Opinion category, Page 162
M.K. Swartsfager: A table set for four
We can’t blame our government or the political parties, at least not entirely, for the mess we are in. Most view the government as composed of three branches, but the constitutional system requires not only the legislative, executive and judicial powers, but the constant participation of the people from whom...
Counterpoint: Extreme inequality is the real threat to free speech
I was a student in the late 2000s when I had my first brush with “cancel culture.” A campus group had invited Nick Griffin — a racist Holocaust denier and leader of a fascist British political party, among other charming things — to speak. Many shocked students, including me, called...
Point: Robust speech is necessary for a healthy democracy
Debate is healthy for a democratic society. Vigorous exchanges cause people to confront unorthodox ideas, examine their beliefs and develop informed opinions. Robust speech is akin to exercise machines in the gym: a tool to build democratic muscles and endurance. Unfortunately, in the wake of protests over the Israel-Hamas war,...
Letter to the editor: We should love, not damage, the Earth
People profess without reservation that they love the Earth; that they love Mother Nature. Seems to be true especially when you try to find a parking spot at Ohiopyle State Park. My question is, do you think Earth loves you back? Taking coal buried deep in the Earth, for which...
Letter to the editor: Potemkin presidency
The debate exposed it for all to see. Just like the fake Russian village, we have a fake Potemkin presidency. No press conferences, hiding in the basement or maybe sitting in his beloved Corvette in the garage. And likewise, because they were complicit in the scheme, a Potemkin Washington press...
Letter to the editor: Biden’s lies are worse
I wanted to read about the debate right afterward, so I began the article “Trump and Biden mix it up over policy and each other in a debate that turns deeply personal” (June 28, TribLive), not expecting anything really helpful. Boy, was I right. I only got about three or...
Editorial: Pennsylvania School Boards Association should be subject to the Right-to-Know Law
The Pennsylvania School Boards Association might seem like a trade organization. The name gives the same feeling as other state groups for those with related business, such as the Pennsylvania Corn Growers Association, Pennsylvania Retailers Association or the Malt Beverage Distributors Association of Pennsylvania. There are similarities. Each group looks...
Letter to the editor: Voting for Trump is insanity
A vote for Donald Trump is a vote for Vladimir Putin. I believe this man is Putin’s puppet and, if elected, would sell us to Russia, along with Ukraine, within six months of the election. He is a convicted felon, with several more cases pending. These cases are not “witch...
Rachel Marsden: Here’s who should replace Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket
PARIS A whopping 51 million viewers tuned into CNN for the debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, probably in many cases for the same reason that folks enjoy watching NASCAR races. There’s always a risk of a spectacular crash. But what happened here was that the...
Jonah Goldberg: Democrats’ defense of Biden reminiscent of Republicans’ rallying around Trump
The fallout from President Biden’s miserable debate last week is giving me deja vu. In the political right’s intramural arguments over Donald Trump, I got some things correct and some incorrect. But I believe I was indisputably right in one respect: From the outset, I argued that Trump’s presidency would...
Letter to the editor: Be afraid, America
The CNN presidential debate revealed Joe Biden to be similar to Captain Pike in the 1966 pilot episode of “Star Trek.” In the episode, the Starship Enterprise investigated a far-off planet only to encounter telepathic aliens who sought a human male specimen for their menagerie. Captain Pike became incapacitated and...
Letter to the editor: Ranked choice voting gives us more choices
After last week’s debate, I tuned in to Jon Stewart’s post-debate show on Comedy Central. Before it began, “South Park” played an episode about voting for a new school mascot. Their options? “Giant Douche” versus “Turd Sandwich.” Why couldn’t he vote for something cool, like a tiger? The character didn’t...
Laurels & lances: Legend, lanternflies and law
Laurel: To a sweet life. Gus Kalaris did what he could to brighten Pittsburgh’s North Side. From 1951, he manned his “Gus and YiaYia’s” street cart from spring until fall, popping corn and shaving 50-pound blocks of ice to make the icon ice treats he was known for. Kalaris died...
Letter to the editor: Why Biden doesn’t care about Marc Fogel
Whenever I read another outpouring of support for Marc Fogel, it warms my heart. Then I get angry with the realization that Fogel will not be coming home anytime soon. The inconvenient truth of the case is Joe Biden doesn’t give a flying fig about Fogel, for the simple reason...
Lori Falce: Politics is infection in Supreme Court rulings
The U.S. Supreme Court has proved itself in this term to be something different than was intended. “The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.” That is Article...
Paul Kengor: The Founders, Trump-Biden, and our coarsening culture
Last week’s Trump-Biden debate was historic, unforgettable, immensely entertaining, at times even hilarious and yet sadly pathetic. It showed just how far our nation has fallen since July 4, 1776. If I had to pick one exchange from the evening that captured all of those adjectives in one outlandish fell...
Matthew Wilson: Supporting ‘democracy’ is hard for many who feel government and the economy are failing them
Americans, it seems, can both value the idea of democracy and not support it in practice. Since 2016, academics and journalists have expressed concerns that formerly secure democracies are becoming less democratic. Different measures of democracy, such as scores produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Freedom House and the Varieties...
Greg Fulton: Pirates need Roy Hobbs
It’s been a rough several years for the Pirates. Since 2015, the last time the Bucs were in the playoffs, they have had only one winning season. In two of those years, they lost more than 100 games. The Pirates are below .500, and it’s fairly likely that they won’t...
Editorial: America is derived from the consent of the governed
In the fall of 1774, 56 men from 12 of the 13 American colonies met in Philadelphia in the First Continental Congress. It included John Adams and his cousin Samuel, Patrick Henry, John Jay and George Washington. The purpose was to decide how to proceed after Great Britain’s harsh consequences...
Dr. David Macpherson: The president must step aside
Last week’s presidential debate left a very hollow feeling in my gut. I am a lifelong Democrat and have been an ardent supporter of President Biden. I believe he’s done a great job. But as much as I’d like to tout his past accomplishments, the focus must be on the...
Sarika Pruthi and Arushi Parnika Kharbanda: Mass consumerism and the hypocrisy of Gen Z
California lawmakers recently approved two bills banning grocery and convenience stores statewide from offering customers reusable plastic bags. These bills are the next step in combating plastic waste, but what about the waste from mass consumerism that has come to pervade our lives? Through the past decades, we have been...
Letter to the editor: Why do we callously accept abortion?
Callousness and despair. We can easily recognize the sad presence of both in our society. Solidarity and hope. How much more these correspond to who we really are! According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, 34,838 innocent children were killed through abortion in our state in 2022, the latest year...
Letter to the editor: Trump is a criminal
Donald Trump has been convicted on 34 felony counts. In our 250 years as a republic, we have never had a president who was a convicted criminal. Never! We should never have a president with such a low moral character. Never! Trump has been convicted of financial fraud and found...
Editorial: South Side, crime and the difference a year makes
In 2022, crime was a problem on the South Side of Pittsburgh. People were concerned about safety. So were businesses. The Fudge Farm closed its South Side location in June 2022, with the owners saying after yet another shooting: “We can no longer ask teenage children or (anyone) for that...
Letter to the editor: No question that Trump should be president
I never liked Joe Biden. It seemed like he was always angry and yelling as a politician. I guess he learned early that people naturally back down from confrontation. What I saw at last week’s debate was a pathetic shell of a man who was a terrible senator and an...
