Opinion category, Page 350
COUNTERPOINT: Immigration detention system is driven by profits
President Joe Biden vowed to end the federal government’s use of private prisons on the campaign trail. His campaign platform further stated that “the federal government should not use private facilities for any detention, including detention of undocumented immigrants.” And in 2021, Biden stepped into office continuing to promise that...
POINT: Privately run immigration detention safe, cost-effective alternative
On his campaign website, then-candidate Joe Biden vowed to “end for-profit detention centers,” asserting tendentiously that “no business should profit from the suffering of desperate people fleeing violence.” “For-profit” in this context is a pejorative used to describe privately run detention facilities, and such assertions elide many key facts —...
Liam Collins: Russian troops’ poor performance, low morale may worsen during winter of more discontent
With Russian troops digging trenches to prepare for an expected winter standoff, it would be easy to conclude that fighting will slow in Ukraine until after the ground thaws in the spring. But evidence from the Ukrainian battlefields point to a different trajectory. This war has demonstrated that only one...
Letter to the editor: Easy to add vegan options to holiday meals
As you meal prep this holiday season, please consider incorporating plant-based foods into your holiday menus. Embracing a healthy, plant-based lifestyle promotes health, wellness and environmental awareness while also stimulating discussion around ethics, nutrition and food security. It’s also easy, fun and packed with countless delicious options. This is a...
Sounding off: Political ads, Trump, secession, LGBTQIA+ hate, guns
Dumping negative political ads a smart move I wholeheartedly approve of the Tribune-Review’s recent decision to restrict negative political ads (“Why Trib Total Media is nixing negative political ads,” Nov. 27, TribLIVE). The adjective-laden, hyperbolic diatribes really served no good purpose other than to reduce political discourse to a series...
Letter to the editor: Put full name on Arnold Palmer airport sign
I would love to see Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, rather than Palmer Airport, on the sign along Route 30. Jon Brady Ligonier...
Letter to the editor: Real reason for not voting Trump
Whether I agree or not, I appreciate anyone’s right to submit a letter or a rebuttal to a letter in this forum. But the rebuttal from Robert Anderson, “Real reason for hating Trump” (Nov. 1, TribLIVE) to my letter “Past time to dump Trump” (Oct. 4, TribLIVE) missed the mark....
Editorial: Say Marc Fogel’s name and bring him home from Russia, Mr. President
What about Marc Fogel? The return of WNBA star Brittney Griner to the United States after being freed from a Russian penal colony is gathering much attention, just like her arrest for possession of a cannabis oil vape cartridge and the 10 months of State Department haggling over her release....
Letter to the editor: Looking forward to Trump back in White House
On Nov. 17, Nancy Pelosi, age 82, appeared on TV to officially announce the end of her speakership and her plans for the future. She said she will not seek any future Democratic leadership role but will remain in Congress. She was speaker of the House for 15 years, the...
Gary Franks: Selecting House speaker should not be that hard
The House Republicans are poised to do the unimaginable — prove to the nation that as bad and incompetent as the Democrats have been lately, the GOP could actually be worse. Could showing harmony on the first day of the new Congress by smoothly electing a House speaker be all...
S.E. Cupp: GOP pols accepted Trump’s Constitution contempt
“Disqualifying” and “un-American,” says John Bolton, the former national security advisor to former President Donald Trump. Trump is “spinning out of control,” says conservative Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen. “I’m at a loss for words — we need to move on,” says Sen. John Cornyn, who voted twice to acquit...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: Trump and the Constitution — have we finally learned our lesson?
Last week, Donald Trump finally crossed the Rubicon. That is, he took to his social media platform and, for the first time, issued an explicit call to abolish the U.S. Constitution — the document he once swore to “preserve, protect and defend.” Still fuming over widespread election cheating that exists...
