Sounding off: Biden hasn't kept word on covid

Letter-writer Dale Vukovich (“Vaccines and gas prices”) must have missed President Biden, Vice President Harris and many of their Democratic friends last October saying they wouldn’t “trust or take the vaccine that was developed under Trump.” He must have missed Biden during the second presidential debate saying that “anyone who is responsible for 220,000 covid deaths should not be president.” He must have missed Biden saying upon his inauguration that “he would shut down covid.”

Although it is true that “supply and demand” is a market principle, supply is thwarted both short and long term when pipelines are shut down, drilling in parks isstopped and roadblocks to fossil energy development is encouraged by the government.

And yes, America only a year ago was energy independent. We must now ask (some would say beg) OPEC to drill more. Hmmm …

William R. Iski, Penn Township, Westmoreland County

Trump can be trusted?

So, the voters can’t be trusted

The poll workers can’t be trusted.

The voting machines can’t be trusted.

The media can’t be trusted.

Bill Barr can’t be trusted.

The guy in charge of election security can’t be trusted.

The lower courts can’t be trusted.

The appellate courts can’t be trusted.

The Supreme Court can’t be trusted.

But Donald Trump can be trusted.

Roll that around in your head for about three minutes and realize how incredibly, mind-bogglingly stupid that sounds.

Of course, if you are a cult member who doesn’t pay any attention to actual facts and reality, just go along and blindly believe the false prophet’s every word over your own common sense.

Larry Rummel, New Florence

Dealing with public health emergencies

We are faced with allowing the executive branch full powers to deal with public health emergencies. Before you decide if you agree with that, consider two things.

First, covid-19 is not the flu. It has already killed nearly 1 million Americans. Perhaps half of those hospitalized suffer serious, long-term health problems lasting months or even more: lack of energy, lung problems and brain damage, among others. You may think your chances of dying from covid are small. But how do you feel about spending months in a coma?

Second, the virus cannot be reasoned with. It will not be persuaded by political arguments. Some feel the government should not infringe on our freedom. But the virus couldn’t care less about our civil liberties. Our civil liberties exist to protect us from each other. Not from diseases.

Pandemics keep popping up, and the next one could be even worse. The Supreme Court, in its wisdom, thinks they should be dealt with by the states or by Congress. Good luck with that.

Robert Supansic, McKeesport

Making Pittsburgh more accessible

Regarding the article “Pittsburgh looks to make city more accessible for people with disabilities”: As a full-time wheelchair user and student at the University of Pittsburgh, I unfortunately have experienced many accessibility issues in Pittsburgh. Reexamining policies and programs in place for those with disabilities would be extremely beneficial.

In my life as an occupational therapy doctorate student , I look at the accessibility issue through the lens of how it will impact my future patients. One of the foundations of occupational therapy is empowering individuals to achieve or maintain independence in order for them to take part in activities in their lives that are meaningful to them, from work and caring for themselves or their families to leisure activities.

The article noted that the City of Pittsburgh will be examining its current accessibility policies and programs to ensure the highest level of inclusivity and accessibility, keeping in line with regulations outlined by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Individuals with disabilities deserve to have the same access as able-bodied individuals. Too many times have I tried to access a restaurant, sidewalk or doorway that did not meet ADA compliance due to a technicality. Furthermore, if there is a step to a local establishment, a wheelchair user should not be forced to call for assistance with a ramp, or worse, be turned away. Serious revisions should be made to allow equal access for all.

There is a whole community of individuals that will benefit from accessibility improvements and gain the ability to fully engage in the community again.

Christie Cyktor, Hazelwood

Other forms of indoctrination in schools

Reagarding Cheri Blum’s letter “Indoctrination in schools”: If schools aren’t supposed to be used for indoctrination, why do students say the Pledge of Allegiance? And why do Catholics have their own schools?

Kris Weinschenker, Unity

Vaxxed and unvaxxed divisions

We are at a tipping point in this country. Around the world, countries are locking in the unvaccinated and forcing vaccinations on citizens, with some putting the unvaccinated or those with covid in “quarantine camps” for their, and society’s, safety.

Here in the United States, we are being divided into two groups, vaxxed and unvaxxed. The unvaccinated are being denied services, jobs and entertainment. The deaths of the unvaccinated are being greeted with joy, while the vaccinated who die mysteriously from ailments that have never been diagnosed are mourned, with the proper reverence.

Any opposing views on treatments, the value of vaccines, masks and lockdowns, or the origin of the pandemic, are silenced. To speak out against the “science” is to be branded a heretic. Refusal to take the vaccination can result in job loss, expulsion from school and public shaming. It seems that free speech and free thought make one an enemy of the state.

The state wants compliance; it forces business to impose the compliance it can’t legislate. The state knows that fear is a great motivator in surrendering liberty and freedom, for safety and security. The legacy media, Big Pharma, Big Med, government leaders and social media feed the fear and division among us.

The freedoms that were fought for in 1776 to remove the bonds of tyranny, the battles of the Civil War that removed the chains of slavery, the battles of two World Wars to keep us free from tyrants and world dictatorship, will have been fought for nothing if we allow this medical tyranny to enslave us.

John Gregory Parks, McKeesport

Jesus was no socialist

I read with interest the letter “Socialism in line with Christian faith”.

An extensive history of socialism was conducted by Igor Shafarevich, a Nobel Prize-winning mathematician and an associate of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Solzhenitsyn and Shafarevich had a front-row seat to the glory days of socialism. That seat provided them with an acute insight into the phenomenon. This work should be a recommended read in all high schools.

Shafarevich identified the four basic principles found in socialist states: the abolition of private property, the abolition of family, the abolition of religion, and communality or equality.

Do these principles sound like pillars of the Christian faith? Why must socialism be maintained by government force or bullied into existence against the minority? We are a republic for a very good reason. Democracies eventually eliminate individual or minority rights.

When Jesus told the rich man, “Give all your wealth to the poor and follow me,” he didn’t say, “Give all your wealth to Caesar and his political party, have the money first support government unions, and help support a government bureaucracy which will then give what is left to the poor.”

Jesus gave the individual the responsibility. Today, too many want someone else to carry their burden and excuse it through turns of phrases, or have someone else shove their camel through the eye of a needle.

Jesus certainly was not a socialist.

Gregory McQuaide, Hampton