Opinion category, Page 466
Lawrence Tabas: Pennsylvanians demand accountability for Afghanistan failures
This week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken faced Congress and the American people to answer questions about his key role in orchestrating one of the biggest failures of foreign policy in our nation’s history: Joe Biden’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. The disastrous and hasty removal of U.S. troops left 13...
Letter to the editor: Fix the Biden mess, make America great again
Wow! Can you believe? A Democrat asking “Help first, blame later!” This from Democrats who, for four years, 24/7 blamed President Trump for every little error coming down the pike? You made Biden president. Now you fix the mess he has made. Yes, make America great again. Frances Olyarnik Greensburg...
Letter to the editor: Redistricting committee suggestion
Regarding the article “4 takeaways from new Pa. census data and what it means for redistricting” (Aug. 22, TribLIVE): To prevent such political turnaround, I feel no politicizing of the census could be made by a panel of 15. Five Republicans, five Democrats and five independents or third-party should make...
Letter to the editor: Medicare cuts worrisome
As I work with Medicare seniors in Pennsylvania, I am concerned about prospective cuts to clinical lab services. In January 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is scheduled to cut rates for nearly 600 tests, including the top 25 most used by seniors — threatening access to...
Letter to the editor: Where to turn for the truth?
Never in my 65 years did I think that I would be living in a world of such complete absurdity and foreboding. In generations past at least we had a grasp on reality and truth. That is no longer the case. There is almost nowhere to turn for trustworthy, reliable...
Letter to the editor: Trump associates’ corruption
In my letter “Crimes among Trump associates” (March 9, TribLIVE), I suggested that if Trump associates’ corruption does not amount to criminal activity, but they are lawyers, they should be disbarred. Guess what? Rudy Giuliani’s law license has been suspended in New York and Washington, D.C., and he may be...
Editorial: The $104 million failure of turnpike ‘toll-by-plate’
In 2019, the first Southwestern Pennsylvania toll booths started to change as the Turnpike Commission switched from a mix of manned stations and machines to a new, hands-off system. It started years earlier with the E-ZPass devices that let drivers roll through while a transponder was read and an account...
Letter to the editor: Biden had courage to end war
I feel that I must respond to the letter “In Afghanistan, history repeats itself” (Sept. 7, TribLIVE). Many, many historical facts were omitted. First and foremost was President Bush’s Iraqi war that halted all the progress we made in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2002. America would have been out of...
Jonah Goldberg: Biden’s stance will feed pandemic culture war
Maybe President Biden should handle covid-19 the way he’s handled Afghanistan. It’s a strange thought, given how badly he botched the U.S. withdrawal. But at least Afghanistan Joe had a clear idea about what we needed to do. Covid Joe has no such exit strategy. He’s making it up as...
Letter to the editor: Suppression of cheating, not votes
The idea that those bad Republicans want to suppress votes (read minorities) is really old stuff (“Voter suppression to resume,” Sept. 7, TribLIVE). Maybe ’50s or ’60s. Let’s find a new slander. Suppression of cheating is the intent, and that worries some folks. As far as grape jelly goes, 9-year-olds...
Letter to the editor: Health secretary, not school boards, should be making mask rulings
State law provides school boards authority to make reasonable and necessary rules governing students in school. Using this authority, many schools choose to keep masks optional. Gov. Tom Wolf disagreed with the rules made by most school boards and had his health secretary issue an order requiring masks. This order...
Editorial: A commissioner’s 60% promise should be paid in full
Campaign promises can be an oxymoron. They are something that a candidate swears he or she will do while shaking hands and making speeches, stumping for the job. Campaign promises are as famous for being broken as they are for being made. That doesn’t make it any less disappointing when...
Letter to the editor: Comparing presidents’ honor of fallen soldiers
It was a damp, dark night on the tarmac at Dover Air Force Base on Feb. 11, 2020. President Trump, along with his vice president, had scurried away from a raucous campaign rally in New Hampshire to make a last-minute flight to the air base. The president wanted to be...
Pat Buchanan: Who and what is tearing the U.S. apart?
In Shanksville on Saturday, former President George W. Bush’s theme was national unity — and how it has been lost over these past 20 years. “In the weeks and months following the 9/11 attacks,” said Bush, “I was proud to lead an amazing, resilient, united people. When it comes to...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: America has always run from the truth of itself
Robert E. Lee has retreated from Richmond. Again. The first time, you will recall, was in April of 1865, when he and his tattered army abandoned the city, fleeing east before finally surrendering at Appomattox Courthouse to federal forces commanded by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. This latest — and, one...
Chuck Cooper III and Sean Gibson: Making equity and education a mission
When we established foundations in honor of Chuck Cooper, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer and the first African American drafted into the National Basketball Association, and Josh Gibson, catcher for the Pittsburgh Crawfords and Homestead Grays and the second Negro Leagues player to be inducted into the National Baseball...
Letter to the editor: What’s happened since Biden took office
On Jan. 20 of this year, a new president took office. I have noticed that gas prices are soaring, illegal immigrants are somehow entering our country in record numbers (illegal is not legal), and nobody wants to work for a living while collecting free money and benefits from our government...
Letter to the editor: What’s a living wage?
The editorial “PNC Bank shows how market forces drive minimum-wage growth” (Sept. 1, TribLIVE) raises some questions: What number is considered a “living wage”? Is a living wage for a family of four to be more than that of a single person? Are fast-food workers entitled to the same wage...
Editorial: State waivers let Pa. health care function in the pandemic
A worker shortage in the pandemic economy has been troubling employers for months. But if you think scaled-back hours at your favorite pizza shop are difficult to handle, try staffing a long-term care home without enough nursing assistants. A short-staffed restaurant can cause irate customers. Not enough nurses for the...
Letter to the editor: Suppressing our votes
In 2019, landmark bipartisan voting reforms became law in Pennsylvania, including “no excuse” mail-in voting: a rare instance of giving the people what they wanted. The measure was timely as a pandemic overtook the commonwealth and the nation the following year, impacting the ability of individuals to vote safely in...
Tom Purcell: Save water, shower with a bureaucrat?
If you’re like me, you enjoy few things more than a long, hot shower. Nothing loosens the muscles or washes your worries away better than gradually turning up the hot knob until you’re red as a boiled lobster. Unfortunately, the Biden administration intends to reenact a federal regulation that will...
Tina Doose: A modern Civilian Conservation Corps could transform Pa., beyond
Braddock has never recovered from deindustrialization, a phenomena that led to mass blight, unemployment and the drug epidemic. In addition, we have been targeted by large companies for our rail, river and road access without much thought or consideration for the long-lasting and life-changing effects such industries would have on...
Letter to the editor: Why didn’t we kill the Taliban?
I agree with the letter-writer Howard Schmitt (“Lots of blame for Afghanistan,” Aug. 31, TribLIVE) that there is a lot of blame to go around for the debacle in Afghanistan, starting with the invasion by Russia in 1979. My question is: Why didn’t we kill the Taliban? We had 20...
Letter to the editor: Scooter plan has some flaws
Spin, an enterprise that makes motorized scooters available for rent to those who do not have cars or choose not to use them, is delighted with the early returns in its Pittsburgh program (“Taking a spin in Pittsburgh on an e-scooter,” Aug. 29, TribLIVE). One of Spin’s chief goals is...
Letter to the editor: First hydroxychloroquine, now ivermectin
First, it was hydroxychloroquine, and now it is ivermectin. People all over this country, particularly those in red states, are taking the livestock version of this medicine to ward off covid-19 and poisoning themselves in the process. Thousands of our fellow Americans, acting on the advice of right-wing media and...
