Opinion category, Page 261
Abraham Jacob Bonowitz: Pittsburgh synagogue shooter should not be executed
Recently, the shooter in the 2018 hate-fueled antisemitic Pittsburgh synagogue attack was convicted. Now there will be a trial to decide if we eventually make him world famous again by executing him many years from now, or instead simply forget his name and throw away the key. Six days earlier,...
Letter to the editor: We must judge carefully, honestly
If we were to believe the media, et al., we would think that inclusiveness is a fundamental moral imperative. On the contrary, every just society depends for its existence on the willingness of its members to judge and exclude those who seek to erode and destroy that society. This is...
Letter to the editor: Let’s wish Kerry, other leaders success on environment
Regarding the letter “John Kerry’s climate hypocrisy” (June 17, TribLIVE): I, too, want our leaders, such as Kerry, President Biden and Donald Trump, to be responsible and create a green economy; words are not enough. No one is above the law, even the laws of common sense. But, to be...
Editorial: Is paying teachers $10K a cure for shortage?
Money is not the only answer. With government, it often seems that way. No matter what the problem may be, there are any number of solutions that can be proposed. Most of them have big-ticket spending attached, which can end up on the chopping block later when the problem being...
Letter to the editor: On DEP, what’s in a name (change)?
Thanks to the writer of the letter “Ramifications of DEP name change” (June 16, TribLIVE) for pointing out that, on June 10, the Pennsylvania Senate passed a bill changing the name of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to the Department of Environmental Services. One question: What sort of environmental...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Tired of the taunting used to dodge truth
As his legal problems mount, Donald Trump and his loyalists are falling back on some decades-old smears and insults to attack those who they want us to believe are behind Trump’s troubles. As reported in the Tribune-Review last week, they are calling President Joe Biden and his fellow Democrats “communists”...
William Haupt III: Millennials moving to the center and right
One of the most puzzling and questionable enigmas of modern American political parties is the Democrats have had majorities that controlled Congress much longer than Republicans have. At one time, Democrats controlled the House for 36 consecutive years and 56 of the past 60 years. It’s also hard to believe...
Rep. Mike Schlossberg: Investments in mental health care would be big step for Pa.
One in 5 Americans actively suffers from some sort of mental illness. Is that person you, or someone you love? I’ve been a state representative for over a decade and suffered from depression and anxiety my whole life. As someone who lives with mental illness, I wish I had known...
Samuel L. Boyd: Tree of life powerful image in Jewish tradition
After weeks of wrenching testimony, jurors delivered a guilty verdict June 16 for the gunman who killed 11 worshippers in a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 — the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. The next phase of the trial will focus on sentencing, and whether Robert Bowers should face the...
Bruce Schneier and Nathan Sanders: AI could shore up democracy — here’s one way
It’s become fashionable to think of artificial intelligence as an inherently dehumanizing technology, a ruthless force of automation that has unleashed legions of virtual skilled laborers in faceless form. But what if AI turns out to be the one tool able to identify what makes your ideas special, recognizing your...
Letter to the editor: Neither DEP’s name or role should be changed
Thank you for publishing the well-written letter “Ramifications of DEP name change” (June 12, TribLIVE) about the Pennsylvania Senate’s attempt to change the name (and role!) of the Department of Environmental Protection. Pennsylvanians do need protection from pollution produced by big industries. We have a right under the Pennsylvania Constitution...
Sounding off: Methodist split
Is Trump above the law? The responses of congressional Republicans to President Trump’s indictment, as described in the article, “Trump’s GOP defenders in Congress leap into action on charges after months of preparation” (June 10, TribLIVE) show, that these supporters are more concerned about Donald Trump than about the safety...
Letter to the editor: Trump defense, comparisons ridiculous
I am in utter disbelief that people not only continue to defend Donald Trump on this latest indictment but also try to draw comparisons to others who had classified documents. Mike Pence and President Biden immediately turned everything over and allowed full investigations to be conducted. Trump was given well...
