Featured Commentary category, Page 62
Cal Thomas: On Hunter Biden, whom to believe?
It is an unfortunate truism of politics that partisans tend to believe the worst about members of the opposite party and no amount of facts — if, indeed, facts can be agreed upon — move people from their entrenched positions. Largely, I think, it’s all about gaining or keeping power...
Peter Rutland: Wagner’s mutiny punctured Putin’s ‘strongman’ image and exposed cracks in his rule
Less than 24 hours after the mutiny began, it was over. As the rebelling Wagner column bore down on Moscow, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko brokered a deal under which Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to drop criminal charges against the mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and allow him to seek asylum...
Sen. Katie Muth and Alison L. Steele: Train derailments bode poorly for public health amid planned petro and hydrogen hubs
The recent train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, spewed toxic chemicals into surrounding neighborhoods. Since pollution knows no borders, this polluted air was carried to communities in Pennsylvania as well. Similar train derailments have occurred in other states since that time. Tightening lax standards on the transportation of hazardous chemicals...
Abraham Jacob Bonowitz: Pittsburgh synagogue shooter should not be executed
Recently, the shooter in the 2018 hate-fueled antisemitic Pittsburgh synagogue attack was convicted. Now there will be a trial to decide if we eventually make him world famous again by executing him many years from now, or instead simply forget his name and throw away the key. Six days earlier,...
William Haupt III: Millennials moving to the center and right
One of the most puzzling and questionable enigmas of modern American political parties is the Democrats have had majorities that controlled Congress much longer than Republicans have. At one time, Democrats controlled the House for 36 consecutive years and 56 of the past 60 years. It’s also hard to believe...
Rep. Mike Schlossberg: Investments in mental health care would be big step for Pa.
One in 5 Americans actively suffers from some sort of mental illness. Is that person you, or someone you love? I’ve been a state representative for over a decade and suffered from depression and anxiety my whole life. As someone who lives with mental illness, I wish I had known...
Samuel L. Boyd: Tree of life powerful image in Jewish tradition
After weeks of wrenching testimony, jurors delivered a guilty verdict June 16 for the gunman who killed 11 worshippers in a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 — the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. The next phase of the trial will focus on sentencing, and whether Robert Bowers should face the...
Bruce Schneier and Nathan Sanders: AI could shore up democracy — here’s one way
It’s become fashionable to think of artificial intelligence as an inherently dehumanizing technology, a ruthless force of automation that has unleashed legions of virtual skilled laborers in faceless form. But what if AI turns out to be the one tool able to identify what makes your ideas special, recognizing your...
Christian Appy: ‘Courage is contagious’ — Daniel Ellsberg’s decision to release the Pentagon Papers didn’t happen in a vacuum
In 1971, when Daniel Ellsberg arrived at a federal court in Boston, a journalist asked if he was concerned about the prospect of going to prison for leaking a 7,000-page top-secret history of the Vietnam War. Ellsberg responded with a question of his own: “Wouldn’t you go to prison to...
Minerva Canto: Are book bans unconstitutional? They are certainly political.
In Missouri, the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel “Maus” about the Holocaust faced possible removal from schools for at least the third time over its depiction of a female character in a bathtub. In South Carolina, an Advanced Placement teacher has been forced to abandon her lesson about systemic racism using...
Matthew Yglesias: America can fix its highways much faster, if it wants
The collapse of a section of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia, smack dab in the middle of the densest region of the U.S., is an obvious disaster for the nation’s transportation network. But the demolition work, which began within hours, is already ahead of schedule, the repair work will be expedited,...
Cal Thomas: China’s economy and America’s opportunity
Many have tried not buying items made in China, but it is a near impossibility. Everything from prescription drugs to you name it seems to originate in a country whose regime is proving to be America’s greatest adversary and growing enemy. Which is why now may be the ideal time...
