January. Both are coaches for Fayette and Westmoreland County residents hoping to make good on New Year’s resolutions. Bryner-Spaw, 25, owner of the newly launched Spin Unlimited, is busy coaching cycling classes so attendees can achieve their fitness goals, while Kunkel...
Colin McNickle: Insane inaction on Pa. transportation mess
The tale has been oft told of an intellectually bereft Pennsylvania Legislature forcing the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to go into deep debt to help fund mass transit in this commonwealth. The result has been year-after-year toll increases to cover that debt. And though the annual obligation has been slashed as...
Letter to the editor: Avoiding abortion
I recently have read articles stating that pro-choice politicians are stepping forward to protect legal abortion When I was a young girl, my mother explained many things to me. The first was that going out on a date does not include sex, and she explained the reason why. You could...
Letter to the editor: What covid, Trump have cost us
The caveman mentality that “I’m the boss and I’ll do what I want” is how many people are thinking. Mask and social distancing requirements have made adults act like children. So many lies about the vaccines have frightened people. Bring on the death and suffering caused by the stupidity of...
Editorial: Open seats are chance to step up
It seems like every day brings a new announcement of the latest person running for governor or the U.S. Senate seat representing Pennsylvania. The ever-enlarging pool of possibilities comes on the heels of two presidential elections with fields of candidates so large they didn’t all fit on the debate stages...
Letter to the editor: Biden’s policies are not working
If you were president of the United States today, your State of the Union Address might well read like this: • Our southern border is overrun by illegal immigrants, with drug and child trafficking out of control. • Prices of basics like food, gas, homes and autos are shooting upward,...
John Stossel: Florida tackling covid with sensible rules
Omicron spreads. The media say, “Governments must act!” Many have, bringing back mask mandates and closing schools. Do these rules work? No. Florida’s approach is better. Gov. Ron DeSantis ended pandemic restrictions last spring and refuses to impose new ones. “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over...
Sen. Ryan Aument: We’re No. 22 — and that’s bad news
It is almost surreal to look at numbers and rankings that show Pennsylvania floundering in comparison to other states, but this freakish economic landscape that puts us behind Ohio and Indiana speaks to a rock-solid reality. Our state’s reputation for high taxes, unfriendly regulatory climate and stagnant manufacturing growth quantifies...
Jonah Goldberg: How an enduring myth about voter turnout distorts our politics
I have long opposed making voting mandatory, an idea that pops up every few years. I still don’t like the idea. But it’s become more attractive, at least as a thought experiment. The arguments against compelling people to vote — as Australia and a handful of other countries do —...
Letter to the editor: Biden should learn history, humility
President Biden was obviously trying to score political, and racial, points with his ranting address in Atlanta when he compared the president of the Union to the president of the Confederacy by asking which side we were on. Perhaps, in the interest of historical accuracy, as well as rhetorical clarity,...
Letter to the editor: Most of our benefits come from Democratic leaders
Regarding Dave Majernik’s letter “Extremists on the Democratic side” (Jan. 4, TribLIVE): Since 1933, nearly all progressive social policies from which we benefit, or will benefit, have come from Democratic presidents and congressional leaders. Consider Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. I suggest reactionary Republicans, who object...
Letter to the editor: Facebook’s censorship
To Facebook/Mark Zuckerberg and its censors: Recently I posted a comment on Facebook; Facebook posted me back, saying my comment was spam and in violation of its community standards. Below is my comment; you be the judge. “Vote red — for all you people who voted blue the last election,...
Editorial: Big cases defy change of venue
Robert Bowers still is moving slowly toward trial for the October 2018 shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill. On Monday, defense attorneys filed a motion in the case. In nearly 3,900 pages, they detailed the reasons that a federal judge should give the case a change...
Letter to the editor: More to come in Churchill after Amazon approval
When one door closes, another one opens. And the next door has opened for Churchill Future. Many people think that when Churchill Council voted 5-2 on Dec. 21 to approve a conditional use permit for Hillwood Development to build a 2.9 million-square-foot Amazon distribution center in the heart of our...
Letter to the editor: Vaccines and gas prices
Fact: There were 424,401 covid-19 deaths under President Trump, and from Jan. 20, 2021, to the time of this writing, under President Biden, 417,401 covid-19 deaths. Of those deaths under Biden, 99% were unvaccinated. Their deaths are not Biden’s fault. In Texas, 99.5% of people who died from covid from...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: Dear white conservatives
When you’re right, you’re right. And you are definitely right about that quote from Martin Luther King. When he stood at the temple of Lincoln in 1963 and declared his dream “that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by...
Dr. Andrew Smolar: Group belonging — teamwork or tribal divisions
I remember the thrill when Mrs. Tanzman organized a fifth-grade circle. We were to become musicians, costume designers and producers of “South Pacific.” I was new to performing, and I learned lifelong lessons: Everyone had to move in a synchronized way for scenes to mesh, and nothing was as uplifting...
Bibiana Boerio: Nordenberg noble guide for reapportionment
Last May, when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court appointed Mark Nordenberg chair of the Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission, I had three reactions. One, what a perfect choice. Two, why would he ever agree to do this? Three, he would do it because he is a man whose career demonstrated the value...