Editorial: Pittsburgh and Philly bridges should lead nation in safety
Pittsburgh and Philadelphia seem to be eternally locked in competition. If one city is in the hunt for the Super Bowl, the other is a contender for the Stanley Cup. If one is up, the other is down. If one scores a win, the other wants to top it. Politics,...
Gary Franks: We need new political choices
I remember when Satchel Paige was pitching for the Kansas City Athletics in 1965. He was at least 20 years beyond his prime, much like President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are today in politics. In his prime his pitches were very difficult to hit. But at an...
S.E. Cupp: Starting the primaries in South Carolina gives Biden’s challengers an opening
“History will prove us right.” It was New Year’s Eve, 2007, and one of Rudy Giuliani’s 2008 presidential campaign strategists, Brent Seaborn, emailed supporters an upbeat memo promising that they were “looking good” heading into the Republican early state primaries. History, as it would turn out, proved them wrong. Giuliani’s...
Christian Appy: ‘Courage is contagious’ — Daniel Ellsberg’s decision to release the Pentagon Papers didn’t happen in a vacuum
In 1971, when Daniel Ellsberg arrived at a federal court in Boston, a journalist asked if he was concerned about the prospect of going to prison for leaking a 7,000-page top-secret history of the Vietnam War. Ellsberg responded with a question of his own: “Wouldn’t you go to prison to...
Minerva Canto: Are book bans unconstitutional? They are certainly political.
In Missouri, the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel “Maus” about the Holocaust faced possible removal from schools for at least the third time over its depiction of a female character in a bathtub. In South Carolina, an Advanced Placement teacher has been forced to abandon her lesson about systemic racism using...
Letter to the editor: Let’s end ‘witch hunts’ once and for all
Thank God for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. He called his ouster “political theater” and not a “witch hunt.” Here’s an idea to end that saying for good: A political cartoon with Elmer Fudd in his hunting outfit telling readers to “be very, very quiet, I’m on the hunt,” and...
Letter to the editor: False promises of reparations
The Democratic Party in large cities and now state legislatures and the U.S. Congress continue to pander to Black Americans with false promises. Their latest and most troubling promise is that of large cash payments as reparations for slavery. This is dangerous because many Black citizens believe it will actually...
Lori Falce: Titanic loss prompted change. So should Titan’s
The Titanic often is thought of as the quintessential example of a shipwreck. It isn’t the only boat to sink. It isn’t the only ocean liner to meet a watery end. In fact, the famously “unsinkable” sunken ship was part of a family of three identical sisters of the White...
Laurels & lances: Air show and shelter
Laurel: To a high-flying event. For some people, summer starts with the end of school. For others, it’s Memorial Day or that day on the calendar when the solstice officially begins the season. But, for many in Western Pennsylvania, the kickoff is about airplanes. The Shop ’n Save Westmoreland Airshow...
Letter to the editor: ‘Good stewards’ in Norwin?
Dear Norwin School District, The Norwin School Board prefers to eliminate positions through attrition to maintain a “balanced budget.” Now we are praising them for being “good financial stewards” (“Good financial stewards in Norwin,” June 13, TribLIVE). The letter-writer focused on school board member Bob Wayman’s comment of the district...
Paul Kengor: The absurdity of a $15 beer
I recently attended a Pirates game. As readers know, that’s no small step for me. I boycotted Major League Baseball after its ideological commissioner, Rob Manfred, needlessly thrust our beloved national pastime into the nastiness of partisan politics. Manfred and MLB boycotted the city of Atlanta in protest of Georgia’s...
Matthew Yglesias: America can fix its highways much faster, if it wants
The collapse of a section of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia, smack dab in the middle of the densest region of the U.S., is an obvious disaster for the nation’s transportation network. But the demolition work, which began within hours, is already ahead of schedule, the repair work will be expedited,...
