Opinion category, Page 680
Colin McNickle: Negative job growth dogs Greater Pittsburgh
There has been lots of happy talk about Greater Pittsburgh’s supposed economic “resilience,” if not an outright “renaissance.” But the latest jobs report belies that notion and yet again exposes the many elephants in the room that continue to retard growth, concludes an analysis by scholars at the Allegheny Institute...
Editorial: Ghost guns decision makes sense
On Monday, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro officially stated his legal opinion that most of a gun is a gun. That means that felons and others barred from buying or possessing guns in Pennsylvania can’t buy something called an 80% receiver — a kind of building block for a weapon...
Letter to the editor: Democrats not for working people
I was a union worker for 38 years. I was told I must vote Democrat in every election. Maybe in the past the Democratic Party was for the working person. No more. I started paying attention to the way things were going — using my brain instead of being one...
Letter to the editor: Trump must be defeated
Only in a dream world would “Make America Great Again” be true. President Trump has disgraced the country. The multiple instances of obstruction of justice revealed in the Mueller report and in the impeachment process demonstrate real concern. The impeachment hearings have proven that Trump and cohorts pressured foreign entities...
Jonah Goldberg: Trump defenders continue to push Ukraine conspiracy theories
Contrary to heated rhetoric from Democrats, most Republicans understand that Russia was responsible for the hacking of the Democratic National Committee’s server in 2016 and other efforts to sow mischief in the electoral process. They’ll even admit it when pressed. The problem is they want everyone to believe that Ukraine...
Tom Purcell: Why Christmas nostalgia is good for us
I indulge more deeply in Christmas nostalgia with every passing year, but it turns out that doing so is a good thing. “Nostalgia,” according to Merriam-Webster, is “a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for the return to some past period or irrecoverable condition.” Time is certainly irrecoverable. I wish I’d...
Editorial: Pitt’s part in HIV fight shows possibility
There was a time that living with HIV was an unimaginable idea. HIV was the contagious virus that dragged you down the unavoidable road to AIDS, and AIDS killed you. It was a fact and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Except they did. Globally, HIV and AIDS...
Letter to the editor: Government should not force religion on others
Considering the responses in the Trib and the numerous social media messages I received about my last letter to the editor (“Atheism & politics,” Nov. 16, TribLIVE), I wanted to give a general response to clarify some things. I am an atheist. The only thing that means is that I...
Letter to the editor: Trump needs better advisers
Whoever is giving advice to our president is doing a terrible job. It’s obvious to me that he is taking advice from sycophants. It will take people with backbone, guts and a healthy dose of patriotism to stand up and get it through his thick head that: • No, it...
Letter to the editor: Democrats’ motives for removing Trump
I, for one, am sick and tired of the Democratic House of Representatives trying to remove a duly, lawfully elected president from office. I believe they started talking about impeaching President Trump the day after he was sworn in, after the election did not turn out in their favor. When...
Editorial cartoons for the week of Dec. 16
Editorial cartoons for the week of Dec. 16....
Garret Mathews: Newspapers haven for people with Asperger’s
What’s the fallout from the radical downturn in the influence of newspapers? To be sure, a less informed populace. More stories generated from press releases. Fewer in-depth articles. Less enterprise coverage of local and regional news. I think there’s something else. Nothing ground-shaking. Nothing insidious. Just sad. In 2016, I...
S.E. Cupp: Is impeachment over, or is it just beginning?
As Democrats announced two articles of impeachment against President Trump this past Tuesday, — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — I heard the country breathe an audible sigh of relief. Our long, national nightmare is finally over. Anxieties over would-they or wouldn’t-they, the constant public opinion polling updates,...
Editorial: Tax increase is harsh lesson
The New Kensington-Arnold School District financial situation is an argument for a change in how government — and taxpayers — should think about taxes. It would be great to fund our schools and other vital public services without requiring everyone to kick money into a collective pot. But failing another...
Letter to the editor: Help support Alzheimer’s research & care
Americans today are faced with an overwhelming and unprecedented health crisis: Alzheimer’s disease and related diseases. A new patient develops Alzheimer’s every 65 seconds, and with the rate of disease expected to triple within the next generation, it is evident that preventative action must be taken to alleviate the possible...
Letter to the editor: Comcast’s highway robbery
Mary Giron Weyant’s letter “Shame on Comcast” (Nov. 29, TribLIVE) was spot on. Comcast removing the Turner Classic Movies channel and not giving customers a $9.99 credit is awful. I don’t want and didn’t ask for the replacement of hunting and fishing. We’re senior citizens and do neither, but enjoyed...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Constitution is not a buffet
Sometimes it would be nice to treat the United States Constitution like a buffet. Imagine if you could take the parts you want and leave the rest behind. But that’s just not the nature of our Constitution. Donald Trump always gets cheers at his rallies when he promises to protect...
Antony Davies & James Harrigan: On impeachment, constitutional arguments just politics
President Trump will be impeached by the House of Representatives before the new year. Predictably, House Democrats have lined up in nearly universal assent that they have no choice but to impeach the president, and do so with heavy hearts. Their Republican counterparts, on the other hand, claim the Democrats...
Nancy Koester: The currency of Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman has yet to appear on the $20 bill or any federal note. But the hero of the Underground Railroad has newly minted cultural currency of her own. The star of the biopic “Harriet,” Cynthia Erivo, was just nominated for a Golden Globe. And there’s a new biography: “She...
Letter to the editor: Trump administration’s reverse Robin Hood
Now we have Robin Hood in reverse: Rob from the poor and give to the rich! It is stunning to me that the Trump administration is on course to deny food stamp benefits to over 700,000 of our poorest citizens. The administration that has given back nearly a trillion dollars...
Sounding off: When will political correctness end?
The Associated Press article “Pa. school district can keep ‘Redskins’ name, but logos might go” reported that the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission has ordered the Neshaminy School District in Bucks County, whose sports teams’ nickname is the Redskins, to get rid of all logos and imagery that “negatively stereotype Native...
Editorial: Deer torture demands response
It can be hard for some to reconcile the idea of hunting and a love of animals. There are groups who will never accept it. The activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, for example, calls it unnecessary and cruel. “Hunting might have been necessary for human survival...
Letter to the editor: Impeachment hypnosis
The congressional impeachment hearings are the equivalent of the hypnotist’s shiny watch on a chain — going back and forth, while the not so calming voice of Adam Schiff hums in the background. Always making sure the attention of the wide-eyed, gullible citizenry is drawn away from the disastrous failings...
Letter to the editor: Comey should review his notes
The Washington Post and New York Times both marveled at the fact that James Comey was an obsessive and prolific note-taker who always took contemporaneous notes to preserve meeting discussions. However, when the Inspector General’s report confirmed that Comey briefed President Barack Obama on the Trump-Russia investigation in August 2016...
Walter Williams: Morality of free markets
Richard Ebeling, professor of economics at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, and my longtime friend and colleague, has written an important article, “Business Ethics and Morality of the Marketplace,” appearing in the American Institute for Economic Research. Its importance and timeliness is enhanced by so many of...
