Opinion category, Page 574
Letter to the editor: Wordsmithing, religion and abortion
When the Trib reprints articles from the Associated Press, I often have noticed what I see as implicit bias and slanted wording when comparing President Trump and Joe Biden. For example, the article “Trump, Biden go on offense in states they’re trying to flip” (Oct. 18, TribLIVE) begins “Trump began...
Letter to the editor: Trump failed to protect inner circle, and Americans
The primary responsibility of the president of the United States is to protect the country and its citizens. In the week and a half following the Sept. 26 Supreme Court nomination event for Amy Coney Barrett held in the White House Rose Garden, many within the inner circle of President...
Letter to the editor: Questions about Pa. covid-19 rates
Using Pennsylvania Department of Health data, the covid-19 death rate is around 120 per 100,000 residents in Pennsylvania’s southeast counties. That is nearly four times the rate of 33 in Allegheny County. Westmoreland County at 23 is nearly five times less, and the McKean/Potter/Warren area, with about 4 per 100,000,...
Letter to the editor: Biden’s expensive plans
Joe Biden’s proposed spending is estimated to cost an additional $5.4 trillion. It includes two years of free community college, college loan forgiveness, and $1.6 trillion for infrastructure and research and development for clean energy. According to Wharton’s analysis of Biden’s tax plan, it will cover only $3.4 trillion of...
Letter to the editor: Message to Trump on energy in Pa.
Dear President Trump: The residents of Pennsylvania recognize your recent repeated visits to our state for what they are: a last-ditch attempt to use energy issues to sow division among us for your own election. Betting our economic future on petrochemicals and production of plastics would send us back to...
John Stossel: Betting on the chances of Trump, Biden
Donald Trump probably will lose the election. As I write, The Economist says he has only an 8% chance of winning. Nate Silver’s FiveThirty Eight, which came closest to predicting Trump’s win in 2016 and has the best track record among modelers, gives Trump just a 12% chance. But people who...
Walter Williams: Disgusting professorial teachings
The ugliness that we have recently witnessed including rioting, billions of dollars of property destruction, assaults, murders and grossly stupid claims about our nation has its origins on college campuses. Two websites, Campus Reform and The College Fix, report on the despicable teachings on college campuses across the nation. Let...
Kim Anderson: Reducing methane is morally right
“Honey, should we fix the natural gas leaks in our home?” “No, sweetheart, we just won’t light any matches and put up signs saying, NO SMOKING ALLOWED.” Does this conversation between spouses sound like a responsible course of action? This is exactly the course of action that our commonwealth has...
Sens. Kristin Phillips-Hill and Scott Hutchinson: Could a 20-year state contract sink efforts to close Pennsylvania’s digital divide?
In 2019, the commonwealth entered into a 20-year contract with an Ohio-based company to help expand access to broadband in underserved areas of Pennsylvania. Although this contract was originally billed as a way to help deploy high-speed internet throughout the state, it now appears that this contract is more of...
Letter to the editor: U.S. and state constitutions are clear on election laws
As per the Supreme Court in Ex parte Milligan and American Jurisprudence 2d, Volume 16, the U.S. Constitution is in full force at all times — even during health scares. The Pennsylvania Constitution mandates: “No power of suspending laws shall be exercised unless by the Legislature or by its authority.”...
Letter to the editor: Happy memories of Maz and Pirates
I commend you for featuring the famous Bill Mazeroski photo on the 60th anniversary of the Pirates’ fabulous win over the Yankees (“60 years later, 1960 Pirates legends recall ‘amazing’ home run that won World Series,” Oct. 10, TribLIVE). I grew up in the small Clearfield County town of Curwensville....
Letter to the editor: We can put an end to Trump virus Nov. 3
Talk about being fed Kool-Aid. President Trump has been feeding it to the American citizens about the coronavirus. His downplaying of the pandemic, revealed through Bob Woodward’s interviews, says it all. Trump misled the country and failed to protect American citizens, and I hold him responsible for many thousands of...
Letter to the editor: Trump’s opponents media, big tech
Negative press coverage of President Trump, a Christian, began before he took the oath of office and has only worsened. According to analysts at the Media Research Center, coverage of Trump on major broadcast networks is 95% negative. I can only say that God has to be on his side....
Lori Falce: Polls, elections and fantasy football
Polls seem like the worst measure of politics. Randomly questioning people to see how they feel about issues and how they feel about candidates, how they would vote and if they are likely to do so. They are a hodgepodge of numbers that puff themselves up and try hard to...
Laurels & lances: Talk, ticks, signs and sweets
Laurel: To expanding reach. KDKA Radio has been one of the voices of Pittsburgh longer than most people can remember — even if they were alive back when the Harding/Cox presidential election returns were broadcast in 1920. But after 100 years on the AM dial, KDKA is finally making the...
Jonah Goldberg: Liberals panicking over possibility of a 2016 repeat
The 2016 election lives loudly in everybody right now. On the Trumpian right, “the polls were wrong before” isn’t merely an observation, it’s a catechism. And on the anti-Trumpian left, it’s a constant source of anxiety bordering on panic. It’s making a lot of folks a little crazy. My friend...
Letter to the editor: 2 ways to see Trump’s town hall performance
During the NBC Town Hall on Oct. 15, I saw President Trump do a great job answering questions from a combative Savannah Guthrie. She constantly interrupted him, argued with him and questioned him as if she were a Democratic rival. He was polite and engaging. After reading the Trib’s front-page...
Letter to the editor: We the people must stop Trump
Donald Trump continues to undermine the democratic process by labeling the press as “the enemy of the people,” encouraging self-appointed militia to “liberate” Democratic states and now what I see as plotting with Republican legislatures to hand him our electoral votes. His condoning of white supremacists and gun-toting militia and...
Letter to the editor: Early tallying of ballots essential
It is common sense that in a crucial presidential election in which an unprecedented number of Pennsylvanians will vote by mail that the General Assembly would enact legislation allowing county elections offices to begin tallying ballots before Nov. 3. (Only Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Mississippi and Alabama prohibit this.) Why is such...
Editorial: Is Purdue Pharma settlement enough?
Every court case that comes to a plea deal is a game of poker. Who has the better hand? Who has the better bluff? Who has the most to lose or everything to win? In the case of Purdue Pharma and the part its massively successful pain medication OxyContin played...
Letter to the editor: Go Wendy Bell, go Trump
Wendy Bell, I’m in your corner all the way. Go Trump! Linda Spiering West Leechburg...
Letter to the editor: Pick your president, pick your system
For the first time in memory, I believe Americans will select the form of government we will be living under for generations. Will it be America’s system of freedom, with its opportunities for all to grow and enjoy the fruits of that freedom? Or will it be socialism, with its...
Letter to the editor: Thanks for postal workers
A big shout-out to the men and women of our U.S. Post Office for helping us to vote safely and securely from our homes. My husband and I received our ballots Oct. 14, mailed them back Oct. 15 and had confirmation of their arrival at our county Election Bureau on...
Graham Godwin: 2020’s polls aren’t 2016’s polls
The 2016 presidential contest made some people skeptical of polling. But this is perhaps more of the situation where one remembers the emotion more than the facts. Yes, there were a lot of entities doing a lot of polling that year, and some of it was just bad. That’s what...
Jeanne Allen: Parents should have power on education
For years, measures like the Nation’s Report Card have assessed educational opportunity in America. Long story short: Our scores are abysmal, and our children are falling further and further behind both national and international norms. Now enter covid-19. The pandemic has put this ugly truth on display for all to...
