Opinion category, Page 688
Letter to the editor: Presidential candidates should recuse selves
Apparently people are unaware of our system of government. One party cannot railroad a president who has not broken a law out of office. The Democrats are avoiding the judicial branch in their effort to get rid of President Trump. Many people think that Congress voting to impeach means he...
Letter to the editor: Indifference may end our republic
The end of an empire slowly creeps in unawares. It’s like a chronic case of indigestion repeatedly ignored until it’s diagnosed as stage 4 stomach cancer. And the prognosis for America the Beautiful could be terminal. Generations indoctrinated by a lifetime of the blue glow of television have been rendered...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Political endings & beginnings in 2020
Every now and then a new year seems sure to mark significant change. And 2020 is one of those years — a presidential election year — and it is not without some meaningless controversy straight out of the gate. Astronomer Joe Rao writes in the Farmers’ Almanac that we should...
James Thrasher: Division I athletics all about the money
During an episode of Lebron James’ online show “The Shop,” California Gov. Gavin Newsome signed into law a bill allowing California student athletes to sign endorsements while in college. The NCAA Board of Governors, having studied this issue for years, responded by announcing that college athletes can “benefit from the...
Lawrence McCullough: Educational theater boosts STEM with STEAM
The first email I opened this morning notified me I’d just put a little more STEAM into the world. An ecology play I’d written some years back had been licensed by a science teacher at Our Lady Help of Christians School in Victoria, Australia. Using class students as performers, “Home...
Colin McNickle: Beef up ‘Local Share’ gambling dollars reporting
“Pursue your happiness,” read the “Welcome to Pennsylvania” interstate border signs. But “Pursue some transparency” would be a better slogan considering the commonwealth’s spotty record of holding accountable how some recipients of gambling taxes spend that money, finds an analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. Keystone State gambling...
Sounding off: Our politicians should all be independents
George Washington warned Americans about the evils of political parties and partisan politics in his Farewell Address to Congress. When I ran as a Libertarian candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, I did so because I saw how the two major parties and partisan politics were destroying our country,...
Editorial: Are turnpike spikes toll road to ruin?
Brother, can you spare a dime? Well, that will work if you have an E-ZPass, but if you don’t, how about two, because that’s how much tolls are going up. Yes, again. No one can possibly be surprised. We have all seen this coming for years. For twelve straight years,...
Letter to the editor: ‘Investing in children’ means more taxes
Property owners in New Kensington-Arnold School District should be seeing red (“New Kensington-Arnold preliminary budget spikes taxes, exhausts reserves,” Dec. 12, TribLIVE): They are being bled to death in school taxes. Ask the school board: How much did the football field renovation cost? How much money in the budget went...
Letter to the editor: On Biden blackmail, where’s outrage?
A widely available clip of a January 2018 video — rarely shown on network television — should end the impeachment farce. The clip not only absolves President Trump, but indicts the Obama administration for bribery, an actual impeachable offense. When the key perpetrator began campaigning for president, it became Trump’s...
John Stossel: Big hearts better than big government
This week, children may have learned about that greedy man, Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooge is selfish until ghosts scare him into thinking about others’ well-being, not just his own. Good for the ghosts. But the way Scrooge addresses others’ needs matters. Today’s advocates of equality, compassion, increased spending on education, health...
Walter Williams: Virginia gun owners in a Second Amendment battle
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam apologized for his medical school blackface stunt, but he will have much more to apologize for if he signs into law a bill that attacks Virginia citizens’ Second Amendment rights. The measure is Senate Bill 16, which would ban “assault” firearms and certain firearm magazines. Since...
Editorial: Are there too many police in school?
School safety and discipline are not the same thing. At least, they shouldn’t be. School safety is the odd system of fences and hurdles that strives to protect students. Safety is the omnipresent idea that surrounds schools in a post-Columbine, post-Sandy Hook, post-Parkland world where we know all too well...
Letter to the editor: Morals, decency & Trump
I was pleased to see that my letter (“Trump deserved World Series boos”) was appreciated by A. Atkinson (”Tired of Democrats’ letters”). While I respect his right to his opinion, does he honestly believe that will stop me from writing letters about who I feel is the worst and most...
Letter to the editor: ‘Impairment’ follows impeachment
I stayed up into the wee hours Dec. 12 to watch Jerry Nadler and his Judiciary Committee preside over the debate and vote over which articles of impeachment to bring before the House. Not to get tutti-frutti, but impeachment leads to impairment. The Democrats in Congress want to impair the...
Paul Kengor: Christmas 1979 a tough time
Christmas 1979 marked a sobering time for America. Here in the Pittsburgh region, fortunately, we were enjoying a unique reign as City of Champions, with the Pirates winning the World Series and the Steelers in the process of a second back-to-back Super Bowl coup. These were badly needed respites for...
Lori Falce: The rights and wrongs of a decade
Just what is a decade? Who knew that was a complicated question? One of the most humbling parts of writing for a news organization every day is the never ending stream of people willing — nay, eager — to tell you exactly what you got wrong. We even make it...
Laurels & lances: Gifts of the season
Laurel: To helping new neighbors. It is hard to become part of a community that you can’t understand. That is why the mission of Literacy Pittsburgh’s English as a Second Language classes is so important. Immigrants to the area looking to learn to read and write English are finding help...
Letter to the editor: Impeachment a banana republic farce
There were many listeners to the phone conversation. One collapsed at what he heard and told a whistleblower who blew his whistle — “the world must know of this evil.” President Trump surprised them by releasing the transcript, which anyone can read and judge for themselves as to whether there...
Letter to the editor: Trump, religion & debt
I’ve seen President Trump’s spiritual adviser. What a piece of work. Do you actually think Trump is a God-fearing, religious person? Do you actually believe Trump believes or knows the meaning of the Golden Rule? Trump thinks he is going to make America great again. Good slogan, but we’ve got...
Letter to the editor: Biden’s actions in Ukraine should be examined
The longer the impeachment process drags on, the more I am convinced of two things: Joe Biden did something bad in the Ukraine, and he had the help of some corrupt Ukrainian officials. The Republican House members and lawyers keep bringing up Biden’s dealings with Ukrainian gas interests. The Democratic...
Editorial: Transit authority gets behind wheel of buses
Everyone looks for a fresh start in the new year. For Westmoreland County, that fresh start means getting in the driver’s seat. That’s really not a euphemism. The county’s transit authority takes over bus and paratransit services starting Jan. 2. It’s a very different role for the authority. Until October,...
Jonah Goldberg: We have 2 moon parties, no sun party
Here’s a theory for why our politics are so confusing these days: Neither party wants to be a majority party. From an ideological perspective, majority parties are, by nature, weird. For instance, the long-dominant FDR coalition included a strange mix of blacks and segregationists, corrupt city machines and the reformers...
Pat Buchanan: Is impeachment backfiring on Democrats?
“We’re gonna impeach the (expletive deleted).” Thus did the member from Michigan, Rashida Tlaib, declare last January to be the goal of the 2019 House Democratic Caucus. Last Wednesday night, Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered the goods. The House impeached President Trump on a straight party-line vote. Not one Republican signed...
Christmas greetings from local leaders
In celebration of Christmas, today’s letters to the editor are not to the editor at all. They are Christmas greetings from local leaders to our readers, the people of the communities they serve. This time of year is one in which we come together. It reminds us that we have...
