Featured Commentary category, Page 24
David L. Nevins: MAGA and immigration — the unstoppable force meets the immovable object
There’s an old saying about what happens when the unstoppable force meets an immovable object, a situation where two equally powerful and contradictory forces are in opposition to each other. Such a situation is rapidly unfolding between two powerful forces within the Republican Party on the all-important issue of immigration....
Cal Thomas: Trump’s second inaugural address
Who remembers Donald Trump’s first inaugural address? Probably not very many, unless they have Googled it, as I did. That’s likely because after the speech Trump became fixated on the size of the crowd, which he repeatedly claimed was larger than official estimates. As I reread it, I was surprised...
Shih-Yu Simon Wang: Fiery and icy weather of West, East coasts is no coincidence
The Hollywood sign stands sentinel above Los Angeles, watching as embers dance through the January night like wayward stars. Glowing debris floats on warm winds past million-dollar mansions, while emergency crews battle a blaze that shouldn’t exist — not in winter, not here, not now. Two thousand miles east, in...
Anjana Susarla: Meta’s fact-checking shift spotlights competing approaches in fighting misinformation, hate speech
Meta’s decision to change its content moderation policies by replacing centralized fact-checking teams with user-generated community labeling has stirred up a storm of reactions. But taken at face value, the changes raise the question of the effectiveness of Meta’s old policy, fact-checking, and its new one, community comments. With billions...
Jay Feinman: Insurance for natural disasters is failing homeowners
The wildfires that have devastated large parts of Los Angeles County have drawn fresh attention to the struggles many Americans face insuring their homes. Since 2022, seven of the 12 largest insurance companies have stopped issuing new policies to homeowners in California, citing increased risks due to climate change. California...
Elizabeth Stelle: New year, new taxes in Pa.
The new year is always a great opportunity to shed vices like smoking and binge eating. For state and local lawmakers, their guilty pleasure tends to involve overspending and sticking taxpayers with the bill. If Pennsylvania lawmakers thought to quit this dirty habit in 2025, they are off to a...
Salewa Ogunmefun: Pa. residents want true early voting option
November’s general election showed definitively that Pennsylvanians have a massive appetite for more convenient voting options, specifically the ability to cast a ballot early in person so that they aren’t limited to Election Day as their only option. Act 77, the law that allowed for no-excuse mail ballots, does not...
Lisa Jarvis: Whooping cough vaccine has an awareness problem
If you’ve heard the telltale cough and seen an infant gasp for breath, it’s easy to understand why a pertussis outbreak strikes fear in a parent’s heart. Babies can wind up hospitalized or even die from the bacterial infection. That’s why the recent surge in cases of pertussis, or whooping...
Dr. Cory Franklin: Should alcoholic beverages feature a warning about cancer risk?
This month, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued a new report on alcohol and cancer that emphasizes the risk of cancer in connection with drinking alcohol. “Alcohol is a well-established, preventable cause of cancer responsible for about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States...
Noah Feldman: Musk and his critics are both wrong about free speech on X
Elon Musk is in a free-speech fight over his decision to demonetize the content of some far-right MAGA critics who disagreed with his immigration views on his social media platform X. What is most remarkable about the argument is that both sides fail to acknowledge the simple truth of how...
Nolan Finley: Trump letting silly ideas detract from his mission
Time to focus, Mr. President-elect. The stream-of-consciousness flow of ideas and promises that marked Donald Trump’s presidential campaign must now give way to deliberate, well-thought-out policymaking. But Trump’s press conference Tuesday, his second since the election, suggests he hasn’t made the pivot from candidate to chief executive. He continued to...
Oliver Bateman: The last battle for Pittsburgh steel
Pittsburgh’s relationship with decline is complicated. The city lost half its population after the steel industry collapsed in the 1970s and 1980s, yet has clung to relevance as a mini-hub for medicine, robotics and artificial intelligence. Now, 70 years after scores of regional steelworkers quite literally fought the Japanese in...
