Featured Commentary category, Page 93
Joshua Colangelo-Bryan: The first prisoners arrived at Guantanamo Bay 20 years ago. Will it ever close?
On Jan. 11, 2002, a U.S. military plane landed at our base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the first men deemed “the worst of the worst” by then-Vice President Dick Cheney were brought into the now-infamous detention center. Jumah Al-Dossari, a citizen of both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia whom I...
Meg Snead: Investments in human services industries are an investment in our future
For many Pennsylvanians, the people I call our caring workforce that make up the fabric of our social safety net give us the freedom to do our jobs and provide for our families. For those of us with young children, we depend on our early childhood education providers to keep...
Cal Thomas: Competition and choice needed in education
For the third straight day last week, the Chicago Teachers Union canceled classes, choosing to return to virtual learning and citing dangers from the omicron variant as their excuse. To many, this is seen as nothing more than a teachers’ strike and power grab executed by a union that historically...
Greg Fulton: Another Steelers long shot that paid off
With the Steelers unpredictably making it to the playoffs and being a long shot in going further, it’s a good time to reflect on another fortuitous long shot in the team’s past. You won’t see Rocky Bleier’s name associated with many individual records, but he was a key part of...
Gov. Tom Wolf: Final year will focus on issues that matter most
The start of a new year is always a time of reflection. As I enter my final year in office, I want the people of Pennsylvania to know that I continue to be deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve you as governor. It has been the greatest honor of...
Dr. Alessandra Hirsch: Omicron and the last straw
On Dec. 23, as the Centers for Disease Control released its emergency guidance for health care facilities on returning to work, my ob/gyn residency program was split into three groups. Some of us were preparing to celebrate the Christmas holiday during our time off, making difficult decisions about whether or...
Diana Steck, Michael Pardus and Bob Mason: Westmoreland County needs a people’s American Rescue Plan
The historic American Rescue Plan passed because working people of all races stood up, turned out and demanded a government that works for all of us. By the end of January, Westmoreland County commissioners have to finalize a plan to use the first portion of the $100 million the county...
Richard Kauzlarich: U.S. natural gas critical to strengthening America’s national security
In recent months, European gas prices have risen as much as 700%, leaving millions of citizens vulnerable to a dangerously unstable grid and burdened with high electricity costs heading into this winter. Disruptions from this energy crisis have been felt by households and many industries that rely on affordable power...
Sanford Goldberg: The real moral reckoning in Ghislaine Maxwell case
In the past few years, several high-profile cases of sexual abuse in the U.S. — Jeffrey Epstein, Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby and R. Kelly — have prompted serious soul-searching. How could abuses like these have persisted for so long, given the number of people who had to have known what...
Mark Hendrickson: When humans don’t procreate
Two years ago, I wrote about the pending global population implosion. Demographers predict that 90 countries will lose population between now and the year 2100. Shrinking populations have portentous implications, including major shifts in geopolitical power and the possible financial collapse of welfare states. The United States’ population is part...
Bill Press: Throw the book at Mark Meadows
Now that the House has voted to hold former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in contempt for refusing to appear before the Jan. 6 Select Committee, Washington insiders are gripped in a typical, inside-the-Beltway dilemma: Whether or not the Justice Department should file criminal charges against him. After...
Sam DeMarco: Pittsburgh Public Schools tax increase was not necessary
Once again, Pittsburgh’s pandemic-strapped taxpayers are being asked to pony up more of their household incomes to close a purported $5.3 million shortfall, even as the Pittsburgh Public Schools Board sits on more than $145 million in surplus dollars tucked away in a “reserve” fund. That’s right. Pittsburgh Public Schools...
Lynn Schmidt: Liz Cheney stands firmly in defending democracy
Imagine being a leader exiled to an island with only one other person. Now imagine that instead of shrinking under the wound of political isolation, you become stronger. Courage somehow thrives in this seclusion. Truth, honor and integrity build the foundation of a lighthouse that becomes a beacon of leadership....
Robert Koehler: Poisoning ourselves with war
War spews hell in all directions. Just ask the guys at Talon Anvil, a secret U.S. “strike cell” recently exposed by the New York Times as a unit with a reputation for ignoring the rules of engagement and killing lots and lots of civilians with drone strikes as it plays...
Terry Wilcox: AARP’s drug pricing conflict of interest
AARP is the nation’s biggest and most influential advocacy group for seniors. It has about 38 million members — more than 11% of the U.S. population. From lobbying for better conditions in nursing homes to getting travel discounts for members, the organization has done much to help retired people over...
Peter Morici: Fixing Biden’s China policy
China’s global ambitions pose an existential threat to Western democracy, prosperity and security, but the Biden administration, preoccupied with domestic economic renewal and social justice, has not articulated a comprehensive policy. Cooperation on climate change could materialize, but the consequences for economic competition — fundamentally the trade and investment relationship...
Stephen Carter: What to expect from the world in 2022
December’s end is when we reflect on what we hope to improve in the year to come … and also the time for my annual predictions of news headlines for the next 12 months. Usually I begin by evaluating last year’s predictions, but this year only one bears mention: For...
Nathan Benefield: Gerrymandering won’t save unpopular candidates
With state and congressional redistricting underway in Harrisburg, many politicians have blamed “partisan gerrymandering” for past election losses. But this is another instance when the conventional wisdom gets it wrong. Redistricting-watchers fearing an electoral apocalypse and those hoping for a clear path to victory need a healthy dose of reality....
Addison Del Mastro: Pa. should embrace its heritage by restoring railways
Streetcars were once a ubiquitous presence in Pennsylvania’s cities and towns. This mode of transport — a symbol of America’s booming industrial age — was born in Scranton, which became known as “The Electric City” when it opened the first continuously operating electric trolley system in 1886. Soon thereafter, Scranton...
Cal Thomas: A little peace and goodwill in Congress
Peace on Earth and goodwill to men this time of year seems increasingly absent in diverse places. In America, the noble objective seems to have long ago left the U.S. Capitol, where too many members of Congress are as divided and angry at each other as ever. A new study...
David Campt and Allison Mahaley: Through compassion we can transform the current culture war
America is immersed in a culture war that is a new manifestation of its age-old problem with race. School board meetings across America have devolved into ugly protests about critical race theory. The strategy to rebrand CRT was created, organized and executed intentionally as a political wedge issue. Right-wing operative...
Martin Schram: Worst-case scenarios — unasked, unresolved
Outside, millions of desperate people have been standing for hours in lines stretching around the corners of America’s city streets and suburban strip malls. Inside, others have been searching the internet — and getting kicked off by overloaded websites and ticked-off by under-informing ones. They were just trying to do...
Dave Anderson: The truth is that our citizens are not polarized
There are two problems with the conventional wisdom about polarization in American society. The first is that it mistakes widespread conflict with one master battle between conservatives and liberals. The second is that it overlooks a large percentage of Americans who do not identify with either the Democrats or the...
Mark Barabak: Looking back on a plague year and ahead to more political upheaval
Today we look back on the year in politics and forward to the midterm election, now less than 325 days away. Because 2021 was so much fun, why not live it again? Please. Our plague year began, in fittingly grim fashion, with pro-Trump insurrectionists overrunning the U.S. Capitol in an...
Mary Sanchez: Of tornadoes, changing science and twisted politics
The cadaver dogs were busy performing the grim duties of their training when the opportunists leapt into action. They couldn’t let a catastrophic loss of human life get in the way of pitching a hefty dose of politically expedient, anti-science rhetoric. To which countless others shook our heads and asked,...
