Opinion category, Page 219
Editorial: More disclosure from Pitt, Penn State is progress
Pennsylvania residents should expect a certain degree of openness from the institutions that serve them. Lawmakers should not just debate legislation openly, but they also should be crystal clear about the funding that keeps them in office. Counties and municipalities should govern in the light of day. School district decisions...
Letter to the editor: Kudos to Valley High School Drama Club
Kudos to the Valley High School Drama Club for presenting a drama based on a true story. We often hear the pejorative, “kids these days.” However, if “adults these days” provide the appropriate guidance/opportunity, “kids these days” can rise to the challenge. It is the fashion for high school theater...
S.E. Cupp: Blame Trump for the fist fights on Capitol Hill
In San Francisco federal court on Tuesday, David DePape tearfully told a jury how he’d become radicalized by far-right conspiracy theories he’d devoured on YouTube podcasts. He’d listen all day, he said, ultimately coming to believe in the kind of baseless political quackery that’s come to define a wing of...
Guy Ciarrocchi: The parties have irreconcilably different visions for America
“It’s so nice to have Representative Jones, who’s a Republican, and Representative Smith, a Democrat, with us today. Even though they belong to different parties, we know that we all want the same thing for our community, and our nation.” As the former CEO of the Chester County Chamber, I...
Letter to the editor: Republicans must pull together
I hope new Speaker of the House Mike Johnson can pull the Republicans together. They used to be conservative and would fight for their principles. I realize that compromise is sometimes necessary, but there comes a time to stand firm and fight for their beliefs. Many Republicans are either RINOs...
Letter to the editor: Think before voting for Trump
In an interview on Univision on Nov. 9, Enrique Acevedo asked Donald Trump about the legacy of his three Supreme Court justice nominations. Trump said: “We were able to stop a very radical agenda … killing babies after birth, killing babies in the ninth month, etc. … “Many great decisions...
Lori Falce: The Supreme Court, George Santos and the vanishing art of ethics
There is a difference between ethics and the law. But that doesn’t mean the two don’t coexist. Laws are codified rules that spell out what can happen, what should happen, what circumstances might change that and what the consequences are for stepping outside those lines. But ethics? Ethics are trickier....
Laurels & lances: Shelter and support
Laurel: To having a plan. It was almost a year ago that the Second Avenue Commons shelter opened in Pittsburgh, providing an option for homeless residents to stay warm and protected from the elements. Within days, Allegheny County announced the facility had hit capacity. The obvious need made it concerning...
Letter to the editor: Fair Districts wants bipartisan solutions
The writer of the letter “Fair Districts nonpartisan?” (Nov. 1, TribLIVE) wrote, “When I read the Fair Districts PA chair’s letter ‘Fair Districts nonpartisan’ (Sept. 12, TribLIVE), I nearly laughed out loud. One of the letter-writers is a registered Democrat and the other has pro-Biden posts on her Facebook page.”...
Jodi Hirsh: Demanding an Israel-Hamas cease-fire
I am the Jewish grandchild of Holocaust survivors. My grandfather was in a camp. Although I was very close to them, I never learned exactly how my grandparents escaped Austria and then Vichy France, because the experience was so traumatizing that neither one would discuss it for the rest of...
Letter to the editor: Path to peace in Middle East
The path to peace in the Middle East can be achieved in the same way that peace was achieved after World War II. Peace was achieved by the defeat of Japan and Germany after their surrender and demilitarization. Hamas must also surrender to Israel and release the hostages, and the...
Letter to the editor: Junk mail, grocery prices, liars — we’re in critical condition
I used to be upset by junk mail. Well, I still am, but how about everyone expecting the consumer to have a computer or cellphone and have an app for every store to find prices or location of stock? How about people begging on the street with help wanted signs...
Editorial: Could pension increase prompt a new pension crisis for Pennsylvania?
