Opinion category, Page 611
Christopher Baxter: With Spotlight PA, a team of investigative reporters hold the powerful to account in Harrisburg
There’s nothing short of a crisis in our state capital. Every year, more of Pennsylvania’s sprawling and costly bureaucracy operates without scrutiny from investigative reporters, the watchdogs tracking how our hard-earned tax dollars are spent, ensuring the vulnerable are protected, and demanding answers from lawmakers about waste, fraud and abuse....
Sounding off: Mask is a small price to pay to save lives
I immediately started wearing a mask when the virus hit Pennsylvania. Many times, I pulled it down and asked people what color my beard was. The answer would be gray, white or a blank look. My reply would be: “74 years of wisdom.” I would then share with them that...
Letter to the editor: Mixed GOP messages on mail-in voting
If President Trump insists the mail-in ballot is a bad thing, then why did I receive a flyer from the Republican National Committee urging me to request my general election mail-in ballot? The irony is obvious. Seems the GOP is in a state of confusion, an indication of the leadership...
Letter to the editor: How can New Ken-Arnold afford Pallone as consultant?
I understand that the New Kensington-Arnold School District has the highest poverty rate in all of Westmoreland County. If that is so, how can it afford to keep John Pallone on as a high-priced consultant (“Former New Ken-Arnold superintendent kept on as ‘consultant,’ gets a year’s pay in severance agreement,”...
Letter to the editor: Be a ‘honey’ to the bees
Aug. 15 is National Honey Bee Day. In honor of these fascinating animals, each of us can be a “honey” to bees by leaving honey off of our shopping lists. In her new book “Animalkind,” People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals President Ingrid Newkirk recounts how bees meander up...
Letter to the editor: Coronavirus not under control
On Aug. 5, the president said that if he had not acted as fast as he did against the virus, we could have had 1 million deaths. How can he make this statement? He waited almost one month to take action, saying it would go away when it warms up...
Letter to the editor: Are Democrats hidin’ Biden?
President Trump should change his nickname for Joe Biden from “Sleepy Joe” to “Hidin’ Biden.” When he does show himself, he often cannot complete an intelligible sentence or he makes an incredible gaffe. He seems to be showing signs of early Alzheimer’s disease. His failure to complete sentences, his clinginess...
Editorial: Wolf has more than one guy’s opinion
No, Tom Wolf. You are not just one man. On Thursday, the governor danced away from questions about the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association asking him to reconsider his statements from last week on delaying fall sports until January because of the coronavirus pandemic. “I’m not sure what they could say...
John Stossel: Anti-racist racists
Black Lives Matter protests led many people to want to do something useful to reduce racial injustice. Racial justice groups are being flooded with money. Big companies made multimillion-dollar donations. “Bad idea,” says Black radio host Larry Elder. “It is condescending … and not helpful. I urge white people to...
Walter Williams: Are today’s leftists truly Marxists?
Most people who call themselves Marxists know very little of Karl Marx’s life and have never read his three-volume “Das Kapital.” Volume I was published in 1867, the only volume published before Marx’s death in 1883. Volumes II and III were later edited and published in his name by his...
Letter to the editor: Political correctness has become embarrassing
SQUAW(king) about the changing of the name of Squaw Valley Park (“O’Hara Council: Squaw Valley Park is now O’Hara Township Community Park”)! Does the council understand how many times the term “squaw” appears in famous historical novels, films, etc.? Not to mention ski resorts? Should all these now be changed...
Letter to the editor: Anyone who served is a veteran
Regarding Robert Ebitz’s letter “Veterans should always count” (July 20, TribLIVE): I agree all veterans should count. What I do take exception with is his definition of veteran. The official definition is from Title 38 of the United States Code:“a person who served in active military, naval, or air service...
Letter to the editor: What I’ve learned about Trump
Recently our president went to Oklahoma, where his campaign visit fizzled. With close physical contact, he could have infected many people with coronavirus. Then he visited Walter Reed Hospital in Washington after being embarrassed into wearing a mask. I believe he is irresponsible. Then there’s our vice president, President Trump’s...
Letter to the editor: Are Biden and Trump the best we’ve got?
This nation is desperate for decent leadership, unless of course you think Donnie, Mitch, Nancy and The Chuckster are doing a helluva job. So first, Biden makes still another utterly racist, dim-bulb comment, which he repeats again the very next day (!), fumbles his speeches in his basement and his...
Letter to the editor: Dissecting the covid-19 numbers
According to the official Westmoreland County website, as of Aug. 13, there are 1,573 cases of covid-19 in the county. In reality, 1,573 is an accumulated number of reported cases since the first two cases March 19. 1,573 is not the number of active covid-19 cases in Westmoreland County. The...
Lori Falce: The history of cancel culture
The pyramids have stood for thousands of years, proclaiming the ability of Egyptian pharaohs like Khufu and Khafre to orchestrate projects of literally monumental scale. They tell us that there are deeds that are bigger than a person and that while a person’s life is short, history can have a...
Pete McCloskey: First coronavirus, next climate — the Republican threat to science
More than ever, our lives depend on medical science to provide reliable testing, diagnosing and mitigation of a deadly virus. Scientists in the United States and around the world are studying the coronavirus, working day and night to uncover the secrets of this disease and develop a safe, accessible vaccine....
Letter to the editor: Justice should be for all
Justice. It is a word used often today. Justice should be for all people, regardless of color, religion or age. Everyone wants to have just treatment. Is it just for a baby not to be given the right to live? That it is the choice of the mother to make...
Letter to the editor: Adulation for Trump puzzling
It perplexes me that people such as letter-writer Beverly Dawes (“Thank you, President Trump,” July 27, TribLIVE) can be so delusional as to adulate someone who I believe is the worst and most corrupt president in our history. Twenty- thousand verifiable lies to the American people and counting. For brevity I...
Letter to the editor: We must keep Trump to keep our freedom
I am afraid to say that President Trump has one opponent that will be difficult to beat in November. It’s a party that has only been around since March. The Sheep Party is firmly entrenched in all 50 states. There are only three requirements to be in it: You must...
Letter to the editor: Back-to-school issues in New Kensington-Arnold
I’m concerned about the Black and low-income residents who will be negatively affected by the New Kensington-Arnold School District’s plan to send our kids back to school full time with the option for remote learning (“New Kensington-Arnold School District reopening plan presented,” July 15, TribLIVE). Low-income district residents may not...
Letter to the editor: Walter Williams dishonors our nation
Columnist Walter Williams is quite an intelligent man. Unfortunately, he has also become the willing stooge of the white revisionist plantation mindset. In his column “Historical ignorance and Confederate generals” (July 24, TribLIVE), Williams makes the truly vile statement that “Confederate generals fought for independence from the Union just as...
Timothy L. O’Brien: Can we count on the postmaster general to resist Trump?
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy let the public know in a statement last week brimming with business-speak that he’s overhauling management of the U.S. Postal Service “to capture operating efficiencies by providing clarity and economies of scale that will allow us to reduce our cost base and capture new revenue.” DeJoy,...
Editorial: Tranquilli deserves judicious hearing
There are several things that a judge is supposed to be. Fair and patient. Respectful and understanding. Measured and firm. Judicious. We need the people who evaluate the law to do it without preconception or prejudice. It should definitely be without bias, racism and harassment. Sadly, those are the qualities...
Colin McNickle: Coronavirus and Pa.’s casinos
It should come as no surprise that Pennsylvania’s casinos have seen a major reduction in overall revenues during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. After all, the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf deemed them “nonessential” businesses early in the pandemic, forcing them to close in mid-March and all of April and May....
