Featured Commentary category, Page 118
Hussein Ibish: Hezbollah will not escape blame for Beirut
As if the Lebanese haven’t suffered enough. For months, they have been caught between an economic meltdown, crumbling public services and a surging pandemic. Now they must count the dead and survey the extensive damage to their capital after two giant explosions on Tuesday. The blasts, especially the second, were...
Kevin Mitchell: A compromise covid-19 restaurant and bar policy
Gov. Tom Wolf’s most recent and well-intentioned approach to covid-19 mitigations in the operations of restaurants and bars addresses an important health safety concern but unnecessarily creates other problems. Like other governors, his goal is to halt the increase in spread of covid-19, which has been heading in the wrong...
Thomas Melcher and Jeff Nobers: Joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative would hurt Pa.
Gov. Tom Wolf is unlawfully scheming to circumvent the Pennsylvania General Assembly and, by his own estimates, impose a $2.36 billion tax on fossil fuel-fired electric generation plants in Pennsylvania over the next 10 years. Wolf’s goal is for Pennsylvania to join the 10-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) —...
Donna Park: 75 years after Hiroshima, we can end the threat of nuclear war
In early August 1945, the U.S. government dropped two nuclear bombs on Japan, first on Hiroshima and then on Nagasaki. Regardless of where you stand on this decision, hopefully we can all agree that in the future, no innocent civilians — especially children — deserve to suffer and die the...
Paul Muschick: Some shooters defending liberties will ironically lose freedom behind bars
I wasn’t surprised when gunfire erupted outside a local store because of a simple request that a shopper wear a mask. That I expected it to happen is really sad. Mask rage has occurred elsewhere, and it was bound to occur in the Lehigh Valley eventually. Thankfully, the results weren’t...
David Zurawik: Cable news is the medium now setting national agenda
Once upon a time in a far more stable America, our national agenda was largely shaped by network news, The New York Times, weekly news magazines such as Time and The Associated Press. Media productions like the “CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite” not only determined what we would talk...
Zach Shamberg: State data on covid-19 in nursing homes is too confusing
At this point in the pandemic, we know that accurately compiling and reporting data is a critical tool for tracking and slowing the spread of covid-19. When the Pennsylvania Department of Health announced back in May that it would begin publicly reporting cases in long-term care facilities, I celebrated the...
Noah Smith: Focusing on Facebook and Google’s monopoly misses the point
The heads of four of the U.S.’s biggest technology companies — Alphabet Inc., Apple Inc., Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. — appeared before Congress last week to respond to criticism that they have too much market power. The hearing showed that lawmakers are beginning to understand what is and isn’t...
Kimmi Baston: Mentoring doesn’t stop even though we’re apart
Each year, during the last week of September, more than 700 elementary girls in Pittsburgh wait excitedly after school to meet the college women they’ll spend the school year with, having fun and building skills in a supportive group setting. For six months, the girls and their college mentors play...
Tim Haggerty: Prudence, not optimism, should rule back-to-school decisions
One of the advantages of being a historian is that you are never at a loss for a half-baked analogy, particularly after a couple of gin and tonics in isolation. The historical circumstance that keeps popping into my mind these days is the beginning of World War I in June...
Nathan Benefield: Transparency victory a call to action for lawmakers
On Sunday, Gov. Tom Wolf concluded a weeks-long standoff with the state Legislature by caving. Despite repeated veto threats, he allowed a transparency bill — passed unanimously — to become law, but without his signature. Wolf’s opposition to the benign transparency legislation, sponsored by Rep. Seth Grove, R-York, was a...
Martin Schram: This may be John Lewis’ greatest gift to us all
For two weeks, we have watched and listened to history’s recordings of the late John Lewis, speaking powerfully and movingly to us during his lifetime of courageously nonviolent combat in the name of our civil rights. But we really shouldn’t say our final goodbyes to the iconic man who is...
Janet Jai: The dangers of Pittsburgh’s new Bike(+) Plan, especially for children
Pittsburgh’s new Bike(+) Plan will be coming to all of Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods, maybe to your street. Be careful! This new bike plan may make Pittsburgh’s newly designated bike-path streets (and others around them) more dangerous — especially for children — and for drivers and pedestrians as well. Given the pandemic...
