Opinion category, Page 623
Laurels & lances: Support, disappointment, growth
Laurel: To quiet support. When the world is turned upside down, it seems sometimes like the only way to be heard is to shout at the top of your longs, to bang a gong and light a fire. But there is another way to stand up for what one believes,...
Letter to the editor: Lesson in ‘forced choice’
Lori Falce’s column “Trolleys, Star Trek and a pandemic” (May 21, TribLIVE) was not only timely with respect to the current virus situation, it really is a constant in much of our every day lives. I first became familiar with the concept in graduate psychology at West Virginia University in...
Letter to the editor: Enough with property tax hikes
Enough is enough. When are citizens going to band together and say enough when these school boards decide to raise your property taxes 2 or 3 mills every year? Especially during this black period in our country. More than 40 million people in our country have filed for unemployment, and...
Gillis Harp and P.C. Kemeny: That Confederate flag would have offended your great-great-grandfather
The U.S. Marine Corps decided recently to ban public displays of the Confederate battle flag. The generals explained that they took this strong action because the flag has “all too often been co-opted by violent extremist and practice groups whose divisive beliefs have no place in our Corps.” The same...
Letter to the editor: We carry our sanctuary with us
I just read yet another letter in the debate about the spiritual perils of churches closed because of covid-19 concerns. I sympathize with those who have lost what for them seems essential to their worship, but I recently came across a perspective from Christian pastor and author A.W. Tozer that,...
Letter to the editor: Health care and mask mandates
When government decides to do something, constitutional limitations mean nothing. It assumes its citizens will go along with the power grab without questioning the legality of it. President Obama wanted the Affordable Care Act passed. To help pay for this first cousin of national health care, the government mandated everyone...
Letter to the editor: Trump shirks, deflects, takes credit
Trump sought to take credit for the coronavirus relief package passed by Congress by, in an unprecedented move, having his name put on IRS checks issued to the public as part of that bill. Here’s a modest proposal that makes more sense: Trump’s name should appear on death certificates of...
Editorial: Nursing home tests must be priority
The new plan for Pennsylvania nursing homes is to test everybody. If that sounds familiar, it’s probably because it sounds like the old plan. At least in the shorthand. The order issued Monday by Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Rachel Levine requires all nursing home residents and staff members be tested...
Colin McNickle: In pandemic, opportunity for Port Authority
The Port Authority of Allegheny County, its ridership pummeled by the coronavirus-sparked shutdown and future funding streams a question mark, must begin to economize, concludes an analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. “Given financial resources will be even more scarce in the new fiscal year, steps must be...
Letter to the editor: Ending surprise medical bills important now
In these days of the covid-19 pandemic, there is one easy, positive action our state legislators can take right now to help: They can vote to pass House Bill 1862, which would end the practice of surprise medical billing. One in three Pennsylvanians has received surprise medical bills. This occurs...
Letter to the editor: We must hold racists accountable
Distractions are easily accessible. During the ongoing protests, it’s convenient to hide in our distractions and wait for things to pass. Some even shift focus away from protests’ purpose. People don’t protest for a political agenda. They protest for a far more important agenda: for the lives of black people...
Letter to the editor: Greensburg Salem should cut administration
The Trib reported in at least two articles (“Proposed Greensburg Salem budget cuts staff instead of raising taxes,” May 27, TribLIVE; “Divided Greensburg Salem School Board rejects proposed budget,” May 20, TribLIVE) the Greensburg Salem School Board has drafted a 2020-21 budget that specifies eliminating some teacher and librarian positions,...
Letter to the editor: Now that we’ve gone ‘green,’ it’s up to us
Our government has told us precisely how to protect ourselves and our families from the likelihood of falling victim to the coronavirus. For our safety, leaders are instructing the various types of businesses precisely how they must operate to stay open. So now that we are “green,” continued control over...
Letter to the editor: On decency, George Will should look in mirror
George Will has been a Trump basher and hater from the day President Trump announced his candidacy. However, even given his disdain for the president, his rant June 4 exceeded all boundaries of decency and fairness. The only place I have seen such a spewing of insulting hatred is on...
Editorial: Pitt’s plan is proactive
Everyone is getting caught in a conundrum. How do you plan ahead when you don’t know what is going to happen with the coronavirus pandemic? Sports leagues are doing it as they try to find a way to salvage a season and satisfy fans while still keeping people safe. Restaurants...
Pat Buchanan: Liberal mush from the Mad Dog
In his statement to The Atlantic magazine, former Defense Secretary James Mattis says of the events of the last weeks that have shaken the nation as it has not been shaken since 1968: “We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers.” Is “a small number of lawbreakers”...
Brad Simpson: Attacks on journalists cross the line
There is always a line. A line that, when crossed, is a step too far. The police in Minneapolis on May 25 were doing their jobs until they crossed the line and George Floyd became a victim of police brutality that ended tragically with his death. Had those police officers...
Jason Lando: Cops and community must come together
What happened to George Floyd was inexcusable. The actions of Derek Chauvin and his fellow Minneapolis officers were shocking, and criminal. As a commander in the Pittsburgh police, I say that we must change the dynamic between cops and community. For everyone’s sake. Peaceful protests are a start. But it...
Letter to the editor: Would you jump for Trump?
During his Senate testimony, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned of serious negative health consequences as several governors remove safety restrictions without meeting White House-approved CDC guidelines. President Trump deemed Fauci’s warning “unacceptable.” If Sir Isaac Newton, with his ideas about gravity, warned you jumping off a cliff would likely lead to...
Letter to the editor: Treatment of seniors during pandemic shameful
We should be ashamed of ourselves for how we have treated dying patients and nursing home residents during the pandemic. There is no excuse for it. There is no reason nursing homes can’t have visitors rooms where people can make appointments to visit their loved ones. Isolation precautions can be...
Letter to the editor: Words from 1968 Kerner report ring true today
Many readers of the Trib are old enough to remember the Kerner report of 1968. This was the finding of a special commission appointed by President Lyndon Johnson to determine the reasons for the 1967 race riots in Detroit, Newark and other cities, and other riots going back to 1964,...
Letter to the editor: Divisiveness belongs to Democrats
Letter-writer Jim Hillebrecht (“We can’t take 4 more years of divisiveness”) is correct that every four years half of the country will be understandably upset by the results of a presidential election. And the election of Donald Trump was different because of the division and hatred. He’s wrong, however, to...
Letter to the editor: Voting, bearing arms in a free country
Every legal U.S. citizen should vote. Remember, elections are not beauty or personality contests. You are voting for the kind of country you will live in. I believe in the right to bear arms. I’m too old to defend myself and too slow to run away. My guns are my...
Letter to the editor: Actions can offset world’s hate
I’m watching the news about all of these protest marchers around the country, and I assume these people believe they are doing something important. I doubt they are. But it’s not too late. If anyone would really like to offset the hate in our world, here’s how you do it:...
Tom Purcell: Our national discussion on race is far from over
Police were called about John Mahone, a black man having an argument with his wife. A cop shot and killed him because he thought Mahone had a knife. Mahone had a can opener. An officer searching for illegal whiskey saw another black man, Harris Miller, run. When Miller didn’t halt,...
