Opinion category, Page 548
Colin McNickle: Pa. Turnpike struggles continue
Awash in rising debt because of dubious public policies and struggling to overcome the financial effects of the continuing coronavirus pandemic, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) could find its very ability to operate in jeopardy, finds an analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. “The PTC has been placed...
Letter to the editor: Trump has been stoking fires for years
Make no mistake — the insurgency in Washington was not an unexpected, spontaneous incident. President Trump and his Republican supporters have been stoking this for years. Trump has consistently been coddling the vilest elements of society — neo-Nazis, proud punks (or whatever) and similar hate mobs — egging them on...
Editorial: With Brewster’s victory, let the people’s business commence
State Sen. Jim Brewster once more has been sworn in to office. On Wednesday morning, the Democrat from McKeesport finally took his oath to represent the people of the 45th District in the Pennsylvania Senate for his third term. He is the last to do so after the incredibly close...
Letter to the editor: Impeachment won’t calm the nation
I am appalled Congress is further inflaming the current political situation by impeaching the president. This type of action is definitely not what is needed at this point to calm what has been months of increasing polarization and nastiness on the political front. The name-calling, exaggerated grievances and vindictiveness have...
Letter to the editor: George Washington would not have approved of insurrectionists
Trump insurrectionists and Rush Limbaugh are of the opinion that the Founding Fathers would not mind their violent insurrection words and acts. They are wrong. For instance, here are the words of George Washington to Gen. Henry Lee on an ongoing insurrection, written Aug. 26, 1794: “This insurrection is viewed...
Letter to the editor: Reaping what we’ve sowed
Of course no one wants to hear it, and most refuse to believe it, but it was written long before we planted our seeds of despair: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” And what we are reaping is...
Letter to the editor: Texas case not sedition
In his letter “Will Joyce and Reschenthaler need pardons?” (Dec. 30, TribLIVE), Scott Huber commented on local congressmen’s support of the Texas attorney general’s appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Pennsylvania’s presidential election results. Huber predicted dire consequences if the court granted relief to the appellants. He used...
Letter to the editor: Biden should demand election investigation
President Trump is accused of inciting a riot with his rhetoric about a stolen election. On Jan. 7, President-elect Biden said the incident was the result of Trump’s long record of disdain for the rule of law. What happened Jan. 6 is nothing for our country to be proud of....
Letter to the editor: Why is Pelosi concerned about Trump running in 2024?
I thought it was strange Nancy Pelosi wanted to impeach President Trump when he only had 13 days left in office, but when I heard impeachment could prevent him from running in 2024, it made sense. Another thing that bewildered me was why Pelosi was so concerned Trump would run...
Letter to the editor: Comparing rules for voting, hunting
It’s amazing what you learn as you get up in age. It seems that many years of education were wasted. I thought rules were to be followed by everyone equally, and insuring integrity was important. I guess that is applied to alcohol and tobacco purchases in many places and definitely...
Editorial: Covid complications must be taken seriously
Westmoreland County Commissioner Sean Kertes isn’t an old man. He doesn’t have a long list of the kind of health problems that can make it easier to get sick — things like diabetes or heart disease. He isn’t obese. He is young, healthy and hard to keep down. But that...
Letter to the editor: Biden voters aren’t going away, either
Let me correct letter- writer Stephen Sokol (“Half the country who voted for Trump not going away,” Dec. 4, TribLIVE) with some facts, something many of President Trump’s supporters can’t seem to deal with. Sokol states, “Half the country, 74 million Americans, voted for Donald Trump” and they’re “not going away.”...
Pat Buchanan: Exploiting the Capitol riot to nix Trump
Donald Trump has stumbled and fallen, and the establishment is not going to let slip this last opportunity to stomp him and his movement to death. On Sunday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a startling ultimatum: Either Vice President Mike Pence and the Trump Cabinet invoke the 25th Amendment, declare the...
Jonah Goldberg: Violence at Capitol was horrific, but don’t lose sight of attempted theft
An attempted bank robber who doesn’t hurt anybody is still guilty of attempted bank robbery. If someone gets hurt, though, the penalties are greater even if the robber didn’t intend harm. This is how I think about what Donald Trump did last week. Of course the violence makes everything worse....
Editorial: The opioid crisis has not gone anywhere
It sometimes seems like the coronavirus pandemic devoured every other problem, leaving nothing in its wake. While it is hard to find a news story — whether health or politics, local government or education — that doesn’t have the word “covid” in it somewhere, that isn’t what happened. Instead of...
Letter to the editor: Events in DC inevitable
I read the article on the locals who went to President Trump’s “rally” (riot) on Wednesday (“Western Pa. residents share experiences from chaotic day in nation’s capital” (Jan. 7, TribLIVE). The people who traveled to D.C. to see the chaos firsthand were either naive or lying. The torrent of hateful...
Letter to the editor: Trump is exposing corruption
President Trump has poked a hornet’s nest with his so-called conspiracy theories. But he does not have enough strong backers to defeat the people and organizations who have been working since day one to take him down. I believe there are elements working to change our country and values as...
Letter to the editor: We need to get rid of career politicians
I am so sick and tired of politics. Mitch McConnell and other Republicans opposing $2,000 checks handed the Democrats a win in Georgia. Average people need the money! I would be ashamed to be a member of either party. That’s why I am an independent. Career politicians are ruining our...
Letter to the editor: Trump lost because of Trump
President Trump stated that if he lost, it would be because the election was rigged, beginning to sow the seeds of distrust. Following that logic, Democrats who lost also can claim the same. Yet many Republicans won their elections. If it was rigged, it should have been rigged down the...
Letter to the editor: Reschenthaler should resign
Dear Rep. Guy Reschenthaler: Last week, President Trump incited a crowd — that he had assembled — to advance on the Capitol buildings. Their conduct constituted rebellion against the government you have pledged to support and defend. You called what happened “reckless events,” as if we were enduring high school...
Tom Purcell: Disgraceful discourse ours to correct
Without grace, our public discourse will continue to suffer. “Grace,” according to Dictionary.com, has more than one meaning, but all of them are powerful. Grace is “a pleasing or attractive quality,” as well as “favor or goodwill.” In a religious sense, grace is “a virtue or excellence of divine origin”...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: After the Capitol rampage, what now?
So what now? A few things, actually. But before we get to them, we must recognize last week’s insurrectionist rampage at the Capitol for what it was. It is being seen, and not wrongly, as the angry response of delusional right-wingers lied into believing a presidential election was stolen. It...
Editorial: Make electronics disposal cheap and easy
We live in a very garbage-heavy world. People throw away everything and do it without thinking much about it. Paper plates and plastic straws and the boxes and bags that package them. The jars and cans that hold food. Baby diapers and cardboard and banana peels and coffee grounds and...
Letter to the editor: Questioning Pens’ CARES loan
I don’t think the media has made a big enough deal about the Penguins borrowing almost $5 million under the CARES Act to help cover expenses. At the same time, co-owner Ron Burkle was buying Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch in California. Quite obviously, many small businesses are struggling to say...
Letter to the editor: Infectious leftist populism
The center-left populism was exhibited for all to see in burning cities and still the “educated” voters in the Pittsburgh suburbs voted for the clearly addled, seemingly semi-competent Joe Biden, who never renounced the mayors of these kindled Democrat-run cities. That’s the inexorable Exhibit A that shows just how infected...
