Opinion category, Page 544
Letter to the editor: In defense of Se. Pat Toomey
When I heard this on the news, I was stunned and had to see it in print: “We did not send him there to vote his conscience,” David Ball, chair of the Washington County Republican Party, told KDKA political editor Jon Delano. “We did not send him there to do...
Letter to the editor: Impeachment and the First Amendment
One reads with interest Jonah Goldberg’s essay “Impeachment trials aren’t about proving criminal behavior” decrying how lawyer pundits discuss impeachment, a political process, in terms of criminal proceedings. But one need not be a President Trump supporter to recognize the danger in asserting that, during impeachment, Congress merely plays a...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Our representatives must have room to do right
“We did not send him there to vote his conscience. We did not send him there to do the right thing or whatever he said he was doing. We sent him there to represent us.” That’s what David Ball, chair of Pennsylvania’s Washington County Republican Party, said to KDKA-TV’s Jon...
Sounding off: Teachers don’t need ‘immediate’ vaccination
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto’s letter to Gov. Tom Wolf calling for the “immediate” inoculation of teachers, although well-intentioned, looks only at the proposed benefits without the associated costs (“Peduto asks Gov. Wolf to vaccinate Pennsylvania teachers immediately”). This approach will have dire consequences. The covid-19 data shows a clear relationship...
Cal Thomas: The Rush Limbaugh I knew
The man who picked me up at an airport too many years ago to recall the date asked if I had ever heard of a guy named Rush Limbaugh. When I said I had not, he turned on the car radio and said, “listen.” After 15 minutes I was hooked....
Letter to the editor: Trump the only one to act on immigration reform
President Biden has gone against what recent presidents (and some congressmen) talked about on the subject of immigration reform. President Trump was the only one who did something about it. If you search “Where does Trump get his dumb ideas?” on YouTube, you will see Trump watching Sen. Dianne Feinstein...
Letter to the editor: Legitimize marijuana the right way
Regarding the article “Gov. Wolf seeks income tax hike to pay for big increase in school funding”: Anyone with a modicum of common sense can envision Gov. Tom Wolf’s MO in his proposal for a massive tax increase. There is no funding crisis simply because Tom Wolf proclaims it to...
Letter to the editor: We should all support pollution standards
The quality of our natural world and the health and well-being of human beings are inextricably linked. Climate change represents a threat to these at both a local and global level. Methane is the primary energy component in natural gas, used for everything from home heating to generating electricity, but...
Mona Charen: Will Trump face the music, finally?
There has been some cheering about the 10 House and seven Senate Republicans who voted for impeachment. All honor to those who took the difficult path. But, good God! The president attempted to steal the election. He launched an insurrection against Congress. That only a handful of Republicans could vote...
John Stossel: We should better guard our privacy
I love my digital devices, but people keep telling me to worry more about my privacy. “Encrypt your emails!” “Drop Google and use search engines like DuckDuckGo that don’t track us!” I probably should. But I don’t. I’m lazy, and I like that web companies know me and show me...
Editorial: Finding the next best thing to a health department for Westmoreland
There’s nothing like a disaster to show you what you have and what you need. Westmoreland County Commissioners said Thursday that the coronavirus pandemic has shown them what they don’t need: a county health department. For almost a year, the county has responded to the increasing challenges of covid-19 without...
Christopher Welch: Veterans’ role in U.S. economic rebound
With the dawn of a new year comes a fresh start. This is especially true for the servicemen and women returning from active duty. Approximately 2,500 troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan have returned home. These veterans will be returning to a country that looks very different than the...
Matthew Brouillette: It’s time to do right by kids
“Schools that teach” sounded great as Gov. Tom Wolf’s campaign slogan in 2014 and 2018. But two years into Wolf’s second term, many parents are just wishing for “schools that open.” About 40% of school districts across Pennsylvania aren’t physically open for businesses. So it’s hardly surprising that from fall...
Letter to the editor: Snowmobiles, ATVs desecrating our woods
How wonderful that the U.S. Forest Service and our so-called state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources have opened Pennsylvania woods to ever-increasing numbers of ATVs and snowmobiles (“ATV/snowmobile fever: Westmoreland, Allegheny lead Pennsylvania in registrations,” Feb. 14, TribLIVE). Ah yes — conservation through pollution and desecration. I wait for...
Letter to the editor: Where is the gambling money going?
I remember distinctly — before the infamous Nick Perry 666 Daily Number fix of the state lottery in 1980 — the promise that state-sanctioned gambling would benefit the elderly first and later eliminate or reduce school property taxes. Every expansion of gambling is announced with the pledge that the “new”...
Lori Falce: Oops, cancel culture did it again
Spend some time on social media and you might think a brand new starlet had taken over the musical world. Her name is on a million hashtags. It’s like everyone under 30 just discovered Britney Spears. Yes, Britney of the red patent leather catsuit or the Lolita plaid skirt and...
Letter to the editor: Candidates should pledge to work for all constituents
Regarding the article “ ‘Trump House’ creator Leslie Baum Rossi seeks nod to run for open Pa. House seat”: This is an example of the partisan ways that must be eliminated from our democracy. Rossi’s comments such as “Trump is the best president we’ve ever had in my lifetime” and...
Letter to the editor: Democracy dwindling as GOP rewards Trump
When communism collapsed in the country where I was born, food disappeared from store shelves. We waited in line for rations of bread and sugar. Many evenings we had mandatory power outages. I know communism and its consequences. When I hear talk of communism from the radical right, it mostly...
Paul Kengor: Moving the movement beyond Trump
A Never Trump colleague asks why I didn’t support a second impeachment of Donald Trump, given that I say that I want the conservative movement to move beyond Trump. The answer isn’t difficult. For starters, the impeachment trial from the outset was a political spectacle, a rash judgment by Democrats....
Laurels & lances: Pilsners, planes and partners
Laurel: To a round for the house. Or the neighborhood. Or the whole darn town. While many festivals have been canceled for months or are still being put off because of the coronavirus pandemic, other communities are trying to look forward. Tarentum is one of those. A craft beer festival,...
Dr. Reed Tuckson and Jim Weiss: Convincing people to take covid-19 vaccine
The determination on the face of intensive care unit nurse Sandra Lindsay as she got one of the first covid-19 vaccine shots was unforgettable. And what she said about it summed up the task for all of us: “We’re in a pandemic, so we all need to do our part.”...
Ronald Fraser: How crime victims keep offenders behind bars
Victim’s testimony, a time-honored part of the American criminal prosecution process, has sent thousands of Pennsylvania offenders to prison. But justice is not advanced when, years later, crime victims are called again to give emotionally charged encores, moments before parole panel members decide whether or not to release their offenders...
Letter to the editor: More election investigations won’t change minds
Concerning the letter “Election investigation needed” and to others who have expressed similar views, I respond: Why? You would not believe the investigation results anyway, unless they come to the conclusions you want them to. This is why some of you watch only Fox News or similar media that only...
Letter to the editor: Politicians’ abuse of authority
“We the people” elect candidates to represent the best interest of our country. We do not elect them to run the country into the ground with their hate against each other, fighting between parties, misuse of our tax dollars and immoral ideas and actions to silence those of us who...
Letter to the editor: ACHD must do more in Clairton
At the recent Allegheny County Health Department hearing on new regulations for the Clairton Coke Works, I was touched and shocked by the testimony from the people of Clairton and Glassport. What these folks have had to put up with is unbelievable. The Clairton Coke Works produces more air pollution...
