Opinion category, Page 229
Letter to the editor: Trump should be in jail
I have to agree with those saying that Donald Trump is being treated unfairly during his indictments — anyone else would already be in jail, fined and treated like the pariah they are for such unlawful conduct. I strongly urge everyone to read the actual court document from Jack Smith...
Letter to the editors: Experience, qualifications more important than being pro-choice
Holy Nightmare, Batman! The Democratic voters in Allegheny County put an inexperienced, unqualified person in an executive position that oversees a budget of billions and 7,500-plus employees. But of course she is pro-choice … like it matters! Joe Marmo Cheswick...
Letter to the editor: County should aid Independence Health System
Westmoreland County has tens of millions of unspent “covid dollars.” Our politicians are currently debating how to spend this money. One of the most affected “industries” of the pandemic is our local health system striving to compete with UPMC, AGH, etc. Independence Health System (formerly Excela) finds itself tens of...
Editorial: In Allegheny County, party politics is more complicated than it seems
It might seem like politics is utterly binary. It is black and white — or more aptly, Democratic blue and Republican red. The increasingly ugly and polarized divides at every level of government bear that out. People bracing themselves for uncomfortable conversations with relatives on Thanksgiving is another measure. But...
Letter to the editor: We’re at critical mass, and we must slow it down
In nuclear physics, a critical mass is the smallest mass of a fissionable material needed to produce a self-sustaining chain reaction. In general terms, a critical mass is the number or amount of something (or anything) that is needed to cause a particular result. In the U.S., we have reached...
Editorial cartoons for the week of Nov. 20
Editorial cartoons for the week of Nov. 20....
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Nov. 20
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Nov. 20....
Letter to the editor: River can bring prosperity to Kiski valley
Living in the Kiski area for about six years now, it appears to me that there are many roads to prosperity if we choose to take them. River frontage is a valuable commodity for any area. We have a river that is compatible for fishing and boating. If the riverfront...
Letter to the editor: Israel hasn’t behaved as an ally
I commend the writer of the factual letter “U.S. complicit in crimes against humanity” (Nov. 10, TribLIVE) about 75 years of crimes against the Palestinian people. However, she fails to point out Israel’s history of blatant deception, duplicity and actual treachery against the U.S. itself. I am constantly amazed how...
Editorial: The Kiski School is latest to struggle with coeducation
Coeducational learning has a complicated history in America, and it always has. Harvard opened its doors in 1636. It went without saying that this classically English college, intended to educate Puritan ministers, was focused solely on teaching men. The University of Pennsylvania was the first college in the Keystone State....
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Bar fights holding Republicans back from helping America
The philosopher George Santayana captured the essence of bar fights when he wrote, “… if men have nothing else to fight over they will fight over words, fancies or women, or they will fight because they dislike each other’s looks, or because they have met walking in opposite directions.” But...
Erwin Chemerinsky: Supreme Court finally has a code of ethics, but it has a fatal flaw
Although it is welcome and overdue that the Supreme Court finally adopted an ethics code for its justices on Monday, the approach is seriously flawed in that it includes no enforcement mechanism. Instead it continues to leave it to each justice to decide whether to be recused in a particular...
Carl P. Leubsdorf: 60 years ago, in Dallas
It was one of those mild November days, typical of Washington autumns, the temperature pushing 70. Because I worked nights, I was trying to nap between picking up the 3-year-old at play school and her older siblings at 3. But excited voices interrupting the music on my favorite oldies station...
Sounding off: Biden, Trump, Middle East, gun laws among topics on readers’ minds
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,...
Letter to the editor: Data will show benefits of CNX agreement
Our modern world is driven by data. Hospitals use it to predict patient needs, engineers use it to analyze traffic patterns; the examples are endless. And in Pennsylvania, a public-private partnership between state government and CNX will use real-time environmental data of natural gas development to inform the public and...
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...
