Opinion category, Page 563
Letter to the editor: Dems, GOP, media and voter fraud
The article “Thousands rally behind Trump” (Nov. 15) noted President Trump’s “spurious” claim of a stolen election.” Regardless how deep the mainstream media buries its head in the sand, there is proof of multiple incidents of voter fraud in this country. Dare I say that the communistwealth of Pennsylvania is...
Walter Williams: Defining discrimination and prejudice
Some of the confusion in thinking about matters of race stems from the ambiguity in the terms that we use. I am going to take a stab at suggesting operational definitions for a couple terms in our discussion of race. Good analytical thinking requires that we do not confuse one...
Paul Kengor: Is Western Pa. home to a new Republican coalition?
“Has Trump launched a ‘second wave’ of the Reagan revolution — attracting blue-collar voters with his appeal that he and the Republican Party will do a better job of fighting for them than the Democrats, as well as representing their social values, including a pro-life stance?” A Pittsburgh reporter asked...
Laurels & lances: Giving thanks, respecting rules
Laurel: To putting the “give” in Thanksgiving. It’s hard enough to nail the “thanks” part. There are different ways to do that, though. Some find the gratitude in the grace they say before dinner. Others do it by giving to others, whether in money or food or time. Plenty of...
Letter to the editor: Hockey players are the real pros
If you want to see real professional athletes, watch the National Hockey League. David W. Thomas Gilpin...
Letter to the editor: Think green for holidays
While we all had a good social media-inspired laugh at the scrawny 45-foot-tall Norway spruce holiday tree being erected at Manhattan’s Rockefeller Plaza and are eagerly anticipating the arrival of the 18-foot Oregon fraser fir to grace the first family’s White House, your readers may spare a thought for the...
Letter to the editor: Witness to a fair election
Two generations of my family have worked the polls in Westmoreland County, with 307 precincts, and Harris County, Texas, with 803 precincts. My mother has been working the polls for 25 years, and my brother worked the polls in Texas for the first time. I have not worked the polls...
Letter to the editor: Not everyone is blessed
I enjoyed columnist Tom Purcell’s positive spin on a year that appears to most other people as dreadful (“Covid-19 obscures so many ways 2020 is best year ever,” Nov. 16, TribLIVE). It is true, in some respects, that 2020 is the “best year ever” when compared to the quality of...
Letter to the editor: Common sense is our best covid-19 weapon
The reluctance to get tough with covid-19 is why positive cases are rising. We are all covid-19 fatigued. Most people weren’t ready to endure the restrictions early on, thinking maybe two weeks, two months, would be good enough. We should have accepted this together from the start and hung in...
Letter to the editor: Bring Charlie Brown back to our TVs
I was just a kid in 1966 when “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” aired on television for the first time. I’ve been watching it, along with “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” every year since. I am now 65. I’ve enjoyed these wonderful shows with my kids and was hoping to...
Editorial: A different kind of Thanksgiving
’Tis the gift to be simple. ’Tis the gift to be free We often think of Thanksgiving in terms of the visuals. A Norman Rockwell kind of festivity with packed tables of loved ones and browned turkeys the size of laundry baskets. Everyone is dressed in their holiday best and...
John Stossel: Thankful for private property’s harvest
I’m thankful. Yes, we’ve got the pandemic, lockdowns, a worsening deficit, etc. But we still live in a relatively free country at the most prosperous time in human history. The pandemic showed that when people are faced with crises, we adjust. Restaurants switched to takeout and outdoor dining. Grocery stores...
Letter to the editor: Does Constitution allow shutdowns?
Can anyone with a computer, smartphone or set of encyclopedias (none of which I have) please answer my question? Does the Constitution of the United States from 1787 allow the government to shut down the country, as it has done, and threatens to do again? Cindy Wallace Harrison...
Letter to the editor: Biden win is a threat to our liberties
The hard-fought liberties we enjoy were based on the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution that were hammered out in Philadelphia over 200 years ago. Now it appears to me that two centuries later, many of those God-given freedoms may have been stolen in Philadelphia, and many more may be...
Letter to the editor: Trump trashing Constitution
As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, we remember the brave pilgrims who came to New England in 1620. While on the ship, they wrote the Mayflower Compact to provide a governing framework for their colony. Over 100 years later, the United States Constitution was written, and it has served as...
Letter to the editor: All religious leaders should be respected
This Muslim-American belonging to the Ahmadiyya Muslim community wholeheartedly denounces the recent spiral of violence in Europe over the degrading caricatures of the prophet Muhammad. From his own actions, the prophet taught levelheadedness and restraint in the face of abuse. I believe it is undignified for civilized nations to defame...
Letter to the editor: Biden won; Trump needs to get over it
The election is over, and President Trump can’t handle it. And it seems that his do-nothing, gutless, Republican friends in Washington and some Trump supporters can’t get over it, either. Well, it’s over. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won. Get over it. If you want to help Trump leave the...
Letter to the editor: Implosion of our country
It looks like Joe Biden will be installed as our next president. As the saying goes, “be careful what you wish for, you may get it.” Remember this: Biden and Kamala Harris want to loosen immigration restrictions, let undocumented immigrants access health care coverage and institute a watered-down version of...
Editorial: Public health orders that hurt the bar business require a chaser of aid
Gov. Tom Wolf has set last call for alcohol Wednesday at 4:59 p.m., because at 5 p.m. on the biggest drinking night of the year, bars and restaurants have to stop pouring. The new order is aimed at cutting down on the spread of covid-19 over Thanksgiving. The Wolf administration...
David Wassel: Dissecting the 2020 election
At first blush, the Democrats prevailed, although with considerable nuance and caveats. Here’s a rundown. Vice President Joe Biden didn’t win the broad sweep of states that was advertised. But only the 270 Electoral College vote threshold, which he crossed, matters. Democrats didn’t win expected Senate seats, denying them a...
Letter to the editor: Trump and the definition of insanity
Insanity is best defined as doing the same thing over and over and over, expecting different results each time. That President Trump and his bevy of so-called lawyers have now asked Georgia to recount the results of the state’s certified election for a third time clearly indicates to me that...
Pat Buchanan: What Trump will leave in Biden’s inbox
Dismissing President Donald Trump’s claim that the 2020 election remains undecided, Joe Biden has begun to name his national security team. Right now, it looks Democratic establishment all the way. Antony Blinken, a longtime foreign policy aide, is Biden’s choice for secretary of state. Jake Sullivan, one of Hillary Clinton’s...
Letter to the editor: Fighting for America
So here we are. A divided nation. As we have always been. We will never be “united.” That is how our republic (we are not a democracy) is designed. If we were all “united,” there would be no individual thought or freedom. Unity to the left means you must “think”...
Editorial: Pa. counties need health department authority
The coronavirus pandemic is one big stew pot. The sometimes confusing information that emerges points to a lot of cooks stirring the soup. On the state level, there is the Pennsylvania Department of Health, which coordinates information from 67 counties — plus hospitals and nursing homes and personal care homes...
Letter to the editor: Republicans not party of Lincoln
The Republican Party should fess up. They are not the self-styled party of Abraham Lincoln. During the Civil War and presidential election of 1864, the Republican Party of Lincoln outlined a platform of 11 principles. Among these planks: • Resolved, to “forever prohibit the existence of slavery within … the...
