Opinion category, Page 82
Paul Kengor: Is Trump the next Neville Chamberlain?
“This is really scary,” writes a conservative friend of mine. “Putin is the new Hitler. It appears Trump is the new Neville Chamberlain. I’m guessing Trump is not a big fan of studying history, since he’s probably doomed to repeat it.” My friend is neither Never Trump nor certainly Always...
Letter to the editor: With layoffs, why is Starbucks expanding?
I heard that Starbucks is laying off 1,100 employees. Here is a question for the CEO of Starbucks: Why are you laying off people when you just built and opened a new Starbucks in Lower Burrell and are building a new store in Leechburg? What, are you nuts? If you...
Letter to the editor: Christians and Trump
“Away from me! I never knew you.” — Jesus. One thing we learned from this election is that America is certainly not a Christian nation. Christians know Jesus and hear his voice. They obey. Christians welcome the stranger, feed the poor, heal the sick, are meek, turn the other cheek,...
Editorial: Pittsburgh’s Fern Hollow settlement filing is hard to swallow
Doing something audaciously bold is said to take gall. The saying comes from the word “gall,” referring to bile — in reality, secretions of the liver but generally any bitter, caustic, hard-to-swallow substance produced by the body. It “takes gall” to take some actions because, like swallowing bile, you have...
Letter to the editor: Zoning in Hempfield
Regarding the article “Rural property owners concerned that housing developments will alter Hempfield lifestyle” (Feb. 15, TribLive): Westmoreland County, and in particular Hempfield Township, are growing faster than their infrastructure can keep up with. The Republican-led local politicians appear to not want to represent the people. I have been to...
Jonah Goldberg: Whether Russia invaded Ukraine is not a ‘complicated’ question. Why say it is?
On the day before the third anniversary of the brutal, lawless invasion of Ukraine, “Fox News Sunday” host Shannon Bream pressed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on whether it’s “fair to say” that Russia’s attack was unprovoked. Hegseth responded that it’s “fair to say it’s a very complicated situation.” This is...
William Cooper: The American government’s people problem
The president of the United States should be competent, ethical and full of vigor. This is obvious given the demands of the job. Yet former President Joe Biden, who’s 82 years old, didn’t run for reelection over concerns about his mental facilities. And current president Donald Trump, himself 78, actively...
Cal Thomas: A ‘constitutional crisis’?
Democrats are raising an alarm about what they call a “constitutional crisis.” If there is one, they should know because they are to blame for it. That’s because their party, since the days of Franklin Roosevelt, have been violating the boundaries and restrictions on government set forth in our founding...
Tatsiana Kulakevich: Trump’s move to closer ties with Russia does not mean betrayal of Ukraine, yet
The United States’ steadfast allegiance to Ukraine during that country’s three-year war against Russia appears to be quickly disintegrating under the Trump administration. President Donald Trump on Feb. 19, 2025, called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “a dictator” and falsely blamed him for the war that Russia initiated as part of...
Letter to the editor: Proud of Penn State and Thon
This past weekend I attended Thon, the 46-hour no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon at Penn State that raises money for pediatric cancer. My grandson, a Highlands High School graduate, is a senior there and has worked for Thon throughout his college years. It is hard to describe Thon and its impact...
Letter to the editor: We don’t need a ‘businessman’ as president
The writer of the letter “Trump is a businessman, not a politician” (Feb. 18, TribLive) must have failed Civics and American History when she was in school. First, let’s establish the purpose of a business. A business is created to provide goods or a service with the intent to make...
Editorial: Penn State must fulfill its land grant mission
On Sunday afternoon, after 46 hours of dancing and months of fundraising, Penn State celebrated what is the university’s proudest moment each year. The total of money pulled in for Thon, an event billed as the largest student-run charity in the world, to fight cancer broke records at $17.7 million....
Letter to the editor: Settlement is only path for Ukraine
In his column “No substitute for victory” (Feb. 21, TribLive), Cal Thomas quotes Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s famous 1951 farewell address to Congress in which he states that “there is no substitute for victory.” Thomas uses that quote to support his advocacy for continued support of Ukraine to achieve victory over...
Allison Schrager: Trump risks making the same economic mistakes as Biden
There is one surefire way to know when someone is trying to pull one over on you: If they’re promising something for nothing — like a tax cut that pays for itself or an investment strategy that offers a higher return and lower risk — then you need to be...
Jordan Miller: Layoffs affect CDC’s ability to respond to current crises
In just a few short weeks, the Trump administration has brought drastic changes to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and public health. Beginning with the removal of websites and key public health datasets in January, the Trump administration has taken actions to dismantle established public health infrastructure as...
Letter to the editor: McCormick’s silence
On his own website, Sen. Dave McCormick says, “Dave and Dina are proud to support organizations that work with veterans and their families.” Yet he has remained silent on the dismissal of 1,000 Veterans Affairs workers, some of whom work the Veterans Crisis Line. His silence shows me that McCormick...
Editorial: Ligonier Beach flooded with red tape
There is no beach in Ligonier. That isn’t surprising. Westmoreland County is more than 100 miles from Lake Erie and hundreds more from the Atlantic Ocean. There is water in abundance from the variety of creeks and springs and more peppering Pennsylvania. There is no stretch of sandy shore perfect...
Letter to the editor: The sky is not falling
Many people and some media outlets are running around saying the sky is falling. They are in a tizzy because DOGE and Elon Musk are examining records and making “illegal” cuts. One reason given is that DOGE and Musk haven’t been elected. There are 2.3 million civilian government workers looking...
Athan Koutsiouroumbas: Black men poised to shake up Pa. political landscape
Thanks in part to Black men, Pennsylvania’s political tectonics are shifting in ways that were unimaginable just a short time ago. In the 2024 presidential election, 24% of Pennsylvania’s Black men voted for President Trump. Given that 14% of Pennsylvania’s Black men voted for Trump in 2016, adding 10 points...
Chris Sandvig: Administration, lawmakers must work together to keep transit rolling in Pa.
If you’ve ever been four-wheeling and got stuck in the mud, then you know it takes everyone getting out of the vehicle and working as a team — pushing and pulling — to get rolling again. It’s also like that with transportation funding. It’s really a fitting analogy, because that’s...
Letter to the editor: Correcting Trump’s false statements on Ukraine, Zelenskyy
There you go again, President Trump — your nose is getting longer and longer. The American people are not stupid. We see what you are doing changing the narrative. Let’s get this straight: Ukraine did not start the conflict with Russia. Russia invaded Ukraine. Many thousands of Ukrainians have been...
Letter to the editor: This government shake-up is necessary
I can’t remember a government shake-up like this one in all of my 70 years. Although many are having tantrums and making apocalyptic warnings, it is way overdue. Thomas Jefferson rightly said that “the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and...
Editorial: Credit card bill will hurt those it’s supposed to help
President Donald Trump has taken many productive steps during his first weeks back in the Oval Office. But supporting a bill to cap credit card interest rates — based on a campaign promise the president made — wouldn’t be one of them. The odd couple of Sens. Bernie Sanders, the...
Letter to the editor: Speak up before they come for you
In the 1920s and ’30s, Martin Niemöller, a prominent Lutheran pastor in Germany, sympathized with many Nazi ideas and supported radical right-wing political movements. However, after Adolf Hitler came to power, Niemöller became an outspoken critic of Hitler’s interference in the Protestant Church. He ultimately spent the last eight years...
Editorial cartoons for the week of Feb. 24
Editorial cartoons for the week of Feb. 24....