Peter Morici: Biden is vulnerable in 2024, but Republicans offer too little in response
From a legislative perspective, Joe Biden is the most successful president since Ronald Reagan, but he faces skeptical voters in his bid for reelection. The American Rescue Plan, Infrastructure Act, Chips and Science Act and green energy, electric vehicle and other industrial policy initiatives embedded in the Inflation Reduction Act...
Ron Klink: Biden must put American workers first and fight corruption overseas
As President Biden hosts Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House this week, Modi will become the third world leader to be honored with an official state visit by our president. As India implements economic reforms and emerges as a global economic power, the Biden administration must do...
Joyce M. Davis: Pa. highway collapse shows how vulnerable our roads are
Traffic has been severed in both directions on one of America’s busiest and most economically important thoroughfares. It will be months before I-95 is back to normal in the Philadelphia area, after a truck carrying thousands of gallons of gasoline crashed into a wall and burst into flames June 12....
Jason Kavulich and Bill Johnston-Walsh: Pa. needs a master plan written for — and by — older adults
Gov. Josh Shapiro recently signed an executive order laying the groundwork for creating a Pennsylvania Master Plan for Older Adults. The master plan will serve as a roadmap to building and maintaining a commonwealth where every resident can live and thrive at any age. AARP and the Department of Aging...
James Cato and Evan Clark: Pa.’s rivers have a plastics problem, and nobody is willing to act
All Pennsylvanians have the right to clean water. But there is a plastics problem in our rivers, and nobody has been willing to address it properly. We know who is currently causing the problem, and we know how to fix it. And, there is precedent to take action — watershed...
Stacy Garrity: First responders protect all of us in our time of need. They deserve basic mental health benefits.
A police officer arrives at the scene of a robbery and disarms the culprit before anyone is injured. A firefighter rushes into a burning building — not thinking about their own safety — and saves a child. An EMT arrives at the scene of a crash, treats anyone who’s injured...
Danielle M. Reiff: White women and racial (in)justice — it’s not black and white
Mayella Ewell is one of the most complex characters in “To Kill a Mockingbird.” She is a white woman who makes sexual advances toward her Black neighbor, Tom Robinson. When he refuses, she falsely accuses him of rape. During Tom’s trial, we learn that Mayella’s father is a drunkard who...
Jason C. Bivins: How Pat Robertson changed Christian media and made it politically influential
For Americans growing up between the 1950s and the ’80s, religion was a predictable presence on television: There were weekly Sunday morning shows and religious programming that issued end-time warnings, sought monetary contributions or staged faith healings. But none of those covered news. Pat Robertson, who died June 8, changed...
Letter to the editor: When will we see another victory?
Recently we paused to observe Memorial Day and recognize those who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our flag and nation. These heroes brought us our glorious back-to-back World War victories. Many others fought in wars (conflicts, conflagrations, etc.) not officially declared or fully supported by a government that put...
Yarone Zober: Downtown can make comeback again … with care for place and people
Since 1753, when a young British major named George Washington recognized that the land at the confluence of Pittsburgh’s three rivers was “extremely well situated for a fort,” our “Golden Triangle” of a Downtown has been recognized as a special place. This little patch of land, a little less than...
Gary Ross: How the exposure of highly classified documents could harm U.S. security — and why there are laws against storing them insecurely
When Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on June 13 to federal criminal charges related to his alleged illegal retention of classified documents, it was his first opportunity to formally answer charges that he violated the Espionage Act. The Justice Department alleges that, after his presidency, Trump held, in an unsecure...
Robert Gregerson: Pitt-Greensburg’s state discount critical for students, local economy
It’s been 60 years since six local school districts asked the University of Pittsburgh to establish a regional campus in Westmoreland County, and look how far we’ve come. Today, the University of Pittsburgh at Greenburg proudly continues our mission to serve the educational needs of the region — two-thirds of...
Matthew J. Brouillette: No one — including unions — should be above the law
On June 1, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in Glacier Northwest v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union No. 174. The case in question concerned whether Glacier, a concrete company, could sue the Teamsters due to striking employees’ intentionally destroying Glacier’s property by leaving concrete running in trucks...
