Sounding off: Shootings, Bushy Run, Fetterman, Ziccarelli among week's topics

Why can’t we stop the mass shootings?

I always read the editorials and letters on the opinion page. The column by Jason Park, “A 3-part strategy to reduce mass shootings” (Feb. 14, TribLIVE), was wonderful. It is indeed a clear and knowledgeable read on the subject and was quite apropos for Valentine’s Day.

Since then, we have had a rash of shootings across the country. Why can’t we get anything done to correct this national shame? People of all ages suffer because gun manufacturers need big profits and share them with greedy politicians. The majority of Americans want federal laws to help reduce (if not eliminate) this terrible stain on our national image. There has been too much blood shed over this issue. Stop blocking legislation, Republicans!

I do not relish reading columns by Michael Reagan. While some of his points are valid, it seems like he is yelling his words. Lori Falce, however, writes her columns with an appealing common sense that is thoughtful and so refreshing. Oh, yes: Even for those opinions that are at odds with my thinking, reading them is informative, that anyone could think that way. Who knew? I will be a forever opinion reader.

Dee Macklin

New Kensington

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Commission should help, not hinder, Bushy Run

I am a past president of the Bushy Run Battlefield Heritage Society and have been a volunteer at Bushy Run for many years. During my term as president, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission tried to close Bushy Run. Thanks to the society members, friends and Sen. Kim Ward, we won the battle and remained open.

We have been looking forward to our 260th anniversary Aug. 5-6. One person of Native American heritage objected to our Native American reenactors, and we were told by the PHMC that we could not have non-Native American reenactors portray Native Americans. So we cannot have our historical battle as we have done for 40 years. Our “Native Americans” have spent a lot of time and money researching the tribes they represent. They are probably more educated than the real descendants. Our British soldiers have authentic uniforms down to the number of brass buttons.

I hope there is no committee formed to cancel all the live Nativities at the churches at Christmas. I doubt if all the Josephs and Marys are direct descendants. How about the actors in movies and on TV?

I think it is time for the 12 board members at the PHMC to help Bushy Run and our hard-working members, not object to sharing our history.

Jean Loughry

Salem

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American greatness disappearing

America today is a fractured nation. Some would frame this as a civil war between two political and ideological extremes, with the majority of people somewhere in the middle. I believe the war has been waged by leftist extremists intent on demolishing traditional America and replacing it with a new America. If they win, there will be no tolerance for opposition, only obeisance.

After setting the stage for all-out war over the past several decades, the left began their full offensive during 2020, resulting in the following lunacies:

• Denying the biological differences between men and women. We can now choose our gender. Men compete against women in sports. Whatever happened to “following the science?” In the new America, politics trump science.

• Denigrating and smearing our police. The early results of this asinine thinking are in and they are not good. Violent crime of all kinds is near or at record levels. Police are targeted for assassination and are leaving the profession. New recruits are scarce. Violent criminals are routinely released back to the streets in the name of “equity.” Welcome to criminal justice in the new America.

• Allowing the Bill of Rights to be are open to interpretation. Eventually it they will disappear altogether. We already see our free speech being threatened by requirements of “non-offensive” pronouns, and citizens who question government narratives are accused of spreading “misinformation.” In the new America dissent will not be tolerated.

Think I’m being conspiratorial? We are at this point in history because many people allow their political loyalties to trump facts. When traditional American values disappear, so does American greatness. Not a joke, folks.

Richard Byers

Mt. Pleasant

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Fetterman should be removed from Senate

John Fetterman should be expelled from the Senate. Just look at a short timeline. In October, he tells the audience at the debate with Dr. Mehmet Oz to have a “good night” before it even started. Then we find out he needed a teleprompter. He wins in November and is sworn in in January. No mention of depression. Then, just a short time later, he is enters a hospital for mental health treatment, and his wife asks for privacy. Fetterman could have had all the privacy he wanted if he just left with Gov. Tom Wolf. How can he be trusted? The timing of this seems very suspicious to me, and I don’t think he deserves to be a senator.

Russell C. Fenton

Ligonier

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Vote out climate change deniers

Over the past 50 years, oil and gas companies have spent a small fortune spreading misinformation to the public about climate change. Not surprisingly, the Republican Party seems to be the only political organization to swallow their lies.

In fact, they might be the only governing body in the world that disputes climate change is happening. Islands going under water, glaciers around the world melting, unprecedented catastrophic weather events … nothing seems to register with them.

Every scientific organization in the world that conducts climate research has determined the planet is heating up and fossil fuels are the cause. This includes our nation’s premier scientific organizations such as the American Meteorological Association, American Geophysical Union, National Academy of Science and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

In fact, every nation in the world, and every National Science Academy in the world, accepts that global warming threatens our world — except the Republican Party.

Nothing seems to faze them. Is it because the Republican Party gets massive contributions from their benefactors in the oil and gas industry? A peer-reviewed study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that in 2018, 88% of oil and gas contributions went to the Republican Party.

To paraphrase Upton Sinclair, it is difficult for politicians to understand something when their political donations depend on them not understanding it.

The only way things will change is if we vote every single one of these climate-denying politicians out of office.

Patty Satalia

State College

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Ziccarelli should pay for repairs

In the article “Westmoreland DA crash racks up nearly $33,000 in SUV repairs” (Feb. 16, TribLIVE), it was reported that Nicole Ziccarelli “has voluntarily paid for the $2,500 deductible out her own pocket so the cost does not fall onto the taxpayer.” Well, how generous you are. What about the remaining repair bill? Oh, that’s right, it’s coming out of an insurance policy through the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania. Well, who do you think is paying the premiums for this policy? Yeah, you and me — the taxpayers.

Ms. Ziccarelli, you wrecked the car on your own time; you pay the total repair. Oh, and fill in the usage logs as required!

Jim Dougherty

Delmont

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Let’s fix, not privatize, education system

The Trib’s recent articles criticizing public education speak to the ill-conceived effort in Pennsylvania to privatize education. Under the guise of vouchers or parental choice, the extreme right’s elite class of billionaires wants to corporatize one of the foundations of our middle class. They want more of our taxpayer dollars going into their pockets.

Taking tax dollars away from public education to give to private entities will destroy our public education system — a system that is a great equalizer and played a big part in expanding our middle class. The current three generations of my family have prospered due to public education. Do not let the billionaire class destroy that opportunity for the next generation.

Religious schools are part of private schools. Do you want your tax dollars subsidizing religious schools? Do you want your tax dollars subsidizing elite expensive private schools?

There are problems in our public schools. Let’s put our energies to work fixing areas that should be improved. But don’t through the baby out with the bath water.

Joanne Garing

North Huntingdon