Opinion category, Page 560
Editorial: Making companies immune from misconduct is sick
When we think about immunity, we usually think about being resistant to a disease. Immunity is the ability to shrug off an infection, to ignore a virus. It’s an idea that has occupied us for much of the last year. The possibility of being immune to covid-19 because of having...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Never forget actions of Washington traitors
Remember who did this to us. Do not let the passage of time or the currency of other events dim your memory. Never forget what Donald Trump did last week. Never forget that he incited an attack on our republic by a traitorous mob. Remember Sens. Josh Hawley and Ted...
Sheldon Jacobson and Janet Jokela: Airport security checkpoints are nation’s covid-19 canary
We welcome the new year with nearly 22 million confirmed covid-19 cases and 365,000 deaths. The U.S. leads the world in total confirmed cases and deaths, while also ranking second in confirmed cases per capita and seventh in deaths per capita (for countries with a population over 10 million). The...
Colin McNickle: The continuing struggles of Pittsburgh Public Schools
Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) yet again used fund reserves to balance its 2021 general fund budget, a practice it has employed since 2016. But the school district has a long way to go to address its high expenditures, concludes an analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. “PPS’ trends...
Sounding off: We don’t have freedom to harm others
I weep with all the health care workers, families and caregivers who, on top of dealing with covid-19, must listen to the hate spewed forth in the name of “personal freedoms.” Yes, it is hate. It is total disregard for the lives of others. It is like you are driving...
Letter to the editor: Police actions during DC chaos
How come the police were not told to stand down like they were at some of the Black Lives Matter riots? Was it because the politicians were in danger, not private citizens’ businesses? Clem Zahrobsky Delmont...
Letter to the editor: Reschenthaler and Joyce are patriots
I felt compelled to respond to letters from Scott Huber claiming the presidential election was the “most secure election in modern history” (“Will Joyce and Reschenthaler need pardons?”) and Edward Svitek that Biden won “fairly and squarely” (“Does Trump love America?”) when the facts and statistics say otherwise. Joe Biden...
Letter to the editor: Lying to Congress is a crime
Sen. Ted Cruz proposed a congressional inquiry to determine the legitimacy of the 2020 election (and it failed, on Jan. 6). The idea was fine with me — but note that the line between freedom of speech and slander, defamation and sedition is not a fine one. If you’re lying...
Mona Charen: A lesson on our merciless culture
When did we become so merciless? I’m not talking about the 18-year-old kid, featured in a New York Times article, who elected to torpedo a fellow student over a three-year-old video clip — though what he did was cruel. No, I’m talking about all of the supposed adults who created...
Paul Kengor: The ‘gift’ of the lottery
Another Christmas season has ended, and so has, mercifully, another season of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania bearing false gifts of lottery tickets. It’s a perennial promise, with jolly state officials assuming the role of Anti-Santa. It starts every year with those annoying commercials, usually around Black Friday. If you search...
John Stossel: Middle Eastern young people winning war on ideas
Islamic terror has been trending down for five years. Some American officials said this would never happen. America has failed to properly fight terrorism, said former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, so it “has spread, gaining countless new adherents.” Others said fundamentalism’s demand for religious obedience over individual freedom means “peace...
Jonah Goldberg: It’s a fallacy that Trump supporters haven’t been heard
The president of the United States incited a mob. It was a disgraceful, inexcusable, impeachable act. Donald Trump’s defenders offer any number of excuses in order to shave off the shame. The media didn’t condemn riots last summer by left-wing groups, and therefore this was inevitable or just desserts or...
Letter to the editor: Has Trump committed treason?
Our current president spoke a few days ago in Georgia. His harangue was, to me, reminiscent of a Hitler speech. I believe he mobilized the Proud Boys and other white nationalist terrorists to invade the Capitol in an attempted coup and as such has committed treason. Like all other Benedict...
Lori Falce: The bogus integrity of the last-straw brigade
I love a dramatic gesture. If you use a pregnant pause to build anticipation, I will eat it up. If you can make an entrance a little more grand, I fully support that. If you want to make turning in your two weeks’ notice a production worthy of Meryl Streep,...
Letter to the editor: We must protect children from toxic lead
We still have work to do to eliminate the threat of toxic lead in the lives of young children. The covid-19 virus has taken precedence over our health concerns, rightly so, but lead paint dust and lead in our drinking water still loom in the environment of our children and...
Laurels & lances: Good taste, goodbye, good sense
Laurel: To a recognition in good taste. Tessaro’s in Bloomfield is well known for burgers as big in flavor as they are in size. J&J’s Family Restaurant in Mt. Washington is the kind of diner that feels like visiting a favorite aunt’s house, sipping coffee from mismatched mugs. The two...
Letter to the editor: We don’t get to pick and choose laws we obey
In her letter “Business owners standing up to Gov. Tom Wolf are patriots,” Shelia Hanson claims restaurant owners who defied Gov. Tom Wolf’s order suspending indoor dining are “patriots.” She bases this on the assertion that the orders are unconstitutional. First, some real patriots, our Founding Fathers, put a court...
Caleb Verbois: The Constitution, a demagogue and a coup
Every semester in my introductory American Government class, I have my students read a short speech written by a 28-year-old over 150 years ago. It turned into one of the most important speeches in American history, even though many people have forgotten it today. The speaker, a relatively unknown Midwestern...
Letter to the editor: Confused by voting procedures
Voting this year for our president has been very confusing. I received a mail-in ballot that I did not request. I wanted to vote in person. At my polling place, I gave the poll worker my driver’s license and voter registration card, and I was told to sign the registration...
Letter to the editor: Register for organ donation on PA Donor Day
On Jan. 8, Pennsylvania will host its second annual PA Donor Day, a chance to galvanize our friends and neighbors to rally behind the nearly 7,000 Pennsylvanians who are waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant. Why Jan. 8? Because one registered donor has the power to save 8 lives. My...
Letter to the editor: Biden will be called illegitimate, too
President-elect Joe Biden reaches out and asks for unity within government parties while Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Washington Post writer and others suggested creating blacklists so supporters of President Trump are identified and prevented from “profiting” from their actions in support of the Trump administration. To me, that means preventing...
Letter to the editor: AG Shapiro should investigate election fraud allegations
Josh Shapiro, as the attorney general of Pennsylvania, has the power, authority and responsibility to shut down this whole voter fraud allegation. As per the Pennsylvania Election Code, Act of June 3, 1937, P.L. 1333, No. 320, Section 1642, on enforcement: (a) The Attorney General shall have prosecutorial jurisdiction over...
Editorial: An assault on the American system
The U.S. Capitol is the cathedral of government in the United States. Since 1793, it has been where the laws that shape our nation were baptized. Where treaties were blessed. Where solemn acts of war were confirmed. While we separate our churches from the state, the Capitol with its awe-inspiring...
Steve Johnson: It wasn’t all bad, was it? 9 things to keep from 2020
I think most of us would gladly erase 2020 from our memories, in the same way that certain tall buildings fail to acknowledge the 13th floor. By almost any measure, it’s been a trash fire of a year. I could list what makes this true — the various fuels feeding...
Letter to the editor: Nurses as valuable as doctors
Regarding Dr. Jacob Appel’s op-ed “Why call anyone ‘Dr.’?” (Dec. 29, TribLIVE): As a professor who calls her students by their first names and asks them to reciprocate, I agree that professional titles should be eschewed. But why does Appel find it “distressing” that female doctors are sometimes mistaken for...
