Opinion category, Page 705
Editorial: No mansions for lieutenant governors
There is something about a mansion. It speaks of the worth of the person inside. It regally registers what is valuable. It proclaims importance. And it’s all a lie, isn’t it? A swanky address may speak of net worth but not personal values. Take, for example, the residence of the...
Welcoming the stranger: A Christian worships with Tree of Life congregants
On Oct. 27, 2018, a gunman entered a synagogue in Pittsburgh and shot 11 people dead while they were worshipping. Almost a year later, Jews from that same synagogue enter Pittsburgh’s Calvary Episcopal Church to celebrate the High Holy Days. They come from Tree of Life-Or L’Smicha, one of three...
Letter to the editor: Finfrock best for Greensburg
Randy Finfrock, as head of Greensburg City Council’s accounts and finance for the past 10 years, has delivered as promised: no tax increase — with no cuts to city services. His unparalleled list of noteworthy accomplishments and qualifications, as he seeks a fourth term as one of our city councilmen,...
Letter to the editor: Penguins’ Bryan Rust is inspiring
I was not surprised to read the article “As always, Bryan Rust is filling several roles for the Penguins” (Sept. 25, TribLIVE), as Rust has been one of the Pens’ top players the last few seasons. It should be noted that Rust fills another important role: inspiring young people who...
Letter to the editor: Trump as Jesus is too much
I can take a lot of crap from people about President Trump. But when you align him with Jesus, you are going a bit too far. Jesus would have never mocked a person with physical issues; cheated on his wife; aligned himself with an alleged mobster from Azerbaijan to build...
Paul Kengor: Remembering Tree of Life
“Pray for us, I will call you later.” We received that text message from our 16-year-old daughter at 10:16 a.m. on Saturday morning, Oct. 27, 2018, as my wife and I drove toward the Strip District. My wife called immediately. “Are you OK? Were you in an accident?” In a...
Lori Falce: Pink sprinkle doughnuts and rules
Explaining the rules to a child isn’t easy. Kids learn fast that a cute grin and an “I love you, Mommy” can be a shortcut around a “no.” They learn just as fast that a well-timed fit in the right venue can motivate an exasperated, embarrassed parent to give some...
Laurels & lances: Schools, hotel, arts center
Laurel: To being proactive. The Jeannette City School District scheduled emergency drills for Wednesday. It is the kind of thing that every school does, trying to keep the kids ready to follow directions and stay safe in the event of something unexpected. The unexpected happened a day early. Jeannette and...
Letter to the editor: Let’s talk corruption, GOP
It’s getting old hearing President Trump’s defenders use the fake news or hoax arguments to cover every lie he tells. The “most transparent president of our time” seems to be the exact opposite, blocking legal subpoenas, hiding personal documents in this nation’s most secure server, obstructing legal congressional oversight. How...
Letter to the editor: Give us pure gasoline again
In adjunct to Tom Pevarnik’s letter “We don’t need Saudi oil” (Oct. 6, TribLIVE): If the United States has reserves of oil coming out of our ears and we don’t need Saudi oil, then why are we still adding engine-fouling ethanol to our fuel? If anyone wants to use ethanol,...
Letter to the editor: Rally showed right/left differences
The difference between the “right” and the “left” was on full display at the recent Trump rally in Minnesota. A capacity crowd of 20,000 people filled the venue. They enjoyed a big, raucous, spirit-filled celebration of life, liberty, patriotism, Judeo-Christian values and a booming economy as President Trump spoke. Military...
George Will: Elizabeth Warren not suited to push swing voters away from Trump
WASHINGTON Along New York’s East River, which is not really a river (it is a 16-mile-long tidal estuary), perhaps 20,000 people actually chose to spend a gorgeous autumn afternoon Saturday listening to socialist Bernie Sanders, who is not really a socialist — he just wants to confiscate capitalism’s bounty to...