Julie Reed: Cherokee Nation wants to send a delegate to the House — it’s an idea older than Congress itself
In 1835, the Cherokee Nation was promised a delegate in Congress as part of the same treaty — Treaty of New Echota — that led to the death of thousands on the Trail of Tears. Nearly 200 years later, the Cherokee are still fighting to make that promise a reality....
Lori Falce: Do we really understand gaslighting?
Gaslighting is Merriam-Webster’s word of the year. When I heard this, it set my teeth on edge. I certainly understood the reasoning. The dictionary’s website saw a 1,740% increase in people checking out the definition in 2022 alone, but its use has exploded over the past four years. “Gaslighting” is...
Letter to the editor: One-side sources leave people ignorant
I enjoy reading the Letters section, but I am amazed at the level of misinformation and ignorance regarding the economy, the environment and politics that exists in our community. For example, one writer claims he is unaware of any plans the Republicans have to combat out-of-control inflation and crime the...
Laurels & lances: Fires, colds and blood
Laurel: To rising from the ashes. St. Vladimir Ukrainian Catholic Church in Arnold was decimated by fire Dec. 4, 2021. The 74-year-old building endured more than $4 million in damage. It is the kind of event that could kill a parish. In truth, many a house of worship has been...
Letter to the editor: GOP, not Trump, responsible for election losses
The media was quick in blaming Donald Trump for the outcome of the recent election. However, the Republican Party played a major role, along with the right-wing media and conspiracy followers, who elevated Trump to the status of prophet of the Republican Party. How many times over the last six...
Paul Kengor: Deer days in Western Pa.
“Do you actually eat the deer after you shoot it?” So asks an incredulous friend who lives in a large city. It’s a rhetorical question, with a sharp degree of derision. The expected reply: “Oh, no, no. We’d never do that. Instead of eating the deer we, well, well …...
Colin McNickle: Cheerleading aside, Pittsburgh International Airport’s struggles deepen
Much rah-rah-sis-boom-bahing has been coming out of the Allegheny County Airport Authority about how robust passenger and cargo traffic has been at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) as we continue to put the coronavirus pandemic behind us. But a new analysis of the latest-available numbers suggests such cheerleading is misleading, according...
Letter to the editor: Can’t fix stupid, but you can prove it
I am compelled to respond to Steve Ignatz’s letter "Can`t fix stupid” (Nov. 26, TribLIVE). In typical Republican form, he follows the Fox News playbook to the letter (by the way, you left out “wokeism”). He has the audacity to call other people stupid and uneducated, when his opinions are...
Letter to the editor: Go ‘green’ and stop funding Putin’s war
Duquesne Light recently announced a substantial rate increase in energy supply cost for residential customers due to a sharp rise in the worldwide price of natural gas. If you are looking for someone to blame, you could curse Vladimir Putin and his war against Ukraine. But I recommend a different...
Editorial: Financial literacy is key to student debt crisis
The student debt crisis illustrates the fact that two things can be true at the same time. Yes, personal responsibility for financial decisions is critically important. But it is just as true that the cost of a college education has escalated in a way that is unreasonable and untenable. Questions...
Letter to the editor: A plan for election integrity
A plan exists to solve the problems of election integrity. Voters want security. They want themselves in charge of election security. Give each voter the means to audit their own vote as verified and counted. Each voter will vote on a paper ballot that will have an ID number on...
Jonah Goldberg: Sorry, Iowa and New Hampshire. Having voters choose candidates is bad for democracy
At President Biden’s behest, the Democratic National Committee is poised to throw Iowa and New Hampshire under the bus. Assuming he gets his way, the new order will be South Carolina, followed by Nevada, New Hampshire, Georgia and Michigan. It’s fine with me. I like both Iowa and New Hampshire,...
Letter to the editor: Banning negative ads is censorship
Trib Total Media President and CEO Jennifer Bertetto’s recent announcement on eliminating negative political ads was a total surprise to me (“Why Trib Total Media is nixing negative political ads,” Nov. 27, TribLIVE). While I sometimes find your newspaper’s positions or articles objectionable, they generally do not violate my expectations...
