Opinion category, Page 482
Letter to the editor: America a racist country?
I felt compelled to respond to Mary Beth Walling’s letter “Our race problems are real” (Aug. 22, TribLIVE). Walling indicates that she believes we are a racist country. She offers the way her Black friends are treated by merchants, banks and officials and that there are Confederate statues and flags...
Letter to the editor: PLCB provides funds, jobs
As the president of a union that represents 35,000 workers, I was gratified that Antony Davies noted our members’ efforts to prevent privateers from taking over the PA Liquor Control Board (“Pa.’s alcohol monopoly — we told you so,” Aug. 15, TribLIVE). Davies, an economics professor, has worked for years...
Editorial: Mask mandate at WCCC deserved hearing by trustees first
Having masks prompt fights is nothing new. For more than a year, the coronavirus pandemic demand to wear masks at grocery stores or restaurants has led to fights that ended up going viral on YouTube and Facebook, if not actually finding their way into court. Masks disappeared in the spring...
Letter to the editor: Lots of blame for Afghanistan
It is really tricky trying to assign blame for the Afghanistan debacle. The current mess actually began in late 1979, when Brezhnev of the USSR invaded the country to prop up a puppet Marxist regime. In the ensuing years the U.S., principally under the Cold War policies of the Reagan...
Tom Purcell: Praise be to the family potato salad
I face a huge responsibility this Labor Day weekend: I’ve been tasked with making my mother’s sacred potato salad recipe. According to “All About Potatoes,” it is widely believed that Germany is where the American version of potato salad originated. The potato, which is native to South America, was brought...
Rep. Jessica Benham: It’s time to stop treating health care like a privilege
People from all walks of life are struggling to afford health care in this country. As it stands, many Pennsylvanians are forced to make impossible choices between accessing lifesaving prescription drugs or putting food on the table or paying rent. And seniors and people with disabilities are still denied vision,...
Letter to the editor: Biden worst president ever
Well, Jimmy Carter has been bumped up — he can thank Joe Biden, who now is clearly at the bottom for the last 70 years of American presidents. It took “less than eight months“ to create chaos at our southern borders, a poorly planned and dangerous exodus from Afghanistan, major...
Letter to the editor: Story on priest’s good deeds appreciated
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop’s article about Rev. George T. DeVille (“A higher calling: Catholic priest turns 90, continues to devote life in service to the church,” Aug. 22, TribLIVE) was a real treat. As a “cradle Catholic,” I have worked in several capacities as a volunteer and an employee of the...
Letter to the editor: Militia members concerned about losing freedoms
The current administration seems to be overly concerned with militias around our country, deemed to be extremists. The majority of these small groups are peaceful people who are concerned about losing their freedoms. They exercise their rights under the Constitution to complain to each other and legally possess and use...
Letter to the editor: We must continue to Build Back Better
These are trying times for our country; lots of new, as well as continuing, challenges. Our communities deserve the best and most urgent action from our Harrisburg and Washington, D.C., leadership to address these challenges. Across the country, voters came out in record numbers to elect new leadership in Washington....
Editorial: A new era for the Carrie Furnace beckons
Recycling is at its best when it doesn’t just reuse an original item but improves it. The former Carrie Furnace steelmaking site along the Monongahela River near Braddock is about to be a larger-than-life example of that as it is redeveloped for contemporary commercial use. The Allegheny County Redevelopment Authority...
Letter to the editor: Gateway board’s mask mandate takes away freedoms
As a lifelong member of the Monroeville community, graduate of Gateway High School, parent of three Gateway graduates and grandmother of four potential Gateway graduates, I want to inform our community of the disturbing issue regarding the Gateway school board mask mandate for K-12 students. During the Aug. 17 school...
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Aug. 30
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Aug. 30....
Editorial cartoons for the week of Aug. 30
Editorial cartoons for the week of Aug. 30....
Mona Charen: Nation building was not the point
Damon Linker is one of the sharpest political/cultural observers writing today. If you’re not already reading his contributions to The Week, you should. He is also my colleague on The Bulwark’s weekly podcast “Beg to Differ.” In the spirit of our podcast, I must beg to differ with his recent...
Letter to the editor: Biden clueless on weapons in Afghanistan
Say it ain’t so, Clueless Joe: The Taliban are now equipped with American M16 assault rifles! “I don’t know how that happened,” President Biden told George Stephanopolous in an ABC News interview Aug. 19, when asked if he didn’t think “this exit could’ve been handled better in any way.” Walt...
Letter to the editor: Valley community supports its police
I would like to thank the many volunteers who made ShawRide IV an unforgettable experience (“Hundreds of motorcyclists turn out for 4th annual Officer Brian Shaw benefit ride,” Aug. 21, TribLIVE). Organizing a ride of this scale required hundreds of caring, dedicated individuals. My wife and I joined the hundreds...
Letter to the editor: As in Vietnam, soldiers still pay the price
As I compose this letter, I can’t help but think of all the U.S. veterans I have thanked for their service over the last 31 years. As a child and young man of the Vietnam era, and now a witness of the military actions of the last 30-plus years, I...
Letter to the editor: Our leaders are trying to protect us
Concerning health, safety and well-being, many people believe it’s their right to choose what’s best for them and their families, and do not want to be mandated regarding masks and vaccines. How would they have reacted at the time of World War II? When air raid warning signals sounded, would...
Editorial: Why population counts should include prisoners — they live there
To count or not to count. That’s not quite the question pondered and decided last week by the Legislative Reapportionment Commission — the panel of lawmakers working on the nuts and bolts of redrawing legislative districts in reaction to the new census numbers. It isn’t about whether to count. It’s...
Letter to the editor: Different perspective on Afghanistan
Recent commentaries and letters have tried to place blame on what’s happening in Afghanistan on the current or past presidents, or even the military. Perhaps a different perspective is in order. Afghanistan is not so much a nation as it is mostly tribal, tribes trying to rule their own regions....
Letter to the editor: Racism, then and now
Recently I received an advertisement from a local church hosting a presentation denouncing critical race theory (CRT) and the hiring of an equity director for the Gateway School District. The speaker, Joseph L. Green, an African American Missionary Baptist minister, is an opponent of CRT. In my opinion, Green’s declamation...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Lead with kindness as tribute to Gene Vittone
Washington County District Attorney Gene Vittone died last Saturday at 61 after battling cancer. Gene always carried a little shirt pocket notebook in which he wrote the names of drug overdose victims in his county. If you were with him when he got the call, conversation stopped as he sadly...
Geoffrey Pohanka: Clash of the titans, wind and coal
The headlines are clear: renewable energy is on the rise as a source of electricity for America and coal power is headed for the door. President Biden has set a goal 30,000MW of offshore wind by 2030, which is the equivalent of 2,500 12MW turbines, and this does not include...
John Stossel: Lessons from Georgia
Georgia (the ex-Soviet Republic, not the U.S. state) is now a remarkable success story. Its economy is growing at 5% per year, and the country ranks ahead of the United States in economic freedom. Yet, 20 years ago, Georgia was even more miserably poor than the rest of the former...
