Opinion category, Page 608
Sounding off: Trump’s incompetent covid-19 response
How the President Trump-named “Chinese virus” became the “Trump Virus,” bringing the most powerful country in the world to its knees: After a single case of coronavirus in China became a pandemic and reached our shores in January, we had a federal response I believe was incompetent. Trump and his...
Letter to the editor: Books about Trump are must-reads
Two books everyone should read: “The Room Where It Happened” by John Bolton and “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man” by Mary L. Trump. If you are still a supporter of President Trump after reading those books, then I feel sorry for...
Letter to the editor: Balzer’s mask move no surprise
It is not surprising that Westmoreland County Controller Jeffrey Balzer refused to wear a mask at the July 16 county commissioners’ public meeting (“Hempfield resident confronts maskless county controller at commissioners meeting,” July 16, TribLIVE). After all, he refused to pay the IRS (in 2014), he refused to pay his...
Letter to the editor: A Democratic vote is vote for end of America
Why is it that those seeking the opportunity to be free and make the most of themselves come from other countries to the United States when they get the chance? Why do the oppressed and downtrodden often risk their lives to come to our great country? Is it because we...
Letter to the editor: Allegheny County covid-19 spread from demonstrations?
To Allegheny County officials and the county Health Department: You claim the recent spike in covid-19 cases among young people is caused by travel to other states (“Allegheny County health officials warn of coronavirus spread in younger people,” June 24, TribLIVE). If you believe that, I think you are either...
Letter to the editor: Government shouldn’t subsidize poor management
Amid the ongoing pandemic where government agencies have given us misinformation about masks and the use/misuse of hydroxychloroquine and other easily available drugs, now we find out that the government-run U.S. Postal Service will take longer to deliver mail, due to a supposed overtime crackdown (“Mail could be delayed as...
Letter to the editor: Depression, pandemic, global warming — no way to live
This is not the way to live. It’s no fun. You responsibly have to wear a mask so you don’t spread coronavirus to others. There are those who don’t seem to care if they make you sick. People are tearing down statues and vandalizing parks, monuments and even a church’s...
Walter Williams: Historical ignorance and Confederate generals
The Confederacy has been the excuse for some of today’s rioting, property destruction and grossly uninformed statements. Among the latter is the testimony before the House Armed Services Committee by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley in favor of renaming Confederate-named military bases. He said:...
John Stossel: Progressive policies wreck everything
I laughed when I saw the Washington Post headline: “Minneapolis had progressive policies, but its economy still left black families behind.” The media are so clueless. Instead of “but,” the headline should have said, “therefore,” or “so, obviously.” Of course, progressive policies failed! They almost always do. “If you wanted...
Editorial: Wolf shouldn’t veto Right-to-Know
Open records are important or they aren’t. The public has a right to an accountable government or they don’t. It really isn’t a complicated issue. Gov. Tom Wolf’s position, however, is unnecessarily garbled. During the coronavirus pandemic and the state’s shifting series of lockdown and social distancing protocols, freely available...
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...
Letter to the editor: Restrictions on bars, restaurants are unfair
My mind is in knots trying to figure out the logic of county and state officials imposing restrictions on a single industry because of the actions of (by their own admission) a few bad actors. This most recent crippling of the hospitality industry — which will most likely be the...
Letter to the editor: Mask mandate is not a law
Regarding the article (“Hempfield resident confronts maskless county controller at commissioners meeting,” July 16, TribLIVE): Michael Pardus stated “it’s a law.” Well, sir, the wearing of face coverings is not law; the state Senate and House never passed a law requiring face coverings. Yes, it is a mandate from the...
Letter to the editor: We need to raze and replace our educational system
We have reached the culmination of our modern, sophisticated and exorbitant education system as epitomized in the current urban rioting and statue demolition. The students involved excel in the modern version of the “3 Rs” — rioting, razing and revolting (as an aside, I find the entire Democratic Party and...
Letter to the editor: Look at the range of science on face masks
Do we dare question the authority of those governors who demand their subjects wear masks? What does the science report? The British Medical Journal in April 2015 reported rates of infection of health care workers wearing cloth masks were 97%, compared to rates of 49% in those wearing medical masks....
Paul Kengor: It’s time to thank the cops
We’ve been in the grip of a pandemic that has prompted many people to view our health care professionals as heroes. Unfortunately, we’ve also been in the grip of another sickness since the George Floyd tragedy that has prompted too many people to view our police officers as villains. “As...
Laurels & lances: Answers, inspection, education, cruelty
Laurel: To listening to grief. When Marquis Jaylen Brown fell to his death from the 15th floor of Duquesne University’s Brottier Hall in 2018, it left questions about why and how — and it created a hole in the heart of his mother, Dannielle Brown. On July 4, she began...
Lori Falce: Coin shortage is circulation problem
You might be hearing about a coin shortage. Businesses that often depend on cash — or specifically on the little discs of zinc and nickel and copper that form those smallest molecules of our currency system — have reported trouble getting enough to keep going as usual. Quarters keep the...
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....
Greg Keeley: The accidental Manchurian candidate
I pulled the lever for Donald Trump in 2016. As a former GOP Senate staffer, combat veteran and immigrant, when faced with two impossibly unpalatable candidates, I chose party. It was a mistake. Like many who serve or have served this country in the military, intelligence and national security communities,...
Letter to the editor: DEP must limit toxic air pollution
Aiming to fulfill its “mission … to protect the people, to ensure their safety, to make their lives better” (“Grand jury report on fracking indicts the state,” July 7, TribLIVE), the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is considering a proposed rule to limit toxic air pollution (volatile organic compounds, VOCs)...
Letter to the editor: Trump not making America great
Many letter-writers who voice their contempt for President Trump are labeled by Trump supporters as Kool-Aid-drinking CNN followers. I’d much rather drink Kool-Aid than bleach. I do watch CNN and have much more regard for its anchors than for Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and Rush Limbaugh. I try to get...
Letter to the editor: Wolf’s directive hurting nonprofit clubs
The latest directive from Gov. Tom Wolf is very disheartening to our membership. Our club followed the previous guidelines and requirements and were in the process of providing some sort of normalcy for our members to have social interaction in a safe way. I believe that nonprofit clubs should be...
Letter to the editor: BLM, antifa treasonous radicals
We, the American people, are having war waged upon us by groups that are intent on replacing capitalism with communism while the American news media downplays and even quietly encourages the treasonous actions of these groups. In 2015 Black Lives Matter (BLM) co-founder Patrisse Cullors said that she and her...
Editorial: Does FirstEnergy have too much power?
Utility bills are the kind of thing that can feel a little like extortion. You can’t just tell your water company you have found another option and to please dig up their pipes. Sewer service isn’t exactly the kind of thing you can shop around for and find the best...
