Opinion category, Page 180
Joseph Sabino Mistick: An Easter message of hope and faith
Easter is a celebration of rebirth, and, since it coincides with springtime in many places, new beginnings are everywhere. Crocuses and daffodils are popping out of the recently frozen ground, and magnolia trees have burst with blossoms overnight. The sun has reappeared where it has been cold and dark for...
Andreas Kluth: U.S. just fired a first diplomatic shot at Israel
“Abstention” is a deceptively diplomatic word, implying some sort of bureaucratic omission. And yet the March 25 decision by the U.S. to abstain from casting its veto in the United Nations Security Council turned a page in history. For the first time since the terrorist attack by Hamas against Israel on...
David Ditch: Repair the Key Bridge without breaking the bank
The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore came as quite a shock. After a massive container ship struck one of the bridge’s pillars, the entire span quickly fell apart, costing several lives. It’s hard to overstate the bridge’s importance, particularly for the automobile industry. In addition to...
Mark Z. Barabak: She can’t stand Trump or Biden. Don’t tell this ‘double-hater’ she’s crazy voting for someone else.
ROSEVILLE, Calif. By now Victoria Thompson has heard it many times. She’s crazy. She’s throwing her vote away. Worse, those who loathe Donald Trump say she’s helping the unscrupulous ex-president reclaim the White House — even though she’s never voted for him and never will — by refusing to back...
Sounding off: Founders, elections, candidates among week’s topics
Founding Fathers not Christian nationalists Republican leader Marjorie Taylor Greene recently stated that “Our Founding Fathers would’ve been considered Christian Nationalists, and I agree with them!” Greene has embraced a trope of exclusion that is factually and historically wrong. While many of the Founding Fathers were religious, they did not...
Letter to the editor: Lingg will bring conservatism back to Harrisburg
There seems to only be a handful of elected state officials who really understand what our “commonwealth” within our “republic” is about. Maybe it does not matter, since the “unelected” bureaucrats seem to be the ones running things. Our state is out of control with its support and “investments” in...
Editorial: Congressman’s bridge comments embarrass Pennsylvania
There are few things that really unite Pennsylvania. It’s a state that is both Democrat and Republican. It is rural and urban, chipped ham and cheesesteaks. It is Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and everything in between. If you can imagine an election in which Pennsylvania goes overwhelmingly in one direction or...
Letter to the editor: Biden has done much for us
Much has been said about President Biden’s age, even though Donald Trump constantly gets things mixed up and can’t remember dates and names. I do not write for sympathy, because none is needed. True, seniors forget some dates, forget some names. But so what? That’s true of a lot of...
Gary Franks: For Black women, Democrats can do no wrong
Will Black women continue to blindly offer their loyalty to Democrats or any Democrat for political office? They are the definition of a monolithic group when it comes to politics. If you are a Democrat, then they are voting for you. History is proof (according to Roper for Public Opinion...
S.E. Cupp: Don’t use press jobs to rehab Trump’s flunkies
On the night of Dec. 5, 2020, Jocelyn Benson and her 4-year-old son had just finished decorating their Detroit house for Christmas. Just as he was sitting down to watch “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” Jocelyn heard a growing ruckus outside. The noises got louder and louder and eventually Benson...
Colin McNickle: Behind Pa.’s 2023 gambling numbers
Pennsylvania’s gambling revenues reached nearly $5.7 billion by the end of 2023. It’s the highest yearly total to date, up 9.3% from 2022. And taxes on that gambling brought in $2.3 billion in 2023, up 10% from $2.12 billion in 2022. But a researcher at the Allegheny Institute for Public...
Letter to the editor: McDaniel and NBC’s agenda
Well, NBC news “journalists” have shown their true agenda in such a big way it can no longer be ignored. Ronna McDaniel was hired by NBC to hopefully balance their left-wing rhetoric. However, the talent on their shows threw a fit and demanded she be fired before she even started...
