Opinion category, Page 207
Lori Falce: Humanitarians fighting famine cannot be targeted in war
Famine is supposed to be like earthquakes and tidal waves — an unstoppable force that happens through no one’s fault. No one conjures a drought from thin air. No one causes a blight on crops. Other than that one time in the Bible, a plague of locusts was not a...
Letter to the editor: HB 1660 dangerous invitation to lynch mobs
Interesting read about House Bill 1660 (“Lower Burrell child predator sting by citizens raises safety, legal issues,” March 29, TribLive) allowing private citizens to engage in sting operations now in the domain of various law enforcement agencies. House Bill 1660 invites legally sanctioned “lynch mobs” every bit as frightening as...
Laurels & lances: Baseball and social media
Laurel: To kicking things off. It’s here. The start of the Major League Baseball season. All across the country — and Toronto — people are getting psyched for the boys of summer to start playing ball. Pittsburgh Pirates fans have an uncharacteristic reason to be enthusiastic. In a normal year,...
Letter to the editor: Ranking Biden and Trump
The 2024 Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey was published in February. The ranking system is based on opinions of historians and political scientists, which focus on presidential achievements, leadership qualities, failures and faults. The following are the top 10 presidents: No. 1 is Lincoln, followed by F.D. Roosevelt, Washington, T....
Jonah Goldberg: Voters wishing for an alternative to Trump and Biden got one. Unfortunately, it’s RFK Jr.
American politics is so intensely stupid and nasty that it sometimes seems as if somebody made a series of wishes with a monkey’s paw. The dark moral of “The Monkey’s Paw,” a 1902 short story by the English writer W.W. Jacobs that became a pop culture trope, is that you...
Al Schmidt: Be an astute consumer of election information
When I became secretary of the commonwealth, I vowed to visit all 67 county election offices to hear firsthand about the challenges they face when running elections. Although I ran elections in Philadelphia for 10 years as a city commissioner, I knew that other counties face far different challenges, and...
Colin McNickle: Cassotis’ ‘facts’ and PIT’s realities
“Facts are stubborn things,” Founding Father John Adams reminded. “And whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” Allegheny County Airport Authority CEO Christina Cassotis would be wise to recall that astute axiom the next time...
Letter to the editor: The true threat to our democracy
In her op-ed “Westmoreland should be making it easier to vote, not more difficult” (March 22, TribLive), Marian Schneider claims “threats to our democracy are rife” without reasoning. One can safely infer that she means to draw a direct line between no-excuse mail-in voting and the safeguarding of democracy. This...
Letter to the editor: Q&A for Trump supporters
Did President Biden take out a full-page ad calling for the execution of five Black youths who were found to be innocent? No. Did Biden have to break up his charity because he was benefiting from it? No. Did Biden bankrupt an airline, a university and a vodka franchise in...
Editorial: Government meetings should be accessible
Public meetings are meant to be public. Government isn’t supposed to happen in offices away from the eyes of the people. Oh, sure, much of the execution of government has to happen that way, but the decision making and the discussions? That has to happen where people can see. That’s...
Letter to the editor: Americans need a real drug reform act
Don’t be fooled by the president and politicians touting the great drug reform act. Yes, it’s great that insulin is now cheaper, but only for the 20% of the population on Medicare. And not all of that 20% uses insulin. The bill only allows the government to negotiate with Big...
Simona Stan: Port of Baltimore bridge collapse rattles supply chains already rocked by troubles in Panama, Red Sea
The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26 has put a spotlight on the Port of Baltimore, one of the busiest harbors in the U.S., which paused shipping and immediately halted all vessel traffic in and out. The port remained open to trucks following the incident, but...
Charlie Hunt: Is this the least productive congress ever? Yes, but it’s not just because they’re lazy.
Congress has once again been making headlines for all the wrong reasons, with multiple news outlets in recent months touting the current 118th Congress as possibly the least productive in the institution’s history. In 2023, Congress only passed 34 bills into law, the lowest number in decades. Congress was only...
Letter to the editor: Commissioners should reverse ruling on drop boxes
Regarding the article “Westmoreland GOP commissioners again nix drop boxes for mail-in ballots” (March 28, TribLive): They need to reverse this ruling and provide free access to voting. I don’t believe that we the voters approved this! This ruling is way too political. Dave Bonazelli Unity...
Letter to the editor: Jill Cooper will continue to work hard for us
I have known state Rep. Jill Cooper for years, and the most important judgment I can make of her is she loves the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and our country in every way. Therefore, she works very hard to help the citizens of our community by steering our government toward making...
Letter to the editor: Steelers need to play as a team, not individuals
When the Pittsburgh Steelers from the ’70s were winning Super Bowls, it was because each team member bought into the fact that it would take each member changing his mindset. They drank the Kool-Aid, so to speak. They put the team ahead of themselves. They got rid of the “I...
Editorial: Railway Safety Act shouldn’t be derailed
The rules that make us safer always follow the examples of how safe we are not. In 1911, 146 people — 123 of them women and girls — died in Manhattan when the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory burned. It remains one of the deadliest industrial accidents in American history, but it...
Letter to the editor: Does Trump really want border secured?
The letter “America must come first” (March 9, TribLive) is another well written yet deceptive and disingenuous screed of pure MAGA propaganda. The writer attempts to argue that America can’t send aid to Ukraine until our southern border is entirely secured. Of course he says this is all the Democrats’...
Letter to the editor: Ramifications of illegal immigration
It is said that 10 million- plus illegal immigrants from over 100 countries (vast majority from Latin America) will have arrived at the end of President’s Biden’s term in office. Consequently, I will list the ramifications to America: • Most illegals pay $5,000-plus to the Mexican cartels to get here. Since...
Cal Thomas: One more try at reducing the debt
“Neither a borrower nor a lender be.” — Polonius to his son Laertes in “Hamlet” It may be too late given the number of Americans who have willingly allowed themselves to become dependent on government more than themselves, but it’s worth trying. Our $34 trillion debt is unsustainable, according to...
Gov. Josh Shapiro: My commonsense plan for a new era of energy leadership in Pa.
Pennsylvania’s energy industry has long created good-paying jobs and ensured consumers have reliable, affordable power. The coal mines and oil fields of Northeastern and Western Pennsylvania fueled the Industrial Revolution, which powered the middle class and led to the creation of the American labor movement. When fascism threatened freedom overseas,...
Letter to the editor: Term limits needed for Congress
For many years, citizens have been asking Congress to set term limits for its members. Would you kill the goose that laid the golden egg? Terms should be like the president’s — twice. If you feel that your congressperson is doing a bad job, vote him/her out. If you feel,...
Letter to the editor: Vote for candidates who don’t lie
The writer of the letter “Biden, Trump — who to vote for?” (March 27, TribLive) seems very confused. Nonetheless, I would vote for the one who is not a pathological liar. Frank J. Boch Irwin...
Letter to the editor: Shapiro not upholding his oath
Gov. Josh Shapiro’s refusal to uphold his oath as described in the Constitution once again shows why he is a failed leader. This time, he refuses to send the National Guard to the southern border to help stop what I consider an insurrection caused by the Biden administration.What is the...
Letter to the editor: Leaders must do more to keep Pa. film industry competitive
I’m a Teamster working in the film industry. I’ve worked on more than 100 films, and my wife, Katie, has more than 30 films under her belt. Our sons are both in the business that has steadily grown in Pennsylvania thanks to the film tax credit program. The state’s program...