Timothy L. O’Brien: William Barr only claims to respect the rule of law
Attorney General William Barr is famously unflappable, the legal technician and savvy Washington insider unswayed by lesser minds or weaker wills. But on Tuesday, during a House Judiciary Committee hearing examining the past 19 months of his tenure, Barr’s legendary composure dissolved several times. His anger flared at moments when...
Carl P. Leubsdorf: With campaign lagging, Trump has a Pence dilemma
When President George H.W. Bush faced an uphill reelection fight in 1992, aides discussed ways to change the political calculus and give his candidacy a much-needed boost. Now, Donald Trump faces a comparable situation and a similar option. In the case of Bush, several top advisers, including the candidate’s future...
Ann Sanders and Theodoros Papazekos: Congress must boost SNAP benefits to address hunger crisis
The economic downturn accompanying the pandemic has cost millions their jobs, and millions more have faced reduced hours and wages. The problem is perhaps particularly acute in Pennsylvania. As of June, our state unemployment rate of 13% was the ninth worst in the country and far worse than its peak...
Jay Ambrose: Nancy Pelosi is wrong on Trump
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called the coronavirus “the Trump virus,” explaining that the president has caused deaths with his initial, ho-hum reaction to it. The verbal assault should be no surprise. After all, she said Republicans “were trying to get away with murder” on a police reform bill and...
Alana R. Sacriponte: ‘The 8-Second Exchange’ on the Pennsylvania Turnpike
As a graduate student looking for a summer job, my mom suggested I apply to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. I considered it odd at first. It was 2008 and cash had lost much of its prevalence already. Did people still carry coins? Didn’t everyone use EZPass? I took my mom’s suggestion,...
Wendell W. Young IV: Pa. families need Toomey to lead in covid-19 debate
As President Trump and some lawmakers, including Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, debate whether or not additional federal support is necessary to manage the impacts of the covid-19 pandemic, I encourage them to spend just one day with Pennsylvania workers and their families before they make up their mind. They...
Timothy L. O’Brien: Sinclair pulls the plug on Fauci propaganda — this time
Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. is one of the largest television station operators in the country, with 191 stations in 89 markets broadcasting to 629 channels. For the most part, the company operates in small, conservative metropolitan locations. Most viewers aren’t likely to be aware of the Sinclair brand, because the...
Matt Smith: Liability safe harbor needed for safe, sustainable reopening
Since the beginning of the covid-19 crisis, Pittsburghers from across the region — including our region’s manufacturers, hospitals, small businesses and nonprofits — continue to come together to look for ways to protect our neighbors, friends and families. In fact, many businesses and other organizations have altered their operations to...
L.A Times Editorial Board: Honor John Lewis — and serve democracy — by reinvigorating the Voting Rights Act
Republicans in Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, effusively eulogized Democratic Rep. John Lewis of Georgia after the civil rights legend died July 17. McConnell, R-Ky., rightly described Lewis as an “American hero” who “put his life on the line to fight racism, promote equal rights and bring our...
Rev. Jes Kast: Access to birth control crucial to religious liberty
A few years ago, in the middle of the night, my wife shook me awake. “I need help,” she whispered and pulled me out of my sleep. I kept her calm as I half carried her to the bathroom. She was having another episode of debilitating pain and nausea caused...
Dr. Robert Cicco: What 13 words could cost Pa. in covid-19 fight
Legislation is often verbose and unclear, sometimes leaving unintended loopholes that can be exploited by special interests. But other times the language is chillingly spare and ruthlessly direct. Like many states across the country that were taking up the charge to “Cover All Kids” and extend health care coverage to...
Jeff Coleman: A conservative’s case for paid family leave
It may not be the end of covid-19, but in the words of Winston Churchill, we may be seeing “the end of the beginning.” Even at this stage, we’ve watched trillions spent to help families keep their heads above water as the unemployment rates seem stuck in the double-digit range....
