Opinion category, Page 775
S.E. Cupp: What we’re hoping for this year
If it’s possible, 2018 was a year in which it felt like everything was changing, and also like nothing was. While we set our global expectations for 2019, teeming with significant political, social and economic volatility, we’re also considering more local possibilities — changes within our own communities, homes and...
Editorial: Police just did their job
They did what they are there to do. When two Westmoreland County residents seemingly disappeared on Thursday, Greensburg police didn’t brush it off. They didn’t say “come back in a week and let us know if they show up.” They didn’t raise an eyebrow and throw the report on a...
Editorial: Gun owners, opponents need to read the room
Situational awareness. It’s the idea that you should be aware of what’s happening around you. It’s why Secret Service agents scan rooms and note all the people in them. It’s why many law enforcement officers won’t sit with their back turned to a door or window. It’s what Shawn Thomas...
Letter to the editor: War on the poor
Three blocks from the theater where I saw “A Christmas Carol,” a gray-haired woman sat on the sidewalk with her two grandsons. Both under 3, they couldn’t open their granola bars and gnawed at the wrappers instead. Her sign read “Please help.” My son and I bought groceries, then accompanied...
Letter to the editor: No tax payment, no tax cut
I was just thinking while I was gathering my background information and receipts for preparing my 2018 federal income tax return: If you don’t pay federal income tax (almost 50 percent of filers don’t), how can you complain about not getting a tax cut? Just sayin’. Joseph Marmo Cheswick...
Letter to the editor: Justice for murdered cop
Regarding the article “Sheriff: California officer’s killer is in the U.S. illegally” (Dec. 27, TribLIVE): The Democrats will provide him with the best public defender money can buy. There is only one way to get justice: Bring him field-dressed over the fender of a police car. Justified. Paul Berginc Hempfield...
Letter to the editor: Romney’s courage
At a time in which many American patriots have wondered who within the Republican Party will now be present in Congress to challenge the president for the destruction that he has inflicted on our nation, its character and our values, we have the good fortune to be at the dawn...
Tom Purcell: Alexa causing chaos at my parents’ house
Is technology innovation doing us more harm than good? My family offers proof that it is. My parents recently got Amazon’s supposedly “intelligent” personal assistant, Alexa. Ask Alexa to play a song and she will (through her speaker). Ask her to turn the lights on or off, and, if they’re...
Scott Rasmussen: Keeping shutdown in perspective
In official Washington and the nation’s political media world, the partial shutdown of the federal government is a crisis dominating the arrival of a new Congress. That perception is certainly understandable when you consider what a company town Washington, D.C., has become. Just about everyone in political circles has friends...
Letter to the editor: Protect Land & Water Conservation Fund
I was happy to hear the recent announcement that Hempfield Park received a grant from the Land & Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), the nation’s cornerstone conservation program, which has preserved and improved parks and open spaces, created new recreational opportunities, and helped revitalize local communities. Hempfield Park plans include construction...
Letter to the editor: Socialists & the presidency
I agree with The New York Times’ warning to Nancy Pelosi not to give too much power to the newly elected House Democrats who call themselves “Democratic socialists.” They will be a minority of the Democrats in the House. I don’t enjoy being unkind or insulting toward anyone, even the...
Letter to the editor: Laurels for holiday generosity
I would like to add three “Laurels” to your “Laurels and Lances” list: To members of the Highlands High School Gold Club, who served a beautiful, delicious Thanksgiving dinner to area seniors. The musical groups were wonderful also. If parents ever wonder what their children are learning in school, don’t...
Editorial cartoons for the week of Jan. 7
Editorial cartoons for the week of Jan. 7....
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Jan. 7
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Jan. 7....
Michelle Malkin: Dems should say Cpl. Ronil Singh’s name
In the still of the last night of 2018, the silence of California Dems chilled the air and airwaves. Border wall opponent Sen. Kamala Harris tweeted three times between Christmas and New Year’s Eve bemoaning the plight of illegal immigrants and their children. But, not a peep was heard from...
Editorial: Bringing malls back to life
In 1989, malls were the place to be. They weren’t just stores. They were entertainment and food courts and social scenes. They were the place to be for kids after school. They were where retirees gathered to walk in the morning. They were there for a quick lunch or a...
Letter to the editor: Address gun issue now
As the new year opens afresh, ask yourself: What must change in 2019? A new legislative session is about to commence in Pennsylvania. Our representatives will start the new session by acting for us — “We the people” — and voting accordingly. If not, democracy is extinct in our land...
Letter to the editor: Bad information can be dangerous
Bad info dangerous Lack of correct knowledge can produce dangerous consequences. Examples are change history, personal attacks without facts, make decisions using untrue information or change outcomes with false information. History can teach what works and what fails, so using incorrect history or lack of history knowledge can cause failures....
Letter to the editor: Reporting on sheriff questionable
What is the motivation for the Tribune-Review having four articles in eight days about Republican Westmoreland County Sheriff Jonathan Held facing another trial for charges regarding questionable campaign actions? Why did the Tribune-Review find it necessary to report that the sheriff’s sons, who are minors and living with his former...
Gary Scott Smith: Pittsburgh a city of faith
While Pittsburgh is known for its steel industry, sports teams, ethnic diversity, and recent physical makeover and cultural renaissance, it is much less recognized as one of the nation’s most religious metropolitan areas or for its fruitful faith heritage. The Pittsburgh area has hundreds of thriving congregations and parachurch ministries....
George Will: Today’s Germany is best Germany world has seen
BERLIN In one of contemporary history’s intriguing caroms, European politics just now is a story of how one decision by a pastor’s dutiful daughter has made life miserable for a vicar’s dutiful daughter. Two of the world’s most important conservative parties are involved in an unintended tutorial on a cardinal...
Steven R. Howell: Will Mexico actually pay for the wall?
How will President Trump get Mexico to pay for the wall? Hammering on the “caravan” of migrants headed from Central America to the United States via Mexico was a central theme for Trump prior to the midterm election. However, maybe it wasn’t just a fear-mongering political ploy to boost turnout...
Letter to the editor: Church will prevail
What to think of Bob Rocker’s letter “Priests are the ones who should have been confessing” (Sept. 21, TribLIVE)? Like Rocker, all Catholics are angry, frustrated and feel betrayed by the scandal that has befallen our church. However, unlike Rocker, the vast majority of Catholics don’t think cutting and running...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Truth & politics
When Harry S. Truman was president, he displayed a painted glass sign on his desk. On one side were the words “I’m From Missouri.” On the other side, it said “The Buck Stops Here!” A friend of Truman’s spotted the sign when visiting a federal reformatory in Oklahoma, and he...
Dale Kotowski: We all depend on clean water
Here in Western Pennsylvania, it can feel miraculous that wild trout have persisted through all that has been thrown at them: clear-cut logging, coal mining, oil and gas drilling. And yet an hour’s drive east from Pittsburgh, trout anglers like me face a bounty of choices. Mill Creek, Indian Creek...
