Opinion category, Page 676
Editorial: Helping victims helps us all
If you get hurt, you should get help. That’s more than common sense. It is the idea behind so much of the government we support. It is why we have firefighters and police officers, paramedics and hospitals, emergency management agencies and the National Guard. As a society, we are prepared...
Scott Brady: Sanctuary cities undermine law
On Jan, 6, 2020, 92-year-old Maria Fuentes was raped and murdered by Reeaz Khan, a 21-year-old illegal immigrant in New York City. But this tragedy was entirely preventable. In fact, Khan should have been in custody at the time because six weeks earlier Khan was jailed and arrested for domestic...
Letter to the editor: Loving the warmth from climate change
Feb. 3, 2020, 4:40 p.m.: Temperature 63 degrees in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Ya gotta love this climate change. … Robert Ritchey Penn Township, Westmoreland County...
Letter to the editor: Trump tramples Constitution
Letter-writer Kathleen Bollinger says President Trump should be reelected for the judges he appoints who will “uphold the Constitution” (“Supreme Court in peril,” Feb. 1, TribLIVE). Well, to begin with, Justice Neil Gorsuch holds a stolen seat because of Sen. Mitch McConnell’s abuse of constitutional responsibilities, refusing to recognize President...
Michael McGough: Is the Justice Department scooping up dirt about Joe Biden from Rudy Giuliani?
Is the Department of Justice under Attorney General William Barr facilitating Rudolph W. Giuliani’s attempt to blacken the name of former Vice President Joe Biden? That’s an understandable concern after Barr acknowledged this week that the department indeed was willing to evaluate information Giuliani had gathered from Ukrainian sources about...
Pat Buchanan: Failed coup of a failing establishment
It has been a bad few days for the establishment, really bad. In a 51-49 vote, the Senate refused to call witnesses in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump and voted to acquit the president of all charges. As recent polls show socialist Bernie Sanders surging in the lead, the...
Ronald Fraser: Pa.’s parole & probation merry-go-round
State-run parole and probation programs are designed to keep people convicted of crimes — including a large number of nonviolent crimes — out of prison. But in Pennsylvania, according to a recent Council of State Governments study, “Confined and Costly: How Supervision Violations are Filling Prisons,” “On any given day...
Editorial: Special Olympics are exceptionalVideo
There are lots of ways to define the word “special.” There is distinct. There is different. There is “exceptionally good or precious.” All of those could apply to the Special Olympics. The Pennsylvania Winter Games were held at Seven Springs Ski Lodge Sunday through Tuesday. Every four years, the Olympic...
Letter to the editor: We should support Trump for pro-life stand alone
You may not like President Trump because he looks and acts like a dictator. He insults people and at times is very rude. I am still going to vote for him because he is for the unborn and religious freedom for everyone. He is the only sitting president to participate...
Letter to the editor: Supreme Court’s peril
In response to Kathleen Bollinger’s letter “Supreme Court in peril”: I have to agree it is in peril. It is in peril because the Supreme Court lost its credibility due to the court packing done by Sen. Mitch McConnell starting in 2016. After Justice Antonin Scalia died on Feb. 13,...
Letter to the editor: We’ll never have a fair accounting of Trump’s actions
I read Bob McBride’s letter “Trump haters should be mindful of facts” (Jan. 18, TribLIVE) and had to smile. His claim of only hearsay, assumptions and accusations would be laughable if a fair hearing of facts were permitted. But because President Trump barred most eyewitnesses from testifying at congressional hearings,...
Tom Purcell: How to renew dying art of romance? Ask our elders
The day my mother and father met, he was arguing with some high school friends about whether a slice of lemon would corrode the coating on a porcelain sink. “I never came across any man quite like your father,” my mother says, still happily befuddled by the stubborn old fellow....
Jonah Goldberg: Iowa’s big bungle & dismantling of political parties
One of my favorite running jokes on the internet is, “You had one job.” It’s a staple of Twitter and YouTube, with images of signs reading, “Turn Left” with an arrow pointing right, or supermarket shelves demarcating where you can buy “Poop Tarts.” Well, the Iowa Democratic Party rolled out...
Editorial: Retire in Pittsburgh with $1 million?
Sometimes it isn’t how much money you’ve got. It’s how you’re going to spend it. Last week, SmartAsset released its third annual study showing how long a $1 million retirement nest egg would last in various U.S. cities. In Pittsburgh, you can stretch that pot of money to cover 23.14...
Letter to the editor: Sen. Pat Toomey’s cowardice
So Sen. Pat Toomey has admitted that his vote for acquittal was largely due to fear of “societal upheaval” if the president was convicted and removed from office. I hoped never to see the day when our leaders voted based on intimidation. That hope is now dashed, as the cowardice...
Letter to the editor: Hatred & the privilege of voting
Regarding Edward A. Svitek’s letter “Trump & hatred” (Feb. 3, TribLIVE): I find it hard to read such hatred spewed against one man who happens to be our standing president. Elections come and go, and as Americans, our privilege is to vote. I would encourage you to do whatever you...
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Feb. 10
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Feb. 10....
Letter to the editor: Buyer’s remorse on Trump
I’m finally hearing from Trump supporters who express buyer’s remorse on their vote in 2016. Really! Trump made his ideas clear in the pathetic preelection rally stops. Constant name calling of those who disagreed with him. Encouraged violence at rallies when he said about a protester, “Try not to hurt...
Editorial cartoons for the week of Feb. 10
Editorial cartoons for the week of Feb. 10....
Rob Shearer: Pot push lives in labor la-la-land
While Lt. Gov. John Fetterman crusades on legalizing recreational marijuana, one poll released last fall suggests Pennsylvanians may not be eager to jump on the bandwagon. They’re right to be cautious. Lost amid the legalization hullabaloo is the chaos unfettered pot will wreak on labor practices, workplace litigation, employer liability,...
S.E. Cupp: The America of Trump’s State of the Union
Allow me to take you back. The year is 1957 and “Leave it to Beaver” debuts in black and white on CBS. The earnest and playful family comedy offers up solvable moral dilemmas and a heaping spoonful of unvarnished optimism in the American dream for six years and remains for...
Editorial: Pick up after yourself, Pennsylvania
At home, if you don’t like how much your monthly bills are, you can cut back. Eat out less. Switch phone plans. Shut off unneeded lights and close the front door because, as parents say, you don’t have to heat the whole outdoors! But when it comes to taxes, that’s...
Letter to the editor: Chief Justice John Roberts’ legacy
Now that the trial of President Trump is over, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and the rest of us can consider his legacy. The Constitution provides for a “trial” and “judge ” of the impeachment proceedings. We all know that endemic to the notion of a trial are...
Letter to the editor: Who is Mitt Romney?
Mitt Romney. What is he? Is he a conservative? Is he a RINO? Is he a liberal in disguise? What I do know about a person like him is that he is a lowlife, and that is why he did not even get close to becoming president. His identity was...
Letter to the editor: Nancy Pelosi’s act shows her character
We have had presidential candidates for whom I did not vote and some whom I do not respect much, but how rude was it for one of our high leaders to deliberately tear up President Trump’s speech in multiple sections behind the back of the president of the United States...
