Opinion category, Page 328
Letter to the editor: Post-election promise-breaking time
After watching all the campaign ads over the past few months and the winners having been chosen, we now signal the beginning of the period known as the “breaking of promises.” “I” is replaced by “we” as you go off to your House or Senate chamber to find that both...
Letter to the editor: The cost of politics
Politics — America’s new blood sport. Unlike traditional sports, you don’t need to be big, strong or fast. You don’t even need to be smart. Maybe that is the reason why so many unqualified people enter politics. Like it or not, politics is big business. It is a multitrillion (not...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Happy Birthday, President Biden
If this is what 80 looks like, America could use more of that. President Joe Biden is celebrating his 80th birthday this weekend, and he was the oldest president in American history when he took office on Jan. 20, 2021. Ronald Reagan was nearly 78 when he left office and...
POINT: Support free speech? You should be rooting for Musk’s Twitter transformation to succeed
Everyone seems to have an opinion on whether an Elon Musk-led Twitter is good for free speech, and much of that debate is happening on Twitter. On the surface, this fact goes a long way to prove the point. While many people don’t like to engage with critics of their...
COUNTERPOINT: Elon Musk’s Twitter purchase harms democracy
Social media has gotten a bad name in recent years, much of it deserved, as it has played a sizable role in spreading right-wing backwardness and even authoritarianism in much of the world. This includes, most prominently, the reach and especially staying power of the world’s most powerful politician in...
Sheldon H. Jacobson: Supreme Court ruling on face masks is irrelevant
The Supreme Court ruling that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) can require masks on airplanes, trains and buses will be welcomed by some and scorned by others. Will the Biden administration act on this ruling and reinstate transportation mask mandates, given the current surge in covid-19, influenza and RSV infections...
Letter to the editor: Abortion truths
I cannot imagine the difficulty a woman goes through when she finds out she has an unwanted pregnancy. Yet there are truths about the situation that cannot be denied. The moment of conception is the beginning of a unique individual having received 23 chromosomes each from her and her partner....
Sounding off: Post-election, politics still on readers’ minds
Both Trump, Biden should retire If former President Donald Trump truly believes in making America great again, he will become the patriot he has asked others to be and will announce that he will not be a candidate for president in 2024. One of the last things this country needs...
Letter to the editor: Banks are gouging us
Recently I received notification from a credit card company that the interest on a card balance will now be 28.99%. I find that amount shocking. How can we allow banks to charge that exorbitant level of interest on loans? In the past, if you paid more than 12% to 14%...
Editorial: No time for election victory laps
In Washington, D.C., it took about a week to discover which party would have the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, with attention pulled to races in Colorado and California before the balance finally tipped. The Republicans would take back the House from Democratic hands by a narrow margin....
Letter to the editor: PSO trip is more evidence we need a gift ban
I was extremely disappointed to read about Sen. Rob Mercuri, R-Pine, and Rep. Jake Corman, R-Centre, taking a European vacation trip subsidized by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. I voted for Mercuri when he ran for public office two years ago. He was a fresh face with good ideas and seemed...
Gary Franks: We need an age limit for federally elected officials, Supreme Court justices
We need an age limit for federally elected officials and justices on the Supreme Court, restricting anyone from serving beyond 80. We should rid ourselves from an octogenarian-run government. The powers that be — many of whom are older folks — would not agree to this (that is obvious). Thus,...
S.E. Cupp: Has Donald Trump finally become boring?
In case you missed it — and it’s likely you did — former President Trump announced Tuesday night he is running for president a third time. Maybe you were watching “Shark Tank,” “Bachelor in Paradise” or the premiere of “The Curse of Oak Island.” But even if you were watching...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: A few words on the silence
A few words on the silence. As you doubtless recall, many of us regarded last week’s midterm election with existential dread. The path from there to the end of American democracy seemed all too easy to chart, what with election deniers campaigning for offices that would have put them in...
Cal Thomas: Mike Pence, a man of integrity
If former Vice President Mike Pence is ever in need of a character witness, he could not do much better than one statement former President Donald Trump made to him. In his new book “So Help Me God,” Pence quotes Trump as pressuring him to overturn the results of the...
Letter to the editor: Fetterman will overcome his health issues
Many famous and successful individuals have had health issues and other problems that they were able to overcome. Franklin Roosevelt survived polio and could not walk and was elected president of the United States four times. Bob Dole survived war wounds and served in the U.S. House and Senate. Vietnam...
Letter to the editor: Legislation key to saving birds, wildlife
An extinction crisis threatens birds around the country, including in Pennsylvania. Fortunately, Congress has legislation in the works that would save birds and wildlife. Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA) would address bird and other wildlife declines by providing $1.3 billion annually for state and territorial wildlife action plans, and $97.5...
Lori Falce: Is crypto the MLM of dudes?
My friends and I were talking about the collapse of FTX — the cryptocurrency trading firm that suddenly declared bankruptcy last week. It was a scandal that might have been of epic proportions if not overshadowed by things like the U.S. election vote counting and developments in the war in...
Laurels & lances: Renew, revisit, rethink
Laurel: To everything old being new again. When the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation gave a $160,000 rehabilitation loan to Dave Rankin to breathe new life into the old G.C. Murphy building in Tarentum, the hope was that it would preserve old architecture and benefit the area. The response to...
Letter to the editor: Thoughts from the Trump rally
I got to President Trump’s rally in Latrobe at 2 p.m., and there was a long line waiting to get in. A reporter and her cameraman passed by and I asked what channel they worked for. She said, “CNN.” Well, everyone around me backed up at the same time and...
Colin McNickle: The union elephant in PASSHE’s room
The 14-school Pennsylvania State System of High Education, or PASSHE, has been beset with many woes over the past dozen years. There’s the tanking enrollment. Then there’s a darn-near open acceptance policy for those who do enroll, which does a disservice to those wholly unprepared for college-level studies. PASSHE also...
Letter to the editor: Maybe Oprah will have something for us all for Christmas
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman made Oprah Winfrey’s Christmas list this season. He’ll be under the tree we can’t afford without all the presents that won’t be there. And forget about going to Grandma’s, because gas is too expensive. Maybe Oprah will have us all over to Braddock for her 12...
Editorial: Politics should include a little more parental guidance
This month, Westmoreland County Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher will take on a new role with a constituency of one — her about-to-be-born first child. Thrasher is one of a growing number of women in politics — especially women actively building their careers and their families at the same time. In...
Letter to the editor: Thank those who educate our students
American Education Week is Nov. 14-18. Every year, right before Thanksgiving, we take time as a nation to celebrate our public schools and to say thank you to all the Pennsylvanians who come together to make our schools strong. That includes educators and support professionals as well as students, parents,...
Jonah Goldberg: Will the GOP finally do something about its Trump problem?
On election night, Donald Trump took to his post-truth social media platform, Truth Social, to spin the results. His first utterance was to celebrate Republican Joe O’Dea’s loss in the U.S. Senate race in Colorado. “Joe O’Dea lost BIG!” Trump crowed. “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” O’Dea had distanced himself from...
