Opinion category, Page 677
Letter to the editor: Common sense is biggest loser in impeachment
Near the beginning of President Trump’s impeachment trial, one of the House managers suggested that senators shouldn’t leave their common sense at the door. That message fell on the deaf ears of most Republicans. Common sense would have dictated that jurors hear witnesses and see documents. Common sense would have...
Susan Stuart: CORE sets record year for saving, healing lives
The Center for Organ Recovery & Education’s mission is to save and heal lives through organ, tissue and cornea donation. This mission guides CORE’s every step, every initiative and every interaction. And it was the driving force behind a record-breaking year in 2019 for donation in Western Pennsylvania and West...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Michael Bloomberg could have Trump on the ropes
“Hit him in the labonza!” As we gathered around the tiny black-and-white television for the “Friday Night Fights” in the 1950s, Pap and the uncles shouted at the smaller boxers to go inside and work the bellies of their much bigger opponents. Body punches — focused, repeated, unrelenting — take...
Jonah Goldberg: Age of impeachment & death of shame
As the impeachment trial fizzled out, I’m left wondering if the GOP has lost its mind, because the only other choice is that I have. I’m not referring to the Republican senators’ collective decision not to remove the president from office. I’ve always argued that this was a question reasonable...
Lou Weiss: Put me in, Queen, I’m ready to play
Dear Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, My mother has long threatened to disinherit me if I continue to vote Republican. You also have recent experience with noncompliant family members. I think that for a lad in my difficult circumstances, I see a way to satisfy both my mother and you. Now...
Editorial: Religion, speech free of fear
Sometimes it is the fear of something that causes more problems than the “something” itself. Anticipating a needle can be worse than the quick sting of a shot. And so it can be with prayer in schools. The First Amendment’s protections of religious freedom and the constitutional separation of church...
Sounding off: CTE is real, and it kills
Regarding John Steigerwald’s insensible and disheartening piece on chronic traumatic encephalopathy (“It might be time to show skepticism about CTE research.”): To date, we have come to realize that 1) the world is not flat, 2) asbestos is bad, 3) cigarettes cause cancer and 4) lead will poison you. Humanity...
Letter to the editor: Thank an old vet for your freedom
If you like your freedom, thank an old man or woman — who served in the Marines, Air Force, Army, Navy, Merchant Marines or Coast Guard. If not, leave the country. Edward C. Shoemaker Hempfield The writer is a World War II Navy veteran....
Letter to the editor: Westmoreland’s dire budget situation
I was alarmed by the article about Westmoreland County Commissioner Gina Cerilli’s square off with County Controller Jeffrey Balzer (“Westmoreland controller calls for bigger county tax increase,” Jan. 28, TribLIVE). Our county had to use $5.5 million from its surplus fund to balance this year’s budget, leaving only a projected...
Letter to the editor: Turnpike safety
Regarding Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission CEO Mark Compton’s op-ed “Safety drives every decision at turnpike commission” (Jan. 19, TribLIVE): Speed cameras in work zones are for revenue. If not, then why do we not do things like adopt the zipper merge, and post 85th percentile speed limits? Low speed limits cause...
Walter Williams: Myths, lies & tricks of economics
I have been teaching economics since 1967. During that interval, economic reality has not changed. Just as Galileo’s law about the independent influence of gravity on falling objects has not changed, neither have the fundamental principles of economics. Economics is fun and simple. It’s made complicated by some economics professors...
John Stossel: Crazy ‘laws’ should be outlawed
A law in South Carolina bans playing pinball if you’re younger than 18. That’s just one of America’s many ridiculous laws restricting freedom. “There is a role for the government in keeping people safe from actual criminals, people who commit murder, robbery,” says Rafael Mangual, a “tough-on-crime” guy at the...
Editorial: Tranquilli and the scales of justice
The law is more than letters on a page. It isn’t just a static thing that exists flatly in tiny print in thick books. The law is a tool — a mechanism for weighing and measuring people in a way that has nothing to do with pounds or inches. And...
Kathryn Spitz Cohan: With Oscars so male, the Academy needs to be more intentional
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is once again recognizing merit in filmmaking — and once again there are no women among the nominees for best director. In fact, only five women have ever been nominated for best director in the 92-year history of the Oscars and only...
Letter to the editor: When voting, think of your children’s future
U.S. Senate, I figured you would do this. The only thing is, I’m sure he is guilty of the impeachable crimes. Are people forgetting that the House impeached him and took the articles of impeachment to the Senate for removal from office, which in past impeachments did not lead to...
Letter to the editor: Ideas for Westmoreland commissioners
This year, you can’t fault our new Westmoreland County commissioners for inheriting a bloated budget and almost zero reserve funds. Someone in Harrisburg should’ve admonished the former commissioners for falling below the recommended $20 million reserve fund threshold for emergencies. Will their current plan to build up the Mon Valley,...
Letter to the editor: Remembering Bessie Alberts’ encouragement
My lifelong dream was to work in politics. During the past two decades I have worked on a dozen political campaigns, been an intern for a U.S. senator, served as a staffer for a Pennsylvania lieutenant governor and spent several years as an aide to a Virginia legislator. I now...
Donald Boudreaux: There’s no app for social engineering
During Monday’s Iowa caucuses, a mobile app designed to report results malfunctioned. Unsurprisingly, Republicans gloated that the glitch is a calamity for Democrats. Yet even The New York Times worried about what this snafu might signify. As Times columnist Frank Bruni wrote, “Maybe there’s a moral here in dreaming too...
Lori Falce: Super Bowl lessons about politics
When I watch the Super Bowl, I do it with an eye toward what I love. If the Steelers are playing, my allegiances are easy. If the Patriots are playing, yeah, that’s easy too, although in a year like 2018 when New England faced off against Philadelphia? There’s just no...
Laurels & lances: Bakers, groundhog, culture and taxes
Laurel: To a nourishing idea. Chatham University is creating a new baker training program that brings together its Center for Regional Agriculture, Food and Transformation with Community Kitchen Pittsburgh. Funded by a $215,000 grant from Bank of America, the pilot program launches in May and will allow students to earn...
Editorial: Will Wolf budget become impasse?
There was an important speech made Tuesday that is worth some attention. No, not the one in Washington that has spawned a million social media posts. It’s the one Gov. Tom Wolf gave in Harrisburg, outlining his 2020-21 budget proposal. For Pennsylvanians, it was a laundry list of priorities the...
Letter to the editor: Gas industry/cancer study applauded
We should all be pleased that Gov. Tom Wolf has allocated public money, namely $3 million, to study gas industry effects and cancer, especially child cancers in Southwestern Pennsylvania. As a chemist, I can only imagine how complex it will be to study multiple possible effects of a controversial heavy...
Letter to the editor: Senate bill would undo environmental progress
Going back to the ’80s for a mile-high perm and a John Hughes film? Sign me up. Going back to undo 36 years of regulations? That’s a scheme that’s risky at best. Pennsylvania Senate Bill 790 would undo years of progress on environmental and health protections on oil and gas...
Letter to the editor: A conversation for the nation
It’s what I said, it’s what I meant, I do not like the president. Listen, listen and you may, Listen and you may, I say. Would you like him here or there? I would not like him anywhere. I don’t care what you insist, I’ll continue to resist. Is there...
Gary Smith: The faith of Troy Polamalu
Troy Polamalu, who played safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2003 to 2014, has been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He will enter the hall with Bill Cowher, who coached the team for his first four seasons, and defensive back Donnie...
