Opinion category, Page 710
Sounding off: Yovanovitch’s intimidation claim is laughable
Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch said during the impeachment hearings that she felt intimidated by President Trump’s tweet critiquing her performance as ambassador. As a retired Foreign Service employee, I find that unbelievable and laughable. Our ambassadors around the world are made of sterner stuff. Yovanovitch apparently is not. Irrelevant to impeachment,...
Jonah Goldberg: Opponents of ‘unfettered capitalism’ are fighting a phantom
Enemies of unfettered capitalism, unite! For as long as I can remember, people on the left have complained about “unfettered capitalism.” Moderate liberals do it, and of course flat-out Marxists do it. In his new book, “A Bit of Everything: Power, People, Profits and Progressive Capitalism for an Age of...
Lori Falce: My Black Friday not-shopping list
I have to plan ahead. I have to make lists and I have to plot ideas. I need to know the best way to go. I will avoid Black Friday the way survivors in a post-apocalyptic wasteland will avoid zombies. Because I’ve done Black Friday before, and sometimes the difference...
Laurels & lances: Filming, closing, giving and picking
Laurel: To not giving up. Aspinwall’s Philip Beard proves the old saying about good things coming to those who wait. Filming on a movie version of his 2004 novel “Dear Zoe” just wrapped last week after shooting around O’Hara, Squirrel Hill and Braddock. It may have taken 15 years to...
Letter to the editor: On impeachment, let system work
On impeachment, let our system do its job On the impeachment hearings: We need to let the system work. If President Trump, his staff or personal attorneys have done things they’re accused of, and if he violated his oath of office, they should be punished. We need to go by...
Letter to the editor: Why doesn’t media report on Biden blackmail?
Mainstream media claims no bias favoring Democrats. So where are the stories on Joe Biden’s public confession of the Obama administration’s blackmail of Ukraine? Isn’t it relevant given the current impeachment inquiry? Many believe corruption that bold by a wannabe American leader made it President Trump’s civic duty to ask...
Letter to the editor: Deal with it, Greensburg Salem teachers
Regarding the article “Greensburg Salem approves 5-year teachers contract” (Nov. 14, TribLIVE): First, we are lucky to have Robin Savage and Jeff Metrosky on the school board. I feel that they are the only two who stand up for us taxpayers. Election Day was a joke. Those of you who...
Earl Tilford: Professors teach, students learn
While all the rage in education, my hackles rise when an educator declares, “We learn from our students” or “Students should construct their own knowledge.” Granted, the 55 years since I was a freshman may explain my antediluvian notion that professors should teach because students need to learn. At 8...
Editorial: In celebration of gratitude
Thanksgiving. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines thanksgiving with a small T as “a public acknowledgment or celebration of divine goodness; the act of giving thanks; a prayer expressing gratitude.” We have the public celebrating down pat. Celebrating is an area in which Americans excel. We do love a party, and if...
Letter to the editor: Please help others this season
I experienced a disheartening sight around 5 p.m. Nov. 8 in Youngwood. A woman of advanced years was pushing a shopping cart full of groceries on busy North Third Street near Sheetz while the traffic was whipping by her. She was walking on the street, and she was trying to...
Letter to the editor: Thankful for freedoms
Thanksgiving is a commemoration of the harvest festival, which has certainly influenced millions of Americans who take pride in their history. Nonetheless, as an Ahmadi Muslim and an immigrant, I was raised to be thankful for everything good, no matter how trivial — all the goodies we have, the comfort...
Letter to the editor: Grateful on Thanksgiving
I am grateful for all that I have, what I don’t have and my struggles. Possessions are not important to me, people are. Thanksgiving is about being grateful and being selfless. It’s about lending a hand and giving to your fellow man who needs it. Recognizing that others need your...
Letter to the editor: Health insurance costs down
I’ve written letters in the past complaining that the cost of my health insurance keeps going up, and instead of fixing health care, all the politicians do is fight with each other. Well, good news! Even though the politicians are still fighting, the cost of my insurance has gone down...
Pat Buchanan: Is Macron right? Is NATO, 70, brain dead?
A week from now, the 29 member states of “the most successful alliance in history” will meet to celebrate its 70th anniversary. Yet all is not well within NATO. The gathering, on the outskirts of London, has been cut to two days. Why the shortened agenda? Among the reasons, apprehension...
Tom Charley: Philly-style tax could impact Western Pa.
I have been working in the grocery industry my entire life. I was born into it. I am fourth generation, and just had my first baby girl who could take it to the fifth generation. These days, I am concerned about the “soda tax” (“pop tax” for those of us...
Editorial: Is opioid settlement right move?
Gambling is coming to Westmoreland County. No, not just in the mini casino at the mall. It’s happening in the halls of government too. The Westmoreland County Commissioners decided Friday to roll the dice on a settlement in the federal opioid lawsuit. The proposed total of the litigation that involves...
Letter to the editor: Down syndrome abortion veto is discriminatory
Down syndrome abortion veto discriminatory How many Pennsylvania citizens understand what occurred last week in Harrisburg? Gov. Tom Wolf (a Democrat) vetoed a bill that attempted to protect our anticipated citizens (waiting to be born) with Down syndrome. This action by the governor and legislators who voted against this bill,...
Letter to the editor: Impeachment & the Constitution
Many constitutional scholars believe that the Democrats, with their never-ending efforts to impeach President Trump, are unwittingly creating a constitutional crisis of potentially monumental proportions, one that could ruin our cherished way of life. The heart of our Constitution relies on the separation and balance of powers among Congress, the...
Letter to the editor: Final chapter has Trump voted out
An allegory is a great literary device to simplify an otherwise complex situation to teach a moral or get a point across. The recent example of the letter “Read between lines for our final chapter” (Oct. 21, TribLIVE) was none of these. It was a clever attempt to depict Donald...
Doyle McManus: Mick Mulvaney, please call your office
WASHINGTON — A long list of aides to President Donald Trump could have appeared in the House impeachment hearings to defend his efforts in Ukraine, especially since the president insists everything he did was “perfect.” Gordon Sondland, Trump’s ambassador to the European Union, rattled off their names when he testified:...
Jonah Goldberg: The stupidity, and genius, of Republicans’ impeachment strategy
Maybe you’re a fan of Jackson Pollock’s paint-splatter stuff. That’s cool. My only point is that when you flick paint at a canvas, nobody expects the result to look like a tree, a person or a bowl of fruit. Similarly, in politics, when you throw everything against the wall to...
Tom Purcell: Best Christmas gifts don’t come from stores
What’s the best gift you ever received? Whatever it was, it surely wasn’t a material item bought in a store. An experience, rather than a material good, is the best gift to receive. That’s what University of Toronto professor Cindy Chan and University of California professor Cassie Mogilner discovered in...
Editorial: Grand jury reports are trust and truth
A grand jury report is not the kind of thing that is released every time it is issued. We may not know every grand jury that is impaneled. We are not told when they hear a case. We do not know what witnesses appear before them. We may never hear...
Letter to the editor: Democrats jeopardizing office of president
Way back in September 2017, President Trump made an offer to the Democrats in Congress regarding DACA. The Democratic leadership supported the deal, with the exception of agreeing to build a border wall. Obviously, the president’s argument being 800,000 “Dreamers” would be protected, and a border wall to stop the...
Letter to the editor: Too much stress on Americans
Our government is causing a lot of stress which can lead to drinking, drugs, violence and robberies. Families are forced to work two or three jobs and even overtime to make ends meet. Things are overpriced and it’s all for greed — make the rich man richer. The only difference...