Point: National security concerns outweigh free speech
President-elect Donald Trump is correct in wanting to stall the decision to ban TikTok from appearing before the Supreme Court. Such a delay reinforces the position of diplomacy or peace through strategy. The American public can perceive this as a strategic maneuver — not a change of position on the...
Counterpoint: Defending TikTok defends the First Amendment
President-elect Donald Trump is no stranger to making bold statements. Many see his asking the Supreme Court to pause the looming TikTok ban to allow his administration to pursue a political resolution as another example of his fearlessness. As someone who has long championed free speech and individual liberties, I...
Mary Ziegler: What antiabortion activists want next
The state of Texas filed a major lawsuit Dec. 12 against a New York doctor who mailed abortion pills to a Collin County, Texas , woman, arguing the doctor was practicing medicine without a Texas license and violating the state’s abortion ban. The suit raises messy legal questions about whether...
Rachel Marsden: Why does Musk get lambasted while Soros gets decorated?
One minute, he’s telling “subtard” online critics of his policy ideas to go “(expletive) yourself in the face.” The next, he’s fanboying for populist leaders at home and abroad. So what’s the problem with Elon Musk? Aside from his politics, that is. If Musk, the richest man in the world,...
Cal Thomas: Prison reform can save money
President-elect Trump and nominees for his upcoming administration often speak about cutting spending in order to reduce the debt. Some of the targets are familiar, but one that is never mentioned is the amount of money that could be saved by releasing, or not incarcerating in the first place, nonviolent...
Heather Lauer: ‘Dark money’ is not the boogeyman it’s made out to be
Among the big losers of the 2024 election were politicians and activist groups who claim so-called “dark money” is the secret force driving American politics. Groups that do not disclose their donors once again made up a small share of overall campaign spending and notched few notable victories. The results...
Peter Morici: U.S. needs a saner approach to immigration
Americans have been appalled by thousands of illegal immigrants — those granted temporary legal status or who crossed the border undetected — exacerbating homelessness and straining shelters, schools and social services budgets. President-elect Donald Trump promised aggressive deportations during his campaign, but he hardly has a mandate. He won the...
Bruce Yandle: We should stop waiting for the pre-covid economy to return
For those waiting and hoping to see the economy return to pre-covid levels of activity, recent employment data, while showing considerable strength, must be discouraging. The data are reminiscent of American novelist and playwright Gertrude Stein’s comment following a disappointing visit to her childhood hometown, where she had hoped to...
Lanhee J. Chen: Romney’s Senate exit marks an end to the bipartisanship Washington desperately needs
Mitt Romney delivered his farewell speech before the U.S. Senate in early December. It isn’t hyperbole to say it marked the end of an era. Romney’s decades in public service will be considered historic — he is the only American to serve as governor of one state and senator for...
Amir Sommer: Our words about Israel-Hamas war can add to hostilities — or help on path to peace
The language people use to talk about the Israel-Hamas war has power: It can contribute to misunderstanding and alienation, but it can also bring about appreciation for concepts that can seem impossible during this kind of conflict, such as peace. I was born to a Palestinian Arab father and an...
Point: Democrats have an opportunity to rebuild
As this historic 2024 political year comes to a close, many Democrats are crying in their eggnog. Not only did we fail to win back the House of Representatives (this prospect seemed likely in January), but we lost the Senate and frustratingly lost the White House again — and the...
Counterpoint: GOP disarray is a positive for Democrats
As Democrats look to 2025, several factors provide them with a sense of hope and optimism for regaining and maintaining political power. The landscape of American politics can be unpredictable, but the current climate offers promising avenues for Democrats to explore as they prepare for coming elections. One of the...
Sharon Pillar: Renewables reliable, economical
Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is often referred to as insanity. As we enter our 4th consecutive year of wildly escalating electricity prices, it should be clear by now that what Pennsylvania has been doing in terms of energy is simply not working...
