Opinion category, Page 715
George Will: ‘National conservatism’ is ‘Elizabeth Warren conservatism’
WASHINGTON Regimes, however intellectually disreputable, rarely are unable to attract intellectuals eager to rationalize the regimes’ behavior. America’s current administration has “national conservatives.” They advocate unprecedented expansion of government in order to purge America of excessive respect for market forces, and to affirm robust confidence in government as a social...
Jonah Goldberg: Neither left nor right has proper remedy for America’s illness
America is sick. Just about everybody recognizes it, and we didn’t need two more mass shootings to convince anybody of anything. Most Americans think the country is on the wrong track, despite a roaring economy. You can blame Donald Trump, but Americans have been unsatisfied with the country’s direction for...
Peter Morici: Our cultural wars offer no value to newcomers
Mass immigration, low birth rates and China’s rise pose challenges our political and economic institutions appear ill-equipped to address. Rising to these challenges, however, will prove critical to sustaining our economy in the near term and ultimately the viability of our democracy. Some 750 million people would like to migrate...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: El Paso, Dayton shootings & reckless words
When English King Henry II wondered aloud, “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?” he knew that some of his followers would be eager to please him. Accounts of Henry’s words differ slightly, but the gist is always the same. Henry was upset with Thomas Becket, the Archbishop...
Dan Warner: Extreme risk protection orders can save lives
Larry (not his real name) and his father hunted together his entire life, and he knew how much his father’s firearms meant to him. A firm “Second Amendment voter,” his father strongly believed in gun rights and would never easily part with these symbols of his individuality and freedom. This...
Editorial: Gun control isn’t just red or blue
When you think about guns and legislation, there’s a tendency to default to red and blue battlegrounds. It’s easy to reduce to stereotypes: Democrats want to restrict them and Republicans want to hand them out like bobbleheads at a baseball game. But Pennsylvania offers a lesson in the rainbow of...
Sounding off: It’s getting harder to determine truth, reality
A wise man once said, “Our problems are many, while our solutions are few.” I think a wise man said it? Or did I just make that up? Truthfully, I’m not sure. I’ve read and viewed so much on TV, social media, newspapers, books and magazines, etc., over the past...
Letter to the editor: How about a new amendment to protect all life?
I begin by pointing out what common sense tells us — that even after the tragedies of last weekend, a constitutional repeal of the Second Amendment would never pass. Too many conservatives would oppose it. It would have the same chance of passing as a constitutional amendment to reverse Roe...
Letter to the editor: Overdose task force has saved taxpayers’ money
Regarding the letter “Will grant pay for drug awareness?” (Aug. 5, TribLIVE): Overdose deaths in Westmoreland County decreased significantly in the last 19 months due to the Drug Overdose Task Force and its director, Tim Phillips. We have estimated that it costs the county $3,000 for each drug overdose investigation...
Letter to the editor: What if migrants were in your house?
In Ron Slabe’s letter “Inhumane treatment of migrants” (Aug. 5, TribLIVE), he asserts that government policy promotes horrid treatment of migrants. What would his position be if he returned home to find them in his house, refusing to leave? Days of reckoning are reserved for those who break the law...
Letter to the editor: Gun owners must stand against heinous crimes
What is now happening in our country is tragic. All too often there are people trying to make a statement through violence. Individuals now feel it is heroic to gun down innocent people — 20 in El Paso and nine in Ohio in one weekend. The catalysts for this are...
John Stossel: Stupid news, not fake news
“Fake news!” shouts the president. His supporters cheer. That drives my colleagues into a frenzy of self-absorbed handwringing: “Threats to press freedom … press persecution!” It’s silly. American reporters are hardly less safe because of President Trump’s hyperbole. (Trump is reckless when he uses the term in other countries. Authoritarians...
Walter Williams: Was Trump right about Baltimore?
Here’s what President Trump tweeted about Baltimore’s congressman and his city: “Rep. Elijah Cummings has been a brutal bully, shouting and screaming at the great men & women of Border Patrol about conditions at the Southern Border, when actually his Baltimore district is far worse and more dangerous. His district...
Editorial: The politics of making tragedy political
On its best day, politics is a balancing act. The politician is like a waitress with a giant, carefully coordinated tray of plates and bowls and glasses. Move this constituent’s sandwich and it affects that agency’s soup which could slosh all over the opposition’s dessert and make the whole table...
Letter to the editor: Heartland will again pull through for Trump
Much has been made that President Trump’s election was invalid because he lost the popular vote. Accordingly, efforts are underway by the left to derail the Electoral College process in ways that would elect the presidency by popular vote. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by a little...
Letter to the editor: Pa. parole process must be reviewed
The Pennsylvania General Assembly must hold hearings to determine the effectiveness of Pennsylvania’s parole system after a recent Associated Press report found six homicides allegedly committed by five Pennsylvania parolees in two months. The report also found 93 murders were committed last year by parolees, according to the Department of...
Letter to the editor: Parking ticket mars Greensburg trip
I just wanted to say THANK YOU for making our trip to downtown Greensburg for Antiques on the Avenue Aug. 3 a pleasant experience. We received a parking ticket that really made our day. That is a great way to make folks want to come back and support the downtown...
Letter to the editor: We must enforce immigration laws
Regarding the article “Visits to border detention centers widen Congressional divide” (July 22, TribLIVE): Back in 2014 President Obama said that there was a crisis at the southern border. Back in 2016 President Trump said that there was a crisis at the southern border and now is trying to do...
Paul Kengor: Give the devil his due
Our nation yet again finds itself in a dreadful news cycle of sickening tragedy — namely, mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. The tragedy is exacerbated by politicians and pundits playing the blame game. This time, in August 2019, we have various sources blaming President Trump, as...
Lori Falce: Thoughts, prayers and actions
My thoughts and prayers are with the people of El Paso. My thoughts and prayers are with the city of Dayton. My thoughts and prayers are with the people who are left bleeding and broken. They are with the family members who are trying to make sense of funeral arrangements...
Laurels & lances: Dig in, shut down, clean up
Laurel: To carrying on the family tradition. This year the Gearhard family, of Gearhard Farms in Murrysville, marks the farm’s 250th anniversary. Members of the family have been living and farming the property since 1769, making the farm older than America, and the oldest in Westmoreland County. Farmer Herb Gearhard...
Letter to the editor: Shootings result of original sin
I awoke this Sunday to the news of the horrific shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. This is nothing more than mass murder by sick individuals. What do I mean by sick? These individuals suffer from the same disease that we all suffer from: original sin that started...
Letter to the editor: Fracking trucks on roads
Last year fracking water trucks ran past our houses on Route 908 extension in Frazer and Fawn for three months for what seemed like 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This road has weight limits and was not made to withstand the constant pounding of these heavily loaded...
George Will: Shootings and the causes of violence
WASHINGTON — It is 1,218 miles from the Aaron Bessant Park Amphitheater in Panama City Beach, Fla., to the Walmart at 7101 Gateway Blvd. in El Paso. It was in that park that Donald Trump, on May 8, was amused by the answer someone in his audience shouted in response...
Guy Reschenthaler: Mueller show’s over; it’s time to move on
For nearly three years, the American people were told that President Trump colluded with the Russians in the 2016 election. They were also told that former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation would prove this, with House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., going so far as to say there was...
