Opinion category, Page 691
Editorial cartoons for the week of Dec. 16
Editorial cartoons for the week of Dec. 16....
Garret Mathews: Newspapers haven for people with Asperger’s
What’s the fallout from the radical downturn in the influence of newspapers? To be sure, a less informed populace. More stories generated from press releases. Fewer in-depth articles. Less enterprise coverage of local and regional news. I think there’s something else. Nothing ground-shaking. Nothing insidious. Just sad. In 2016, I...
S.E. Cupp: Is impeachment over, or is it just beginning?
As Democrats announced two articles of impeachment against President Trump this past Tuesday, — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — I heard the country breathe an audible sigh of relief. Our long, national nightmare is finally over. Anxieties over would-they or wouldn’t-they, the constant public opinion polling updates,...
Editorial: Tax increase is harsh lesson
The New Kensington-Arnold School District financial situation is an argument for a change in how government — and taxpayers — should think about taxes. It would be great to fund our schools and other vital public services without requiring everyone to kick money into a collective pot. But failing another...
Letter to the editor: Help support Alzheimer’s research & care
Americans today are faced with an overwhelming and unprecedented health crisis: Alzheimer’s disease and related diseases. A new patient develops Alzheimer’s every 65 seconds, and with the rate of disease expected to triple within the next generation, it is evident that preventative action must be taken to alleviate the possible...
Letter to the editor: Comcast’s highway robbery
Mary Giron Weyant’s letter “Shame on Comcast” (Nov. 29, TribLIVE) was spot on. Comcast removing the Turner Classic Movies channel and not giving customers a $9.99 credit is awful. I don’t want and didn’t ask for the replacement of hunting and fishing. We’re senior citizens and do neither, but enjoyed...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Constitution is not a buffet
Sometimes it would be nice to treat the United States Constitution like a buffet. Imagine if you could take the parts you want and leave the rest behind. But that’s just not the nature of our Constitution. Donald Trump always gets cheers at his rallies when he promises to protect...
Antony Davies & James Harrigan: On impeachment, constitutional arguments just politics
President Trump will be impeached by the House of Representatives before the new year. Predictably, House Democrats have lined up in nearly universal assent that they have no choice but to impeach the president, and do so with heavy hearts. Their Republican counterparts, on the other hand, claim the Democrats...
Nancy Koester: The currency of Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman has yet to appear on the $20 bill or any federal note. But the hero of the Underground Railroad has newly minted cultural currency of her own. The star of the biopic “Harriet,” Cynthia Erivo, was just nominated for a Golden Globe. And there’s a new biography: “She...
Letter to the editor: Trump administration’s reverse Robin Hood
Now we have Robin Hood in reverse: Rob from the poor and give to the rich! It is stunning to me that the Trump administration is on course to deny food stamp benefits to over 700,000 of our poorest citizens. The administration that has given back nearly a trillion dollars...
Sounding off: When will political correctness end?
The Associated Press article “Pa. school district can keep ‘Redskins’ name, but logos might go” reported that the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission has ordered the Neshaminy School District in Bucks County, whose sports teams’ nickname is the Redskins, to get rid of all logos and imagery that “negatively stereotype Native...
Editorial: Deer torture demands response
It can be hard for some to reconcile the idea of hunting and a love of animals. There are groups who will never accept it. The activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, for example, calls it unnecessary and cruel. “Hunting might have been necessary for human survival...
Letter to the editor: Impeachment hypnosis
The congressional impeachment hearings are the equivalent of the hypnotist’s shiny watch on a chain — going back and forth, while the not so calming voice of Adam Schiff hums in the background. Always making sure the attention of the wide-eyed, gullible citizenry is drawn away from the disastrous failings...
Letter to the editor: Comey should review his notes
The Washington Post and New York Times both marveled at the fact that James Comey was an obsessive and prolific note-taker who always took contemporaneous notes to preserve meeting discussions. However, when the Inspector General’s report confirmed that Comey briefed President Barack Obama on the Trump-Russia investigation in August 2016...
Walter Williams: Morality of free markets
Richard Ebeling, professor of economics at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, and my longtime friend and colleague, has written an important article, “Business Ethics and Morality of the Marketplace,” appearing in the American Institute for Economic Research. Its importance and timeliness is enhanced by so many of...
John Stossel: The forgotten federal debt
Congress and the media obsess endlessly over whether President Trump should be impeached. Both ignore $23 trillion of bigger problems. That’s how deep in debt the federal government is now, and because they keep spending much more than they could ever hope to collect in taxes, that number will only...
Editorial: Human trafficking is cheap crime
What is the cost of human trafficking? In terms of dollars, it’s huge. Advocacy group Human Rights First puts the profits at about $150 billion a year, and that year was 2014. Five years later, it could well be larger. While only 19% of trafficking victims are sex workers, $99...
Letter to the editor: Trump empowering Russia
Dec. 7, 1941, was a day of infamy when over 2,000 American servicemen were killed at Pearl Harbor. Unfortunately, America experienced another day of infamy on Nov. 8, 2016, when Donald Trump was elected president. Vladimir Putin was celebrating. From his inauguration on, Trump has enhanced Russia’s military power in...
Letter to the editor: We need action on climate
Walter Williams’ op-ed “On climate, are scientists dishonest or afraid?” (Nov. 22, TribLIVE) begins with the sentence, “The absolute worst case of professional incompetence and dishonesty is in the area of climate science.” It doesn’t take but a few minutes to find that both he and Tony Heller, whom he...
Laurels & lances: Honored, poured and gifted
Laurel: To good lessons taught by a good teacher. Joseph Welch is the 2020 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year. He teaches American history at North Hills Middle School, and it’s not the first time he has been singled out for his extraordinary work making history more than a dusty subject...
Paul Kengor: Bad things happen in Cleveland
“I’m telling you!” yelled Myron Cope in the voice of, well, only Myron Cope. “Something bad always happens in Cleveland!” I was sitting in my car in Shadyside, waiting to pick up my wife from her aerobics class, listening to the legendary Myron on WTAE-AM. The subject was the Steelers...
Lori Falce: Term limits are half the story
Joe Biden might be thinking about the presidency as a one-term option. Or not. Politico’s reporting on the issue has since been denied by Biden, who is running for commander in-chief for the third time. But it’s an interesting question, not just for the 77-year-old former vice president and longtime...
Letter to the editor: We need nurse practitioners
I’ve been the patient of a talented and caring nurse practitioner for 30 years. I am writing to respond to the recent back and forth between nurse practitioners and doctors regarding full practice authority for nurse practitioners. I trust my nurse practitioner, Cathy Grant. She’s the best health care person...
Letter to the editor: Real ID a money-making scam
Well, folks, I just returned from trying to participate in another government scam, Real ID. After waiting in line for almost two hours, I finally get up to the desk and guess what? They would not accept my original birth certificate because it is not state-issued. They gave me a...
Letter to the editor: Atheists, creation & freedom
Letter-writer Courtney Hodge (“Atheism & politics,” Nov. 16, TribLIVE), a self-described atheist, wrote that “We live in the information age, and the more you know, the less religious you become.” Well, at long last I’ve found the one person who is so intelligent that she can answer a question that...
