Opinion category, Page 730
Editorial: The new life in the death penalty
The death penalty is alive and well in the federal government. On Thursday, U.S. Attorney General William Barr resuscitated the punishment that has languished since 2014 when the Obama administration began a review. That review is complete and executions are being scheduled. The first five death row inmates who will...
Letter to the editor: Roots of racism, xenophobia
A number of people at President Trump’s recent campaign rally in Greenville, N.C. were sporting T-shirts emblazoned with the message (Expletive) Off — We’re Full. The words were “creatively” etched to resemble an outline of the United States of America. I assume the message was directed to immigrants and refugees...
Letter to the editor: Conor Lamb protects animals
U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb made a commitment during his campaign to support animal protection legislation if elected to the House of Representatives. This earned him the support of the Humane Society Legislative Fund and animal protection advocates throughout the district. In his first six months in Congress, Lamb made good...
Letter to the editor: Herd of unqualified Democratic candidates
In 2015-16 there was a herd of 17 Republican candidates for president who negated each other by sharing campaign funding, diluted votes in the primary, and elected and established the least qualified candidate for president. We now suffer with a president who does not understand the workings of our government,...
Paul Kengor: Observations on busyness & obliviousness
I sit in my car in a Starbucks parking lot. It’s a new Starbucks, a large lot, drive- thru. I wait while my daughter takes a music lesson down the road. The scene at the drive-thru strikes me. I’m dumbstruck by cars whizzing in at 30 mph with 40 yards to...
Lori Falce: Presidential debates are beauty pageants
We are about to play the next round of everyone’s favorite game show, “Who Wants to Be President?” And the answer in the Democratic Party continues to be the same. Everyone. Yes, we are a year out from the 2020 convention, but it would be great if the CNN debates...
Laurels & lances: A bridge, water and respect
Laurel: To free-flowing traffic. If you’ve been avoiding Freeport Road in East Deer for a year, you can stop taking detours to avoid delays. On Monday, the road was reopened to traffic with a new longer, wider bridge built to stand 100 years. The bridge is the last one in...
Letter to the editor: Motivation of Wolf’s election system veto
In the wake of the 2016 elections, Republican voters have repeatedly been referred to as uneducated, unsophisticated hayseeds who marched hypnotically into the voting booth having been immersed in the MAGA gospel and blindly pulled the Trump lever. Now comes Gov. Tom Wolf vetoing the funding for a new updated...
Letter to the editor: Hoping for a winning Steelers season
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ drama players have finally gone to other teams. Can head coach Mike Tomlin get the team back together again, both on and off the field? Will Tomlin have control inside the locker room? I hope he does, because this is his job. If his reputation is of...
Letter to the editor: Greensburg residents didn’t ‘abuse’ brush pickup
I was shocked to see my neighbors’ home featured in your July 10 article, “People ‘abusing’ Greensburg brush pickup program.” The picture implies my neighbors “abuse” this program. I can tell you, driving past it daily for weeks, that their “large pile of brush” is no bigger than leaf piles...
George Will: Repeal of ‘Cadillac tax’ shows hazard of bipartisanship
WASHINGTON Acting on the principle “Why put it off until tomorrow when you can do the wrong thing today?” the House of Representatives last week voted to repeal a tax that is not scheduled to take effect until 2022. The vote against the “Cadillac tax” was 419-6, a reminder that...
Kevin Hancock: Medicaid waiver program aims to solve nationwide problem
A recent Tribune-Review story (“Lower Burrell woman’s story personifies failures in Medicaid waiver program,” July 13, TribLIVE) and editorial (“Medicaid waivers real roller coaster,” July 16, TribLIVE) detailed a family’s difficulty securing home care for an aging loved one. The story equates the staffing struggles as a personification of “failures...
Colin McNickle: Troubling comparisons for Pittsburgh
An updated statistical analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy of how the City of Pittsburgh stacks up against four comparable “benchmark cities” should prompt much, and necessarily robust, discussion among local public policy makers. Since 2004, the Pittsburgh think tank has, every three years, compared the erstwhile Steel...
Editorial: Should schools turn down free lunch?
It’s fine for a government official to take a stand, as long as he remembers who is picking up the tab. Wyoming Valley West School District is in Luzerne County, and there’s little reason that it would usually attract national attention. According to measurements by Niche.com, the district’s report card...
Letter to the editor: Billboards & people’s rights
Regarding the article “Billboard company calls Tarentum zoning ‘unconstitutional’” (July 10, TribLIVE): It’s important to note that when it comes to rights, it’s not only the billboard company’s that are at issue here. There is also the right of people of Tarentum to use zoning to help determine the scenic...
Letter to the editor: Next steps for Trump supporters
I’m guessing that Trump rally-goers will soon be chanting “String ‘Em Up” each time the president names an African-American Democrat. I see it as a natural next step for this crowd. I’m more certain of what will follow when this happens. Trump will deny that it has anything to do...
Letter to editor: ‘The Squad’ dividing our country
In the 1950s, The Four Freshmen blended “open-harmonic jazz arrangements with the big band vocal group sounds of The Modernaires (Glenn Miller), The Pied Pipers (Tommy Dorsey) and The Mel-Tones (Mel Torme/Artie Shaw),” according to Wikipedia. They combined different tones into one united musical sound in the barbershop tradition. These...
Pat Buchanan: Is new US Mideast war inevitable?
In October 1950, as U.S. forces were reeling from hordes of Chinese troops who had intervened massively in the Korean War, a 5,000-man Turkish brigade arrived to halt an onslaught by six Chinese divisions. Said supreme commander Gen. Douglas MacArthur: “The Turks are the hero of heroes. There is no...
Editorial: A calling to serve and protect
When a police officer assumes his role, it isn’t like other jobs. He may put on a uniform. He may punch a clock. He may be “on duty” from this time until that time. And all of that might have a lot in common with other jobs. Cable installer. Postal...
Letter to the editor: Conservative case for carbon tax
The climate crisis, with its incredible heat wave in Europe, terrible drought in India and unrelenting rain in our Midwest, shouldn’t be a political issue. But we all know that it is. Resistance to doing something about the crisis is coming primarily from the conservative side of the political spectrum....
Letter to the editor: MLB shows patriotism
Once again, Major League Baseball teaches all other sports. Patriotism, respect and sportsmanship were all perfectly presented at the All-Star Game. The NFL and, sadly now, the women’s soccer team, should take notice. Raymond Smith Buffalo Township...
Letter to the editor: Blackout trauma in New York
So a small part of NYC lost power from right after dinner to right before bed. Wall to wall, commercial free cable news coverage. It was such a catastrophe that Komrade Bill DeBlasio suspended his presidential campaign, aka the No Chance in Hell Express, and immediately got back home, later...
Alex Azar: Trump putting patients in control
A few years ago, my doctor recommended a routine heart exam. I would be paying for it out of pocket, since I had a high-deductible plan, so naturally I asked what it would cost. After a great deal of effort, I was told the list price was $5,500, and my...
Tom Purcell: Childish politicians need kindergarten lessons
We could use a hearty dose of Robert Fulghum about now. Our political discourse is at a fever pitch. Our allegedly esteemed elected leaders are carrying on like unruly children — shouting and pouting and becoming increasingly strident with their political opponents. If they wish to carry on like children,...
Editorial: DirecTV, CBS blackouts make TV too hard
Hey, let’s watch some TV. That should be simple enough. Pick up your remote, press a button, pick a channel. It’s not rocket science. Collapsing on the couch and zoning out to the television is the very definition of rest for many people. So why are entertainment companies making it...