Jonah Goldberg: For Trump, alliances are strictly business
“Integrity lowers the price of capital.” An extremely successful investor once told me that. The context at the time was Donald Trump’s impending takeover of the GOP. This person meant it as an investment rule, an insight into Trump and a life lesson. The investment part is easy. Say you...
Editorial: No gratitude for fake school threat
Perhaps we should be grateful that there was no real danger. On Tuesday, a man passed a note across the counter of a North Huntingdon restaurant. It warned of “an active shooter threat and multiple bombs” at Norwin and Jeannette high schools. There was no active shooter. There was no...
Letter to the editor: Trump investigating corruption?
In one of the most absurd scenarios being played out in American history, Donald Trump commands corruption investigations of his political opponents … again. Trump supporters laud Trump as the one trying to clean up corruption in a Washington swamp? Hilarious, if it were not so threatening to democracy. This,...
Letter to the editor: Jesus, too, criticized the elite
Letter-writer George A. West (“Trump is no savior,” Oct. 13, TribLIVE) can’t see the forest for the trees. Jesus Christ was no Mister Rogers. Perhaps West should spent some time reading scripture. Jesus was a firebrand, a rabble rouser, a rebel; some might even call him a malcontent of his...
Letter to the editor: Impeachment is a farce
People don’t understand the procedure of impeachment. There are several stages involved. First, an impeachment resolution is introduced in the House of Representatives. The House conducts a hearing to decide if the resolution moves on for a full vote. If a simple majority of approves an article of impeachment, the...
David Spigelmyer, Matt Hammond & Anne Blankenship: Policies & priorities for natural gas industry
Pennsylvanians are realizing more than $2,000 in annual home energy savings; Ohio’s air quality progress is accelerating faster than the national average; and West Virginia experienced the country’s highest economic growth rate earlier this year. This economic and environmental success across the broader tri-state region is being enabled by the...
Pat Buchanan: Is Putin new king of the Middle East?
“Russia Assumes Mantle of Supreme Power Broker in the Middle East,” proclaimed Britain’s Telegraph. The article began: “Russia’s status as the undisputed power-broker in the Middle East was cemented as Vladimir Putin continued a triumphant tour of capitals traditionally allied to the US.” Yes, Putin has played his hand skillfully....
Editorial: Declined penalty may teach lesson
Maybe no punishment is the best penalty. On Tuesday, the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League came to a couple of decisions about Connellsville and Allderdice. The boys soccer teams from the two high schools became the subject of an investigation in September after they leveled allegations of racial and anti-gay...
Letter to the editor: Media ignoring Democrats’ corruption, lies
Even his supporters know it. Many of the attacks on President Trump are justified. The poor guy hasn’t learned that if he ignored the goading, we’re talking easy re-election and continued economic gains, especially for minorities. He can’t, so we’re left with an adolescent mentality bent on self-mutilation. That rarely...
Letter to the editor: Republicans and voter suppression
As another voting opportunity approaches this Nov. 5, I offer a few thoughts for those who don’t fully grasp the importance of this precious right. A common misconception has it that you can’t legislate morality. Hogwash! That is the only thing you can legislate. Likewise, you can legislate immorality. Witness...
Tom Purcell: Red Rover, Red Rover, are childhood games over?
I’m on the fence about this, if you want the truth. You see, more school districts are banning childhood games that were staples when I was growing up in the 1970s. Some say dodgeball, kickball, keep-away, tug-of-war, Red Rover and other games are teaching children the wrong lessons. This past...
Jonah Goldberg: In betrayal of Kurds, Trump was winging it — again
In one sense, the Syria debacle is a singular moment in the Trump presidency, and arguably in American history. I can’t think of another momentous decision by a commander-in-chief that was instantly recognizable as a disaster for which the president was entirely to blame. Even if you think the Iraq...
Editorial: Can communities combat crime?
Four shot in Duquesne. Standoff with armed man in Pittsburgh’s North Side. Police seek man who fled Larimer shooting. One dead and two injured in Wilkinsburg shooting. And that was just Saturday and Sunday. Just in Allegheny County. The hard truth is, crime is a consistent neighbor for many in...
