Opinion category, Page 652
Editorial: 30 more days of pandemic distance
Another 30 days. As we sit in our homes or in our eerily empty offices or in stores that are long on lines and short on basics, it might be hard to imagine. As we deal with kids doing classwork via conference calls or visit our doctors on video chats,...
Tom Purcell: Pandemic threatens John Prine when needed most
When I was a junior at Penn State, I had a front-row seat when legendary singer-songwriter John Prine performed on campus. If you aren’t familiar with Prine’s work, you aren’t alone. He’s often called the greatest singer and songwriter you’ve never heard of. New York Times columnist Dan Barry explains...
Jonah Goldberg: Coronavirus crisis sure to spawn new political realities
The social and political response to major catastrophes often proceeds in stages. Stage 1 is denial. Thankfully, this stage is largely over for the coronavirus crisis. Not counting a few poltroons and conspiracy theorists, nobody is saying it’s all hype or no big deal. Now we’re transitioning, in fits and...
Mac Regan: Will covid-19 unite or divide us?
Will covid-19 unite or divide our society? America’s social capital, that is, how individuals and groups work together (or don’t) to create (or inhibit) cooperation, will have much to say about how we survive today and build a better tomorrow. How will we live together, seek truth and sort through...
Letter to the editor: Fauci, health officials should be running country
Does anyone really believe that this coronavirus will diminish enough by Easter to send people back to work, open churches and let our children go back to school? President Trump seems to. In my opinion, he never lets facts from his intelligence people and health officials get in his way....
Letter to the editor: Proud of Excela, community
I have been an Excela Health nurse for over 28 years. I am so proud of our leadership under CEO John Sphon and Dr. Carol Fox, chief medical officer. Their constant communication to their staff regarding covid-19 is proof of their dedication to our safety and well-being, as well as...
Letter to the editor: Church members put us all at risk
I was truly believing we were all coming together to quell this coronavirus. I was seeing less traffic and more people heeding the advice of our officials and our medical professionals. Then, the news that 200 people congregated together at Word of Life Church on March 22 (“About 200 attend...
Letter to the editor: Pittsburgh Zoo is violating lease
It’s unclear what, if any, qualifications letter-writer Len Bach has to opine on the terms of the Pittsburgh Zoo’s lease with the city (“Pittsburgh Zoo’s accreditation doesn’t break lease,” March 15, TribLIVE). As a law professor, I assure you that if the lease requires accreditation by the Association of Zoos...
Letter to the editor: Wolf violated First Amendment, Civil Rights Act
The First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”...
Editorial cartoons for the week of March 30
Editorial cartoons for the week of March 30....
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of March 30
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of March 30....
S.E. Cupp: Trump can’t guide us through coronavirus, but conservatism can help
While many state governors are stepping up to meet the continuing challenges of coronavirus in unprecedented ways, our federal government continues to let us down. At the White House, we know the president took too long to act, dismissed the seriousness of the pandemic in the earliest days, spread misleading...
Editorial: Helping each other in pandemic
Bad situations can bring out the best in people. It can also bring out the worst. People are scared and unsure in the coronavirus pandemic. They don’t know what’s coming next on the economic roller coaster, and they are nervous about grocery shopping and opening doors. And let’s just admit...
Christopher Regan: Every American deserves a chance to live
Christopher Regan is an attorney with Bordas & Bordas in Pittsburgh, and the former vice chairman of the West Virginia Democratic Party. It has been hard for a long time to say anything about politics that helps anyone with anything. If you say something to one side or the other,...
Letter to the editor: Government should issue cash via credit cards
The best way to get cash quickly into the hands of the people would be credit cards. This would solve the problem of having to leave the house to place an order, and the cash would get into the economy immediately. Also, it would make it impossible for anyone who...
Letter to the editor: Wolf should rethink liquor store closure
As the world faces an unprecedented pandemic, businesses and industries struggle to cope with uncertainty and the devastating impacts of covid-19. Leaders in every state are struggling to find a careful balance between protecting public health while also protecting the financial health of state and local economies. To date, Pennsylvania...
Letter to the editor: We need to put politics aside & come together
Though it’s nearly impossible for individual citizens to have much impact on the idiotic, partisan behavior of our elected representatives in Washington, it is possible to take a moment to recognize the actions of those who, regardless of political leanings, are out doing the jobs that are truly vital to...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: During crisis, people want information, not false assurances
The people of L’Aquila, Italy, went about their business as usual in the first week of April 2009. It was a city of around 70,000 residents and the capital of the Abruzzo region — a busy center for government, commerce, education and culture. Abruzzo has a history of plagues and...
Dom Costa: Crime victims deserve more rights
Nobody plans to be a victim of crime. As a 27-year veteran of the Pittsburgh Police department and former chief of police, I’ve seen this firsthand. I’ve sat with women who have been abused and mothers who have lost children, and I’ve seen the terror in their eyes. I know...
Editorial: Tracking covid-19 spread in Pennsylvania
It’s up to us all now. The Pennsylvania Department of Health is not untangling the webs that tie one covid-19 infection to another anymore. The disturbing thing is that isn’t just happening now. “Contact tracing stopped last week, as the number of cases alone, without doing follow-up contact, became challenging...
Sounding off: Hoarding is un-American
The coronavirus outbreak has panicked people into hoarding food, paper products and sanitizing compounds. Consumers across the country are conducting binge purchases of these products, and most supermarkets are reporting bare shelves and difficulty in restocking them. The binging activity is very un-American. There is no need for people to...
Nathan Benefield: State lawmakers must act now to mitigate crisis
In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Pennsylvania workers, health care providers, and students and families are faced with unprecedented obstacles that demand action from Harrisburg. Gov. Tom Wolf has taken a strong approach by closing schools and shuttering so-called “non-life-sustaining” businesses. But could the cost of these drastic measures...
Letter to the editor: God’s grace & covid-19
Never has our economy and day-to-day life come to a sudden and complete halt. In the coming months, we will see many of our neighbors lose their jobs and businesses. In addition to a very real fear of disease, we soon will be forced to confront the fear of being...
Letter to the editor: Men & women & coronavirus survival
This coronavirus is putting a crimp in my masculine world, and my wife’s from her feminine domain, because we are not free to move about the country. The thing is, I sort of have this illusion of myself as a roaring lion. And with the loudest burps I can conjure,...
Letter to the editor: Climate change the bigger threat
After months of lying, denying and downplaying the threat, President Trump finally admitted on March 16 that the virus is out of control (while giving himself a “10” for his handling of the crisis). He waited until it was no longer possible to deny the problem, instead at one point...
