Opinion category, Page 551
Editorial cartoons for the week of Jan. 4
Editorial cartoons for the week of Jan. 4....
S.E. Cupp: New Year’s resolutions from Josh Gad, Andrew Yang and others
What a year. Thankfully one of the weirdest and wildest in modern history is drawing to a close, bringing a new sense of optimism about the coming year. Or so I thought. Every year, I solicit New Year’s resolutions from friends, colleagues and newsmakers. This year, I expected big things:...
Teresa Miller: Thanks to the DHS heroes on the front lines
If I could speak with the version of myself who existed exactly one year ago today, I’d tell her a few things. First, buy extra rolls of toilet paper before March. While you’re at it, suggest to your mom she look up “face masks” online and start sewing them for...
Douglas Motter: Pa.’s nursing home residents must get vaccines first
When is Pennsylvania going to complete vaccinating its most vulnerable citizens — nursing home residents? The better question might be: When will many of our nursing homes even receive a date for vaccinations to begin? While some have begun vaccinating residents, others are hearing it might not be until late...
Letter to the editor: We don’t have freedom to harm others
I weep with all the health care workers, families and caregivers who, on top of dealing with covid-19, must listen to the hate spewed forth in the name of “personal freedoms.” Yes, it is hate. It is total disregard for the lives of others. It is like you are driving...
Letter to the editor: No law on wearing masks
Regarding Bill Marx’s letter “Everyone should follow the rules” (Dec. 19, TribLIVE): The wearing of masks is not a law. Gov. Tom Wolf and his health secretary cannot make laws. State legislators make the laws. Wearing a mask is up to the individual. If it was a “lawful order” as...
Letter to the editor: Term limits would fix broken system
Here we go again. Our dysfunctional Congress agreed on a covid relief bill for the millions of folks impacted by the pandemic. Both Democrats and Republicans loaded the omnibus spending bill with pork projects, including foreign aid, and then blame each other for wasteful spending. Meanwhile, we the people are...
Letter to the editor: On virus, denying, defying will be catastrophic
Regarding the article “Westmoreland County Sheriff won’t enforce Gov. Wolf’s new covid-19 orders” (Dec. 19, TribLIVE): Throughout this pandemic I have seen so many foolish people deny, defy and ignore the catastrophic end game that this horrible virus has brought not just to our population, but to our economy. They...
Letter to the editor: Skepticism is healthy when it comes to politicians
Joseph Sabino Mistick’s column “Public ‘referees’ there to protect us” characterizing the recent pronouncements of political leaders on the covid-19 crisis or 2020 election results as statements of “moral conscience,” made in the spirit of referees officiating a boxing match, requires a true leap of faith. While acknowledging in passing...
Editorial: Why is vaccine distribution slowed?
The federal government planned for 20 million coronavirus vaccinations by the end of 2020. That has proved to be a bit of an overestimation. The actual totals of about 3 million “certainly are not at the numbers we wanted to be at the end of December,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Big resolutions for a tough year
We can add the usual New Year’s resolutions to the list of things the pandemic has taken off the table this year. We all have made those promises with the turn of the old year into the new year, and they are usually something about breaking bad habits and starting...
Peter Morici: Biden can bring nation together with bold infrastructure program
President-elect Joe Biden needs a large-scale project that will summon the political class and national imagination to rescue the country from another four years of partisan distrust. A bold infrastructure program to reshape the American economy for a more prosperous and greener future could be just the ticket. Congestion alone...
Dr. G. Richard Olds: Physicians educated abroad can fill covid-induced doctor shortage
The United States will be short nearly 140,000 doctors by 2033, according to the latest estimates from the Association of American Medical Colleges. Covid-19 may drive the number of doctor shortages up further. Large numbers of physicians are leaving the profession. Consequently, we must begin preparing now to rebuild the...
Sounding off: What’s the thinking on ‘living our lives’?
Headlines in the Dec. 13 Trib included “Calls flood ambulance services” and “Hospitals plead for public’s help.” Excela Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Carol Fox describes staff holding the phone for a dying covid patient to hear a hymn sung by a pastor, and others holding the hands of patients...
Letter to the editor: Silent acquiescence to evil
In his letter “Why aren’t we autonomous?” (Dec. 17, TribLIVE), Don Carrera asks the whereabouts of all the free people who previously opposed despotic abuse of political authority. The tragedy he observes is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty...
Letter to the editor: Red-light grant money should be refused
Regarding the article “Busy Frankstown Road intersection in Penn Hills to get facelift using more than $300K grant” (Dec. 10, TribLIVE): While Automated Red Light Enforcement (ARLE ) grant projects can be worthwhile, no municipality should accept the money, since it came from red-light cameras — which should be banned...
Letter to the editor: Can’t forgive reps’ approval of Act 77
Remember, remember the third of November. Although he may not have actually said it, P.T. Barnum is credited with saying, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” I believe with high confidence we can apply this saying to Gov. Tom Wolf’s manipulation of the Republican Pennsylvania Legislature in September 2019. Act...
Laurels & lances of 2020
Laurel: To a life lived in service to others. On the last day of 2020, Pennsylvania lost a bedrock political figure. Dick Thornburgh, a two-term governor of Pennsylvania and U.S. attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, died at the age of 88. He left behind a legacy of work...
John Stossel: 2020’s good news
Was 2020 the worst year ever? The media keep saying that. We did have the pandemic, a bitter election, unemployment, riots and a soaring national debt. But wait, look at the good news, says historian Johan Norberg. His new book, “Open: The Story of Human Progress,” points out how life...
Letter to the editor: Why are legislators first in line for vaccines?
Move over hospital workers, step aside first responders, get out of the way old people, forget the nursing homes, because we have “very important” legislators who really need to get ahead of all of you. The politicians — including Sens. Bob Casey and Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Speaker...
Letter to the editor: Nursing home tales
Anne is an orphan. She lies between 60 and 70 years of age. Her pure white hair cascades down her back like a waterfall. Cut short at the ear level with bangs in the front, the rest of Anne’s hair slips over the back of her head, not to be...
Lori Falce: Making resolutions about others
We have it in us to be better. On New Year’s Day, televisions and social media ads will be filled with the same thing. They will offer a hundred different ways to sell self-improvement. Download this app and track your calories. Subscribe to that streaming service and learn a language....
Editorial: Prioritizing problems for 2021
It’s 2021! Everything is going to change, right? Well, let’s not put too much pressure on the healing power of flipping a page on a calendar. The New Year is definitely a time of hope and optimism. Even when things are good, there’s something about New Year’s Day that just...
Letter to the editor: Closing schools is not containing spread
Regarding the recent letters to the editor from the Pennsylvania Pediatric Health Network (“Mitigate to end pandemic”) and Dave Bonazelli (“Schools should be online”), and the article describing the Greensburg-Salem school district’s decision to shut down in-person schooling and athletics until Jan. 26 (“Greensburg Salem shuts down athletics until Jan....
Ralph Reiland: Will Rogers’ commentary on American life timeless
“Read his remarks now, and you want to cry, because so little has changed” stated the Des Moines Register, referring to the wisdom, humor, wit, philosophy, power of observation, popularity, and political and cultural influence of Will Rogers, the chronicler of an age, serving, because he did it better than...