Letter to the editor: Jill Cooper committed to service
I highly recommend Jill Cooper for Murrysville, Export, Salem Township and Delmont (District 55) Pennsylvania state representative. She is not only smart, but her experience serving these communities spans many years. Cooper knows the business community well, and, for many years, coordinated and aided their growth strategies when she was...
Lori Falce: Stop being quiet on set when it comes to child actors
The easiest way to rally people to your cause can be to focus on the way it affects children. Hunger in a foreign country? Show starving children. War in a foreign country? Show the youngest victims. Everyone does it. Health care? How does it impact children? Education? Easy one. Show...
Laurels & lances: Recusal and responsibility
Laurel: To fair consideration. A Westmoreland County judge has agreed to consider removing himself from the case of a former police officer accused of lying. Ryan Matthew Clark, 33, of Buffalo Township is a former Arnold cop who was arrested in 2022 by county detectives and charged with filing a...
Letter to the editor: Should we secure our county’s borders?
Following their reelection, the Westmoreland County commissioners announced an unwelcome tax increase. They could have softened the blow by saying some tax receipts would be used to erect a razor-wire fence along our borders. Thus would end sanctuary county discussion. More importantly, we wouldn’t have to fear caravans of brown-skinned...
Letter to the editor: Don’t vote for more insanity
I was saddened to read the letter “Trump, ‘strong men’ and bloodbaths” (March 25, TribLive). Is the writer serious? I mean, is that his real opinion, or is it something being sold to us? Actually I would agree with the whole opinion if the names “Biden” and “Trump” were reversed....
Paul Kengor: On virtue, the Steelers and Kenny Pickett
Cicero insisted that what a citizenry needs above all is virtue, which he defined as prudence, practical wisdom, one that eschews vice. In his excellent 2009 book, “Politics for the Greatest Good: The Case for Prudence in the Public Square,” Clarke Forsythe notes that prudence is concerned with right action,...
Letter to the editor: Who’s above the law?
When it comes to talk about Donald Trump and presidential immunity, the mantra is “nobody is above the law.” Nobody — except the millions of illegal immigrants invading our border. Nobody — except every foreign diplomat in our country. Nobody — except every U.S. senator and representative who has immunity...
Letter to the editor: Commissioners hypocritical and deceitful
I believe all three Westmoreland County commissioners were well aware that they intended to slam property owners with a massive one-third tax hike before the November election, but they waited until two weeks after Election Day to announce it. Then to turn around and raise their own salaries to almost...
Editorial: The lessons of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Baltimore bridges
Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge is a twisted mass of metal in the Patapsco River today after a cargo vessel plowed into a support column. Video shows the incident in the dark hours of Tuesday morning like a slow motion scene in a disaster movie as the structure fell down...
Letter to the editor: Community input needed on hydrogen hubs
I recently attended the first of seven “listening sessions” on hydrogen hubs hosted by the Department of Energy (DOE) to hear how residents in other parts of the country felt about these projects. I did not find out. Only three people registered to speak — all members of the building...
Jonah Goldberg: Why Trump’s running mate is less likely to be Marco Rubio than Marjorie Taylor Greene
Now that Donald Trump is officially the presumptive Republican nominee, he’s getting ready for the general election. In just the last couple of weeks, he’s scratched a lot off his to-do list. He installed new leadership, including his daughter-in-law, at the Republican National Committee and negotiated a joint fundraising agreement...
Jason W. Park: Gun rights, gun control, gun violence
An Illinois federal judge recently ruled that the Constitution protects the gun rights of noncitizens who enter the U.S. illegally. U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Coleman dropped firearm possession charges against Heriberto Carbajal-Flores, who was in possession of a handgun in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago on June 1,...
Letter to the editor: Excessive fine for Trump unconstitutional
Former President Donald Trump has been fined $454 million. The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States states, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” I wonder, in this economy today, how much should be considered to be an...
