Opinion category, Page 744
Letter to the editor: We must unite to fight drug epidemic
America’s drug epidemic — the crime, the deaths, the recovery — is affecting everyone, and we all must help to fight it. We need to pray for those suffering with addiction and for police officers. Officers need to be properly equipped to deal with this epidemic, and those suffering should...
Pat Buchanan: We’ll pay price for Mueller’s indecisiveness
What is it about Special Counsel Robert Mueller that he cannot say clearly and concisely what he means? His nine-minute summary of the findings of his office, after two years of investigation, was a mess. It guarantees that the internecine warfare that has poisoned our politics continues into 2020. If...
Bill Miller: Casinos are job creators, community partners
In 2004, when the Pennsylvania Legislature passed the Race Horse Development and Gaming Act, it was hard to anticipate just how important the gaming industry would become to Pennsylvania’s economy. Throughout economic peaks and valleys of the past 15 years, gaming companies have consistently served as an anchor for state...
Editorial: How hot is too hot for classrooms?
It’s hot. You’re in a room full of people, trying to listen to the person talking but your mind keeps wandering. It’s hard to focus on your work. All you can think about is how uncomfortable you are, how much you want a drink, how you want to be anyplace...
Letter to the editor: Climate-change hogwash
One of the greatest scientific achievements ever was putting a man on the moon and returning him safely home. Settled science made it possible. On the other side of the coin, so-called scientists claim they can predict weather events years in the future based on computer models they call “settled...
Letter to the editor: Exelon bailout will cost us all
While Exelon works the halls of government in Harrisburg for a $500 million annual handout it says it needs to keep its Three Mile Island nuclear plant open — which will be paid through higher electric bills by residents and businesses — the Fortune 100 company just reported $907 million...
Letter to the editor: Xenophobic views
Rudy Gagliardi your diatribe (“Affirmative action, female politicians,” May 23, TribLIVE) really showed us your true self and your jaundiced views. You are a misogynistic, racist xenophobe. Adam wasn’t made from Eve’s rib because she couldn’t “spare” one. Our only hope is that you jump into the swamp that Trump...
Neal Katyal: William Barr’s zealous defense of Trump makes it impossible to trust his legal judgment
There are two big questions about the now-completed investigation into President Trump, and the answers will determine what happens next. First, why didn’t former special counsel Robert Mueller render a judgment on whether Trump had obstructed justice? And second, since Attorney General William Barr did render such a judgment, why...
Tom Purcell: Hey, America! We need another baby boom!
America’s declining birthrate has given me pause. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of babies born in the United States in 2018 was the lowest in 32 years, continuing what NBC News calls “a decades-long trend toward fewer and fewer babies being born each year.”...
Editorial: Virginia Beach joins tragic list
Hello, Virginia Beach. Welcome to the club no one wants to join. Like widows and parents who have lost children, cities that have experienced mass shootings are survivors that must learn to navigate in a new world while muscle memory tries to walk them through the layout of the old....
Editorial: Leechburg library closing is sad commentary
There may be no sadder commentary on the changing way we consume information than the demise of a local library. A library is one of those touchstone places that speaks to how a community comes together. Move to a new town and you have a list of things you need...
Letter to the editor: Turned away at polls
I went to vote after work on Election Day. I could have gone straight home or to Sheetz (“Not voting squanders basic birthright of America,” May 22, TribLIVE), but I had a chance to make a change in our government and our school board. As I gave my name to...
Letter to the editor: Pipelines mean jobs
There seemed to be both good and bad news in your recent story “Report: Number of drilled but uncompleted oil and gas wells in U.S. continues to rise” (May 3, TribLIVE) about the number of unfinished wells in the United States. The good news is that the number of unfinished...
Letter to the editor: Misinformed on Obama vs. Trump
It’s hard to know where to begin with Ron Raymond’s letter “Obama vs. Trump.” Like so many other right-wing parrots, he directs us to see the effects of socialism in Venezuela. Funny, I never hear these people speak of Norway, Canada or Finland, to name a few. The only reason...
Editorial cartoons for the week of June 3
Editorial cartoons for the week of June 3....
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of June 3
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of June 3....
John Manzella: Critical issues that could kill U.S.-China trade progress
President Trump has called out China for unfairly subsidizing its state-owned enterprises, not enforcing intellectual property protections, placing trade restrictions on U.S. firms, and pressuring them to hand over technology in exchange for market access. If these problems are eliminated, more U.S. companies will invest there. But is this what...
Letter to the editor: We need more like Bill Burns, who stuck to the facts
A tip of the hat to Joseph Sabino Mistick for his column “Bill Burns knew the value of freedom” (May 26, TribLIVE). I grew up watching the noon news on KDKA TV with Burns as the anchor. He always presented the facts, no bias — Mistick failed to mention this...
Letter to the editor: U.S. Steel & Mon Valley’s air quality
U.S. Steel’s recent announcement of a $1 billion investment in the company’s Mon Valley Works was met with a positive response from politicians and steelworkers alike (“U.S. Steel announces $1B investment in Edgar Thomson, Clairton plants,” May 2, TribLIVE). But the giddiness surrounding the announcement obfuscates the chronic pollution and...
Letter to the editor: People want school choice, not discussion
In response to recently passed legislation increasing caps for tax credit scholarships, the Tribune-Review hopes we can bog the scholarships down in endless discussion (“School choice should be discussed, not automatic.” More discussion sounds great — unless you’re one of the tens of thousands of families denied scholarships every year....
Jonah Goldberg: Trump’s poor approval ratings have little to do with Mueller investigation
“Without the ILLEGAL Witch Hunt, my poll numbers, especially because of our historically ‘great’ economy, would be at 65%,” President Trump tweeted last month. In all likelihood, the president believes what he wrote. It’s a strongly held sentiment among many of Trump’s ardent supporters that if he hadn’t been stabbed...
S.E. Cupp: Want activism with your coffee?
How would you like your coffee — milk, sugar and a side of politics? In an era when it seems impossible to divorce politics from everything else, Dunkin’ Brands, the parent company of Dunkin’ Donuts, is betting you might just appreciate a break whilst in their stores. At an International...
George Will: The idea of an aesthetic impeachment
WASHINGTON If congressional Democrats will temper their enthusiasm for impeachment with lucidity about the nation’s needs and their political self-interest, they will understand the self-defeating nature of a foredoomed attempt to remove a president for aesthetic reasons. Such reasons are not trivial, but they are insufficient, particularly when almost all...
Patrick Dowd: Two paths for a bold commitment to Pennsylvania schools
Pennsylvania’s school districts are under strain. Inequity, underfunding and lack of urgency to invest the funding necessary to enact any real progress toward educational excellence is taking its toll on students, teachers, taxpayers and communities. Good schools are the centerpiece of every vibrant neighborhood, the selling point for homebuyers and...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Memorial Day, D-Day, Flag Day our real triple crown
Most of us know about the Triple Crown, three big horse races that begin with the Kentucky Derby in early May, followed by the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes. Since the Roman emperors, there has been a formula of “Bread and Circuses” to create welcome diversions for the governed. Even...
