Opinion category, Page 474
Letter to the editor: We must unlearn our racism
Criticism of critical race theory is indoctrination. Denying America’s history of racism is indoctrination. Consider: Benjamin Franklin in 1751 preferred only English- speaking whites from England emigrate to Pennsylvania. No Germans, no Italians, etc. Timothy Pickering coined the terms “negro president” and “negro Congress” because the Constitution’s three-fifths clause gave Jefferson’s...
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Aug. 23
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Aug. 23....
Editorial cartoons for the week of Aug. 23
Editorial cartoons for the week of Aug. 23....
Veronique de Rugy: When government’s foolish errands turn into fiascoes
Mona Charen is off this week. Veronique de Rugy is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Another government failure, another outrage. This time the scandal is brought on by the less-than-orderly withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and the realization that 20 years of...
Michael Brevda: Nursing home reform legislation offers opportunity for better care
Lawmakers realize we have a pervasive nursing home abuse problem in America. Nursing home covid deaths are nearing 200,000. More glaringly, a bipartisan Senate investigation revealed that poor resident care is overwhelming clustered around less than 5% of the nation’s facilities. A disproportionate amount of neglect cases occur in nursing...
Letter to the editor: Health professionals should be vaccinated
I recently tried to ascertain the vaccination status of several local dentists, their hygienists and staffs. They were unwilling to provide this vital information, citing privacy concerns. I then contacted the Pennsylvania Academy of General Dentistry to find out what its position is on this matter. I was shocked to...
Letter to the editor: Our race problems are real
Nearly every sentence in Steve Ignatz’s letter is incorrect (“Battling critical race theory,” Aug. 10, TribLIVE). The National Education Association is not advocating teaching “critical race theory.” (Does Ignatz even know what this “theory” is?) Judging by his name, I don’t think Ignatz can understand firsthand whether America has a...
Letter to the editor: Nordenberg will ensure redistricting is fair, equitable
Your editorial “Census numbers chance for fair redistricting” (Aug. 15, TribLIVE) was right on target in every category of logic you used to make the point that if ever necessity for equity and fairness in a critical process needed to be paramount, it is in redistricting voting districts. Pennsylvania has...
Editorial: Golf good for economy, but state needs to be open
There are a lot of things that Pennsylvania’s government needs to underwrite. There are more than 3,000 schools, 14 state universities and four more state-affiliated universities. There are 24 prisons, more than 4,000 state police and three levels of state courts. State agencies do everything from supervising parks and forests...
Letter to the editor: Plenty of blame for Afghanistan
What’s most astonishing about the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan is how astonished everyone professes to be, while conceding delaying the inevitable would not have prevented it. Failure is often an orphan; this one lays claim to plenty of fathers. Bill Clinton regrets not assassinating Osama Bin Laden after the 1998...
Sheldon Jacobson: Emotion gets in way of covid consensus
People tend to overestimate or underestimate risk. The pandemic brings this into stark relief. Picture someone wearing an N95 mask while walking their dog through a deserted park. Contrast that with someone entering a crowded bar maskless in an area with high coronavirus transmission rates. Risk is a function of...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: The end of an endless war
Any discussion of the withdrawal of all American troops from Afghanistan must start with the recognition of the troops themselves and the essential duty they have met for the rest of us. They were sent there to protect us from another terrorist attack like 9/11, and they did that. They...
David Super: Vietnam mistakes repeated in Afghanistan; we must break the cycle
The rapid collapse of the Afghan government has lessons to teach us, if we will listen. Many of these are lessons we could have learned from the Vietnam War, but we did not. In both Vietnam and Afghanistan, the enemy was very real. The Viet Minh began as a nationalist...
Sounding off: Ignorance, apathy threaten democracy
A university professor told his class that the greatest threats to democracy were ignorance and apathy. When he asked his students to explain the difference, one responded, not knowing it was the correct answer, “I don’t know and I don’t care.” In the 2020 presidential election, voters took a step...
Rich Askey: Follow CDC mask-wearing guidance in Pa. schools
Pennsylvania’s public school educators and support professionals are looking forward to returning to school to welcome a new class of eager students to their classrooms. As we do so, we are at a crossroads. We look ahead with enthusiasm but recognize that, in order to make this school year successful...
Letter to the editor: Blood on Biden’s hands
President Biden has a lot of blood on his hands . His misguided decision to announce, and then implement, the immediate withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, while leaving behind billions of dollars in weapons and equipment for the Taliban to use, is insane. Regardless of what the Taliban says, I...
Letter to the editor: Commissioners should gather input for spending plan
I am concerned that our three commissioners have shown no effort to gather public input around American Rescue Plan funds. Westmoreland County leadership has failed to provide both a community engagement plan and a spending plan, both of which are required by the law. The $105 million coming to Westmoreland...
Editorial: Westmoreland Fair fun is back
Is there anything more quintessentially summer than a county fair? It’s the kind of event that brings all of those snapshot memories of summertime fun into focus. Cotton candy. Blue ribbons. Funnel cake. Carnival rides. Midway games. The Westmoreland Fair runs through Aug. 28. For the next week, dads will...
Letter to the editor: What will Jan. 6 justice look like?
Pat Buchanan’s comparison of Jan. 6 to 9/11 (“Why the left can’t let go of Jan. 6,” July 27, TribLIVE) is a good example of turning the facts upside down. Jan. 6 was not “just a protest, a riot, a shameful disgrace.” Most sources say it was an act of...
Nicole Molinaro: Criminal justice system failing domestic violence victims
The article “Police: Desperate notes in Walmart, Fallingwater led to woman held captive” (July 16, TribLIVE) described incidents of violence that shocked the mind and the soul. Like others throughout our community, I was horrified to read about the extensive abuse this victim survived, including being held captive, multiple physical...
John Stossel: Coronavirus censorship
YouTube froze Sen. Rand Paul’s YouTube channel. That’s just wrong. Small-minded. Counterproductive. YouTube says Paul violated its covid-19 misinformation policy when he told an interviewer, “Most of the masks you get over the counter don’t work … virus particles are too small and go right through.” Paul didn’t make that...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: Racial temper tantrum can’t last forever
Chris Rock described it as a kind of temper tantrum. This was in 2011. “When I see the tea party and all this stuff,” the comedian told Esquire, “it actually feels like racism’s almost over.” He likened the tea party — with its street theatrics, overwrought histrionics and overt panic...
Greg Fulton: The day St. Franco was anointed
Similar to today, in 1972 our nation was polarized. The Vietnam War, the Equal Rights Amendment providing equality for all sexes and busing of children for integration were dividing lines for many. Then, on Dec. 23, something magical happened in Pittsburgh, what some would call an early Christmas present. According...
Letter to the editor: No vaccine, no treatment
Short and sweet, executive order: Everyone age 12 and up gets vaccinated. If you refuse, your name goes in a file and when you get covid, you don’t get treatment at a hospital. Christopher Morelli Ligonier Township...
Letter to the editor: God does care about church rules
In his letter “God doesn’t care about churches’ rules”, Carl Jones opines that God, not for one second, cares about the rules and regulations of the Catholic Church. Thus he thinks all letters relating to the receiving of Holy Communion by President Biden should stop. Jones claims God has no...