Pensions for state employees and teachers have been a wrench in the gears of Pennsylvania government for decades. In 2001, Gov. Tom Ridge signed a law that expanded pensions for those employees by 25% — and even more for state lawmakers. He was thrilled to do it, saying it was...
Letter to the editor: What does ‘draining the swamp’ really mean?
What do MAGA Republicans mean by “Drain the swamp”? Is Justice Clarence Thomas’ lavish gifts or the huge contributions that candidates take in included? Are the Supreme Court and Sen. Mitch McConnell swamp creatures for encouraging both practices? Republicans oppose the hordes of lobbyists infesting the Capitol, but does the...
Jonah Goldberg: After a week of mostly bad reelection news, Biden has only 1 choice
One of Joe Biden’s favorite campaign lines is “don’t compare me to the Almighty, compare me to the alternative.” In the wake of a series of polls earlier this month, Democrats were thrown into a panic because voters in key battleground states did exactly that and chose Donald Trump as...
Cal Thomas: Attitudes of gratitude and ingratitude
We have again entered the season of gratitude. You remember gratitude, don’t you? It was what we expressed before we became entitled. Last Saturday was the observance of Veterans Day, during which many thanked those who served in the military and have protected our freedoms. Next week is Thanksgiving, when...
Ari Mittleman: Pa. must work harder to combat antisemitism
Last week a 69-year-old Jewish man was killed on the streets of Los Angeles. Paul Kessler suffered blunt force head trauma when an anti-Israel protestor deliberately struck him with a megaphone. This homicide was preventable. It did not happen in a vacuum. The primary contributing factor was the increasingly normalized...
Letter to the editor: Do DAs’ duties go beyond prosecuting lawbreakers?
Where in the list of duties of district attorneys in Pennsylvania is the right to condemn the operations of private enterprise, shutting down liquor establishments as nuances, threating Kennywood Park because it doesn’t meet their thoughts and beliefs on proper security? I thought the job of DA was to prosecute...
Letter to the editor: We all need reliable energy
Regarding the letter “Hydrogen blending not the answer” (Nov. 4, TribLIVE): It is a simple fact that our homes, businesses and industries rely on a dependable supply of energy to satisfy basic needs, drive economic growth and advance our society. That is why, as we plan our path forward, we...
Editorial: Why say intimate partner violence?
Sometimes the names of things have to change because they just don’t fit the information anymore. The term “shell shock” was created during World War I to explain the symptoms of soldiers suffering from a constellation of symptoms suffered in the wake of battle. As more became known about the...
Letter to the editor: Consequences of electing Biden
Elections have consequences. So said a famous political figure of recent times. The 2020 presidential election has resulted in numerous consequences, mostly bad, none more disturbing than those resulting from the incomprehensible border policy. After the election, President Biden wasted no time reversing the border policies of the previous administration,...
Erika Strassburger: Region at center of clean energy economy
U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm recently visited Greensburg and hosted a town hall in Pittsburgh to talk about how Western Pennsylvania can benefit from a clean energy economy. It makes sense that Pittsburgh, long a hub for industry and innovation, would be a focus of clean energy investment. We’ve been...
Elwood Watson: Israel and free speech at our nation’s universities
Debates over free speech have deeply immersed themselves into the fabric of our culture over the past few years. Wild and sharp finger-pointing has gone in both directions. Last week, a Cornell University junior accused of posting violently threatening statements against Jewish people on campus was held without bail after...
Letter to the editor: College demonstrators clueless
The multitudinous demonstrations by the college types marching for the Palestine butchers reminds me of the Occupy morons from years ago. Essentially without clue. It’s like they get together and say, “Hey, you wanna march?” “What are we marching for?” “Uh, not sure, something about something. But all our profs...
Letter to the editor: Biden not ‘destroying America’
I take most letters to the editor with a grain of salt, but “Biden destroying America” (Nov. 6, TribLIVE) was so off the grid I decided to look up the writer’s “facts” Regarding “opening our borders to millions”: There have been a lot of mistakes made, that I can’t deny;...
