Opinion category, Page 412
Letter ot the editor: Biden’s nomination strategy an insult to Americans, sitting justices
There has been so much said about the Supreme Court representing every possible color and lifestyle. The Supreme Court is meant to interpret and represent the Constitution. It is supposed to be blind to everything else. I am completely opposed to nominees being selected based on anything other than their...
Letter to the editor: Our frightening future
Something to keep you up at night. We now have President Biden, with Kamala Harris next in the line of succession, followed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Worried yet? Then, flexing their muscle in the background, we have “The Squad” — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Illan Omar, Ayan Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, and...
Editorial: Pa.’s college problems not solved by Commonwealth University
Once upon a time in Pennsylvania, every town of a certain size or importance seemed to have its own college. There were reasons for this. Many of these schools were started in the early half of the 19th century, when traveling 30 miles was a long haul. Leaving the old...
Letter to the editor: Reschenthaler dishonoring his oaths
In a self-congratulatory email to constituents, Rep. Guy Reschenthaler repeatedly, and incorrectly, claimed that President Biden’s “weakness on the global stage” is the direct cause for Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion of the Ukraine. But Reschenthaler conveniently ignores four years of ex-President Trump’s fawning admiration of Putin. Reschenthaler apparently said nothing...
Letter to the editor: Government ripping off taxpayers
I’ve got some questions and observations. If I put 15 gallons of gas in my car, I pay Pennsylvania $8.64 in taxes and the federal government $2.74. That’s $11.38 in taxes for 15 gallons of gas. Who is really getting that money? Where’s all the infrastructure money? With all that...
Letter to the editor: Why fear critical race theory?
Having read the article “Norwin director claims assignment on racism was critical race theory teaching,” I can’t help wondering what Shawna Ilagan is fearing. I am not an expert on critical race theory, but I know it is another way of looking at race and systemic racism in our country....
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Ukrainian tough
When I was a boy, we moved from Braddock to one of the small towns upwind from the mill smoke that we breathed every day. The post-World War II GI Bill put mortgages and small homes within reach of our families, and better union contracts meant a little extra cash....
Sounding off: Supreme Court needs diversity
Negative tropes being used to critique President Biden’s decision to nominate Ketanji Brown Jackson, a Black woman, to the Supreme Court may be missing the point (“Biden demonstrating his racism again.”) In these bitterly divisive times, when our self-serving legislative and executive branches are increasingly irrelevant, the court may be...
Harry Litman : The consequential — and inconsequential — nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson
Since Justice Stephen G. Breyer announced his retirement from the Supreme Court, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson assumed the front-runner’s position to replace him. President Joe Biden has named her his nominee, and if confirmed she will become the first Black woman on the court. Jackson, 51, is not the head-and-shoulders...
Letter to the editor: Children must learn history
Glad to read that Norwin pulled the plug on CNN 10. I have always enjoyed reading Lori Falce’s columns, except “Yes, your kid should watch the news at school” (Jan. 14, TribLIVE). I found Peter Busowski’s letter “Teaching kids how to consume news” (Jan. 24, TribLIVE) interesting and especially noted...
Letter to the editor: Reality lesson for Trump and followers
Attention, Donald Trump and your band of followers: time for a lesson in reality. Reality is defined as fact, truth and authenticity. Unfortunately, there has been a loss of touch with reality, with people living in an altered world filled with misconceptions and misinterpretation. Embedded in their misguided thinking is...
Editorial: The balancing act between regulation and condemnation
Allegheny County Health Department levied $859,000 in fines against U.S. Steel this week, citing 2021 violations at the Clairton Coke Works. It isn’t the largest fine the department has hung on the company. In 2019, the company was tagged with a $2.7 million fine. It is, however, significantly larger than...
Letter to the editor: Confusion and inflation from Democrats
Joe Biden looked us in the eye through his aviator sunglasses and said: “I’m gonna raise your taxes.” Inflation is at a 40-year high. Inflation is a tax. Groceries that cost $35 last year now cost $75, and a barrel of gasoline that cost $60 last year now costs $100....
S.E. Cupp: How Biden cleverly claimed Republican terrain
President Biden, a long-time presidential hopeful, has waited decades to give a State of the Union address, and by all accounts it went off without a hitch Tuesday night. There were history-making moments, and many others that were jarring, disorienting and downright surreal. Here we are, in 2022, in the...
Gary Franks: Using banks to stop the tanks — will it work?
President Biden, I had hit the reset button after the exit debacle in Afghanistan. This was a rookie mistake from a near 80-year-old, even if you still do not see it that way. I also hit the reset button on your statements not matching the facts — “I will not...
Presley Gillespie and Bruce Katz: ARP money should go where it’s needed most
The American Rescue Plan Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden March 11, represents a critical commitment to rebuilding the communities harmed by the covid-19 pandemic and is an unprecedented investment in our economy. The $1.9 trillion in federal dollars can be used for purposes as wide ranging as...
Michael Szanto: Russia remains a formidable nuclear threat, even to the U.S.
As is now clearer than ever, the greatest military threat to the United States and its allies in the near future is Russia. Many in the West have long lulled themselves into believing that Russian nuclear weapons somehow do not matter. Nothing could be further from the truth. Over the...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: Does Ukraine have courage enough to be a country worth fighting for?
This was going to be a song of praise. Instead, it will be a groan of frustration. In other words, it was going to be a column heralding the titanic courage of Ukraine in the face of Russian attack, the acts of defiance that have endeared that nation to the...
Letter to the editor: If CRT is invalid, so is the Bible
Critics say critical race theory teaches that Americans are guilty of racism and responsible for past American racism and must make amends. Yet, the same critics subscribe to a religion that is premised on the very same beliefs when they teach biblical original sin and that the sins of the...
Letter to the editor: Racism exists mostly in media, academia, politics
After reading Jonah Goldberg’s column “In GOP embrace of truckers, some see racist double standard” (Feb. 18, TribLIVE) and then watching a Black man on social media preach against critical race theory, I have come to the conclusion that the Black man was correct when he stated that the only...
Lori Falce: Kanye West and the dangers of ignoring mental health
I am somehow confident that if I decided to make repeated veiled and not-so-veiled threats against an ex’s new love interest, I would receive a visit from law enforcement. This would be especially likely if those threats were on my social media accounts with just a thousand or so followers...
Letter to the editor: Selfish people threaten us all
I feel sad that there are people like letter-writer Cindy Wallace (“Losing our freedoms,” March 3, TribLIVE), who are unwilling to endure even the most minor inconvenience of masks and vaccinations while other people are dying of covid. Wallace says “only God can control the pandemic.” God controls pandemics by...
Paul Kengor: How much does Putin want?
“The collapse of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.” So declared Russian President Vladimir Putin in April 2005 in his annual state of the nation address to the Russian parliament, broadcast live on Russian television. That bombshell was dropped without any elaboration. “Putin deplores collapse...
C. Daniel Hassell: Wolf’s strong fiscal management has us poised to deliver for Pa.
It was only two years ago this month that the covid-19 pandemic first reached Pennsylvania and dropped a hammer on the financial health of our commonwealth. By the summer of 2020, what had been a modest surplus of General Fund revenue in February plummeted to become a loss of $3.2...
Laurels & lances: Crises, craters and charity
Laurel: To answering the call. Mental health care is important, and when people reach out, someone needs to be there to offer a helping hand. That is becoming easier as Westmoreland County adds a mobile crisis unit with a $372,000 grant. The addition will come as the new “988” phone...
