Opinion category, Page 13
Letter to the editor: Pride in America lost under Trump
I thoroughly enjoyed watching the recent Netflix documentary, “Miracle:The Boys of ‘80,” the story of our USA hockey team which miraculously defeated Russia 45 years ago in Lake Placid, N.Y. It reminded me that intense pride in America is an emotion I’ve totally lost under President Trump’s unbridled, authoritarian presidency....
Letter to the editor: Pa. needs statewide solution to housing shortage
Pennsylvania faces a housing shortage. Young professionals can’t afford homes near new jobs, families fail to bid for starter homes and seniors looking to downsize lack options in longtime communities. As the region’s economic center, Pittsburgh attracts workers and investment, but zoning regulations and red tape often make it easier...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: With Trump, we should never forget
No one should be surprised that Donald Trump thinks that advising someone to obey the law should be an indictable offense. But the refusal of a federal grand jury to indict six members of Congress for doing just that shows that common sense can still prevail. All six are military...
Joe Palaggi: What ‘Star Trek’ understood about division — and why we keep falling for it
The more divided we become, the more absurd it all starts to look. Not because the problems aren’t real — they are — but because the patterns are. The outrage cycles. The villains rotate. The language escalates. And yet the outcomes remain stubbornly the same: more anger, less trust, and...
Letter to the editor: A halftime show plan we can all agree on
Since the Super Bowl halftime show became a lightning rod for controversy, I would like to propose a new halftime show solution. Before the season, each of the 32 NFL teams will choose a musical artist that represents their city. The NFL team whose fanbase donates the most to food...
Constitution Under Construction: Who’s on First?Video
The foundation of any structure is more than a hole in the ground. It is the difference between a pile of bricks and a house built to weather a storm. The First Amendment to the Constitution carries that weight for every change that follows. While the Constitution is where the...
Letter to the editor: Planned Parenthood provides essential services
Everybody deserves the right to control their bodies, lives and futures. Lawmakers and public officials hostile to abortion want to attack Planned Parenthood and strip people of essential health care. Elected officials are supposed to help the communities they serve. Instead, these public officials are trying to shut down a...
Editorial: Savannah Guthrie, Cassandra Gross and the hard truth about missing-person cases
Watching Savannah Guthrie sit on a couch and look into a camera is nothing new. It is how many Americans start their day — with a cup of coffee and the “Today” show. But for two days this week, the usually upbeat host has not been interviewing others about their...
Letter to the editor: Evil rules the world
Are you aware that a new batch of Epstein files has just been released, over 3 million pages, or were you too busy preparing for Super Bowl festivities? This trove of documents, with millions more still unreleased, has exposed the extent of Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement and control among the world’s...
S.E. Cupp: Trump and Hegseth gave Mark Kelly a huge 2028 gift
If you’ve ever thought about running for president, don’t. You probably don’t have what it takes. That’s not because you’re inherently unqualified — hell, if Donald Trump can get elected, it sure feels like anyone can, and I have no doubt you’d probably do a better job. But a good...
Joe Battenfeld: Kamala Harris teasing a comeback with AOC as VP
A Kamala Harris-Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez presidential ticket is gaining some traction among desperate Democrats but it could be the best case scenario for Republicans in 2028. Harris — trounced by Donald Trump in 2024 — is not ruling out another run and teasing a comeback, aided by the fact that few...
Letter to the editor: Donald Trump defined
During the five years in which Donald Trump has occupied the White House, many things have become known about who and what he is, his character, moral standards and fitness for office. The following is an incomplete list of the words that I think best describe the man America elected...
Letter to the editor: For Pitt, football is only a game
I am a longtime Pitt football fan, from the vindictive Southern officials in Pitt’s ’50s Sugar Bowl games, through the 9-1 ‘63 season, the woeful following decade until the arrival of Johnny Majors, Jackie Sherrill, Jimmy Johnson and all the good local coaches, foremost, Foge Fazio, Junkos, et al. We...
Lori Falce: Who do you play for?
I did not watch “Miracle” the other night just because of the Olympics. Yes, it was offered up to me by my streaming service, I am sure, because of the amount of golden and glorious dreams in the air right now. As a lover of both hockey and inspirational sports...
Laurels & lances: Podiums & plumbing
Laurel: To going for the gold. Winter or summer, whenever the Olympics roll around, Americans tend to get into the flag-waving support of Team USA. This year, Westmoreland County has particular reason to cheer. Jasmine Jones, a Hempfield graduate and former Eastern Michigan sprinter, is competing as a brakeman for...
Letter to the editor: Trump acts while Dems do nothing
Every day we are inundated by the Democrats and their media acolytes with negative reports about President Trump and anything he is trying to accomplish. The Media Research Center’s survey covering Trump’s first year in office shows the AP has an over 90% negative reporting record on Trump. So here’s...
Paul Kengor: The NFL’s outrageous commercialism
With the Cold War victory over communism, Pope John Paul II — himself a victim of Marxism-Leninism in Poland — stepped forward to denounce the ideology in one of his most profound encyclicals, Centesimus Annus. His denouncement was no surprise but what did surprise his supporters was the pope’s simultaneous...
Donny Hamilton Jr.: Pittsburgh’s transportation moment is here. The question is whether we’ll seize it
Pittsburgh is at an inflection point. We are enjoying renewed national attention, preparing to host major events like the NFL Draft and continuing to position ourselves as a center for innovation, technology and advanced industry. Yet beneath that momentum lies a persistent question that will shape our region for decades:...
Jonah Goldberg: Voter ID shouldn’t be this controversial
President Trump says “Republicans” should “nationalize the election” or at least take over voting in up to 15 places where he says voting is corrupt. His evidence of fraudulent voting is that he lost in such places in 2020, and since it is axiomatic that he won everywhere, the reported...
Letter to the editor: Why were protesters there, in Minnesota?
A loss of life at any time is tragic. What happened in Minnesota, a loss of two lives, is unthinkable. Watching this unfold on television brought to mind that although they have a right to “peaceably” assemble, the question remains, why were “they” there? Sonia Porco New Kensington...
Letter to the editor: In praise of Super Bowl commercials
Super Bowl season is always a fun time of the year, and not just for football fans. The very talented people who make the incredibly entertaining commercials outdo themselves every year. My favorite hands down is for our Pennsylvania Lottery featuring Gus (the second most famous groundhog in Pennsylvania.) on...
Letter to the editor: Is Trump trying to rig midterms?
I hope you remember that President Trump, in his flurry of efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, attempted to disenfranchise the entire commonwealth of Pennsylvania “because some counties contacted and permitted voters to fix mistakes with their mail-in ballot declarations while others did not.” Fortunately, Judge Matthew...
Editorial: Adding up the state’s structural deficit versus rainy day fund math
Debt and savings are different columns in the same ledger. Any business can tell you that. So can anyone working on their taxes right now. Like blood circulating in the body, the amount of money in and out of any operation is always in flux. Pennsylvania’s numbers show just how...
Letter to the editor: Support for drug overdose survivors
The Westmoreland County LOSS (Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors) Team has added a DOSS (Drug Overdose Survivor Support) Team. The LOSS Team began responding to suicides in June 2023. Hundreds of families have been impacted by our efforts. We are hoping to expand our reach with the DOSS Team. LOSS/DOSS...
Mark Gongloff: Extreme cold is a billion-dollar problem, too
If you’re a climate-change denier in the eastern U.S., including the president, then the past few weeks have been a dream. It’s cold and snowy where I live, you might say, colder and snowier than in years. Therefore, climate change is a hoax, just as I’m always saying. Would I...
