Opinion category, Page 556
Robert Sroufe: Pa. can reap financial, health benefits from RGGI
In Pennsylvania, we see more extreme weather, more deaths from heat and respiratory ailments like asthma, and a disruption to agriculture, all attributable to climate change. Greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas and oil contribute substantially to climate change in Pennsylvania and across the globe....
Letter to the editor: Gang of eight’s loyalty to Trump
Eight Republican members of Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives signed a letter (Dec. 31) and subsequently voted (Jan. 7) to object to Pennsylvania’s certification of electors. They accuse the governor, secretary of state, Pennsylvania Supreme Court and attorney general as accomplices in “unlawful actions.” Prove it. They can’t. Their remedy would...
Letter to the editor: Fix voting laws to restore confidence
The continuing problems created by our archaic voting laws must be fixed throughout our country so we can restore confidence in our elections. Universal mail-in balloting with no requirement for signature verification, no time limits, legalized ballot harvesting, etc., must be fixed, and it can be. I am against any...
Editorial: Raising expectations for covid vaccinations but not delivering
On Monday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health unveiled a website to help move along the covid-19 vaccination process. Click on the link, and you go to a state page with a quiz that poses a few questions to determine if you meet the criteria to get the vaccine now. Are...
Letter to the editor: Cruz’s actions were proper
Calls linking Sen. Ted Cruz to the Capitol rioting are astonishing (Joseph Sabino Mistick’s “Never forget actions of Washington traitors,” Jan. 8, TribLIVE). Why? He committed the heinous crime of advocating for a commission to investigate alleged voting irregularities in the 2020 elections. Before getting out the digital pitchforks and...
Letter to the editor: Election was about good vs. evil
The 2020 election was about good vs. evil. In this regard, why would God permit evil to prevail? It wasn’t his choice; it was ours. When they said let’s take prayer out of schools, we said OK. When they said let’s remove God from the public square, we said OK....
Jonah Goldberg: Giuliani’s descent from America’s mayor to Trump’s dark knight
“You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain,” Harvey Dent, the heroic district attorney of Gotham, proclaims in “The Dark Knight.” The fatalistic idea being that one can only do so much good in the world before you start balancing out the scales...
Andrew Swensen: Faith in one another should be our 2021 story
We are hardwired for story. It is our nature to weave the experiences of life into narrative, both as individuals and societies, and this storytelling nature is as intrinsic to our species as purring is to cats and singing to birds. Here we wrestle with the deepest questions of humanity,...
Letter to the editor: Thankful for kindness to veteran
On Veterans Day my husband, a Korean War vet, and I went to IHOP for lunch. As we were following the hostess to our seat, my husband began talking to a man who was dining alone. After finishing our meal, I asked our server for our bill. She told me...
Letter to the editor: End of our economic exuberance
This letter is in two parts. The first is allegorical, the second factual. The first part is a parody on the current Democratic assemblage compared to an NFL team. The Washington Fumblers are misfits and scrubs led by a former assistant coach who served under a head coach who never...
Editorial: The American experiment succeeds
America is often described as a great experiment in democracy. We have now spent 233 years operating under the auspices of the U.S. Constitution. The experiment has been under way for long enough that it is less trial and error and more pattern and tradition. In 1796, we wondered if...
Letter to the editor: A coup de grace for hatred
Am I naive to think that the harrowing violence in Washington on Jan. 6 by a mob, one that President-elect Biden correctly characterized as “domestic terrorists,” was the grand finale of agitations to overturn the elections? Or, trusting a more skeptical sense, should I fear that at least some of...
Pat Buchanan: Now, the left owns it all
That mob that split off from the Donald Trump rally of Jan. 6 to invade the Capitol has proven a godsend to the left. The death of a Capitol cop has enabled the left — which spent the summer after George Floyd’s death trashing “racist cops” and shouting, “Defund the...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: What Trump was not was enough for them
To the Republican Party: As the Trump administration stumbles through its final hours, it seems a proper time to offer a summation of the era just passed. Ordinarily, this calls for analytical heavy lifting. One seeks to reconcile a mosaic of accomplishments, failures and compromises into a single coherent portrait....
Letter to the editor: Trump enablers unfit to serve country
To Rep. Guy Reschenthaler: I hope you were happy watching the events transpiring in Washington Jan. 6. I hope you are proud of the uncivilized behavior displayed by President Trump and his supporters. While I hold Trump responsible for the deplorable actions of his supporters, responsibility falls equally on the...
Letter to the editor: Steelers should move on from Roethlisberger
Mark Madden’s column on the Steelers problems (“Loyalty to Mike Tomlin leaves Steelers going nowhere,” Jan. 13, TribLIVE) was only partially correct. As usual his critical team analysis left out a major issue, “Hall of Fame” (as Madden always likes to preface) quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. For the last eight years,...
Nancy Patton Mills: We voted for Biden to begin rebuilding
On Wednesday — some 75 days after resoundingly defeating Donald Trump at the ballot box and two weeks after his election was certified by Congress — Joe Biden will take the oath of office and finally become the president of the United States of America. It can’t come soon enough....
Editorial: Bringing back movies to the Mills is a welcome sign
Closings are something that are a little too familiar right now. They aren’t new, of course. Too many Southwestern Pennsylvania towns have Main Streets strewn with shuttered storefronts. Many shopping malls are shells of their former selves. The coronavirus pandemic has hastened what might have been a chronic illness, pulling...
Letter to the editor: Democratic ploy to take down Trump?
The Democrats have finally succeeded. I think it was through voter fraud and inciting a riot and blaming President Trump for it. Don’t believe everything you read or see. You see what the news media chooses to film and edited as the news media chooses to present it. Only those...
Letter to the editor: UPMC’s honesty on mask effectiveness
I believe our government has been lying to us. I am not surprised, but I was surprised when UPMC was truthful about the ineffectiveness of some cloth masks. That should make the national news. Every year, UPMC sends policy-holders its Over-the-Counter Catalog, from which we can order some common health...
Letter to the editor: Biden should stand up to Pelosi
If Joe Biden were a real man intent on healing the current controversy, he wouldn’t be letting Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi run the show and divide us with her hateful attitude. He would stand up, assert his authority, and say, “I will see that there is a peaceful...
Letter to the editor: Ashamed by Trump’s division of America
“Make America Great Again.” We’ve got the most covid-19 cases and deaths in the world. I blame President Trump. Social distancing and more mask wearing in the beginning would have saved a lot of lives. And our economy would have opened up much sooner. Herd stupidity has resulted from people...
Tom Purcell: What’s needed isn’t complicated — hearty laughter
America could use a hearty laugh right now, but laughter doesn’t come easily because too many Americans have lost their sense of humor. Humor, says Merriam- Webster, is “the ability to be funny or to be amused by things that are funny.” We are at our best when we’re amused. Few...
Jonah Goldberg: Parler’s lawsuit against Amazon is destined to fail
I have never been a free speech absolutist. I am, however, somewhat closer to being a First Amendment absolutist. Many free speech absolutists don’t like this distinction because they think the First Amendment should guarantee the ability to express yourself in virtually any manner you like, in any setting. But...
Editorial: Martin Luther King Jr.’s dreams still ring out
When Martin Luther King Jr. came to the Lincoln Memorial in March 1963, he spoke words that echoed like a bell. They rang true and resonated with both heartbreak and faith as he spoke about a dream of equality, freedom and the future. It was a moment that seems suspended...
