Opinion category, Page 738
George Will: Let flawed court precedent fall
WASHINGTON The doctrine that court precedents should have momentum for respect — the predictability of settled law gives citizens due notice of what is required or proscribed — is called stare decisis. This Latin translates as: “To stand by things decided.” The translation is not: “If a precedent was produced...
Editorial: Is Sestak more primary background noise?
If there’s one thing the Democrats didn’t need going into the first presidential primary debates, it was one more candidate. Even one from Pennsylvania. Yes, the state’s got everything: rural, urban, left, right, industrial, agricultural, basic education, higher education, rich, poor. If you’re going to speak to any state, speak...
Letter to the editor: Drugmakers’ illegal conduct
An open letter to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, regarding the generic drug manufacturing collusion civil lawsuit: Why is this not being pursued in a criminal action ? Under 15 US Code Chapter 1, anti-competitive business conduct such as price fixing, collusion and restraint-of-trade are felony offenses punishable by incarceration...
Letter to the editor: Four more years of Trump will ruin nation
I don’t know how you could like a person in your office who makes fun of people and calls them names, but not say a word about him because he will pout and belittle you more. With these Mexico tariffs, who is Trump kidding? It’s a ploy for his fat-cat...
Letter to the editor: Vote out our corrupt Congress
Why does nothing get done in Congress? Why is the immigration crisis not being addressed? Let’s start with the Democratic-controlled House. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team see the border crisis as a source for Democratic voters. No one will admit this, but it is the best way...
Vince Mercuri: Boyhood home’s foundations live on
With the victory of World War II fresh in their minds, the “Greatest Generation” marched into life with confidence, purpose and a mindset that with determination, hard work and selfless dedication, anything could be accomplished. The typical struggles, failures and hardships of life were no doubt present, yet they had...
Pat Buchanan: War with Iran would become ‘Trump’s War’
President Trump cannot want war with Iran. Such a war, no matter how long, would be fought in and around the Persian Gulf, through which a third of the world’s seaborne oil travels. It could trigger a worldwide recession and imperil Trump’s reelection. It would widen the “forever war,” which...
Guy Reschenthaler: Combatting our veterans’ mental health crisis
Twenty veterans die by suicide each day. Additionally, up to 20% of veterans who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or major depression. As our nation recognizes PTSD Awareness Month in June, it is important that we draw attention to these...
Editorial: Treat record-high drug addiction in jail
Addiction threatens our safety and our wallets. We know that people have drug problems. If it isn’t in your family, it’s an other-people problem. If you don’t take pills, or heroin, or cocaine, why is it something that you have to think about? It’s because more of the people around...
Letter to the editor: More information on U.S. Steel’s Clairton plant
Your article “How residents grapple with life in the shadows of U.S. Steel’s Clairton Plant” (June 15, TribLIVE) appears incomplete in several respects. First, Clairton supplies almost all of the coke to U.S. Steel’s operations in the U.S. If shut, U.S. Steel would need to import coke to operate and...
Letter to the editor: Call for Styrofoam ban
The unsustainable amount of single- use plastics that Americans use every day terrifies me: 150 million tons of plastic produced each year are used only once, and the problem continues to worsen. Styrofoam, which is very difficult to recycle, is a big contributor to this problem. It makes up a...
Letter to the editor: Wealth tax could decrease poverty
I would like to see Congress pass a new program into law to replace the former Aid To Families With Dependent Children program, which was passed under FDR in 1935 and abolished in 1996. Since its abolition, there has been a large increase in the number of people (especially children)...
Letter to the editor: Standing up to China on trade
Here’s why President Donald Trump needed to stand up for American workers and stop the bleeding on our economy: Our trade deficit with China went from $29 billion to $83 billion under President Bill Clinton between 1994-2000; from $83 billion to $268 billion under President George W. Bush from 2001-08;...
Tom Purcell: Alleged would-be ISIS bomber could have lived American dream
Here’s the worst part: He had every opportunity to choose life. Last week, 21-year-old Mustafa Mousab Alowemer was arrested for allegedly plotting to bomb a small Christian church on Pittsburgh’s North Side. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, his motivation was to support the cause of ISIS. And he...
G. Terry Madonna & Michael Young: The Democrats’ debate marathon
Who will win the 2020 presidential election seems endlessly debatable — and the Democrats are preparing to demonstrate just how endless that debate will be. Overall there will be 12 sanctioned Democratic presidential debates during the party’s nomination battle, six of them in 2019 with six more in 2020. The...
Editorial: UPMC, Highmark still need permanent solution
Break out the champagne. The crisis has been averted. No, not the tensions surrounding U.S. and Iranian relations. No, not North Korea. It’s not the war on drugs or the war on terror or even the war on Christmas. The peace treaty on the table is between Highmark and UPMC....
Letter to the editor: Peduto on Pittsburgh terrorist bomb plot
Had the refugee’s plot been carried out (“Syrian refugee charged with plotting to bomb Pittsburgh church”), Mayor Bill Peduto would have known how to shine. Virtue-signaling his way through the myriad of press conferences like a virtuoso, he’d condemn any animosity Pittsburghers might dare have, sermonize ad nauseam in an...
Letter to the editor: On abortion, let’s build bridges
Believe it or not, most individuals who identify as pro-choice are not cold blooded baby-killers seeking to advance a culture of death. And guess what? Most individuals who identify as pro-life are not religious bigots and misogynists hell-bent on oppressing women. After over 40 years of emotional rhetoric and demeaning...
Editorial cartoons for the week of June 24
Editorial cartoons for the week of June 24....
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of June 24
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of June 24....
Robert Ciervo: We must protect integrity of female athletics
In the ongoing debate about protecting the integrity of female athletics, I firmly believe female track athletes should only have to compete against their peers — not biological males, regardless of how those male athletes identify in terms of gender, which is a man-made construct. As a former Division I...
Mitchel Nickols: Advocates look out for patients
Chances are, most of us will become or know someone as a patient during our lifetime. The need to have a friend or loved one access or communicate with a medical professional about your care may necessitate having a patient advocate. A patient’s privacy is protected by the Health Insurance...
Editorial: Pennsylvania gave women voice with vote
Women get to have a say. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. It should seem obvious. Of course a woman gets a seat at the table, a voice in a discussion. Of course all women should have that opportunity. But it was just 100 years ago that Pennsylvania said that, yes, every...
Letter to the editor: Fight to end Alzheimer’s
During June, Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month, the Alzheimer’s Association needs you to get involved to help raise awareness about Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Everyone is at risk to develop Alzheimer’s, a disease that is often misunderstood. Alzheimer’s is not normal aging; it’s a progressive brain disease without any...
Letter to the editor: Vaccination wards off disaster
This country was once full of plagues and short life expectancies, but when immunizations changed everything. Unfortunately, now some people view immunizations as a right rather than a requirement. When we stop vaccinating, epidemics ensue. Take Japan in 1974. When pertussis was at all-time lows, the country stopped requiring vaccination...
