After enduring the worst illness of my life for more than a month, I want to reinforce the numerous warnings issued by medical experts to please wear a mask, practice social distancing and exercise proper sanitizing to combat the deadly COVID-19 virus.
When Donald Trump became only president in our tangled history to be impeached twice, Americans found themselves asking, “What now?”
To the editor: I don’t know where to begin so I will just state that I am proud and honored to be a President Trump supporter, and I know there are many of us — more than 75 million.
‘Big boy pants’
The shouting that erupted in the state Senate on Tuesday, the reports of Lt. Gov. John Fetterman being escorted from the session over which he presides, the words used to describe the 2021 swearing-in ceremony — “ugly,” “bitter,” “chaotic” — will likely be what sticks with Pennsylvanians.
Everyone should be outraged at Democrats and Republicans for the damage they’ve done to the country during the last year.
We often use our free speech rights at the top of our lungs and in public spaces to protest loudly, proudly and prominently.
To the editor: Have Trump supporters reached the last straw? Trump supporters didn’t mind when he told the lie that Obama wasn’t really a citizen. No problem when he defended white supremicists. No repercussions when he put the word of Putin ahead of our own intelligence agencies.
To the editor: Once again the schools are in financial difficulty. I believe this is due to the total mismanagement of the board and superintendent.
The next problem
The unprecedented events since November’s election have left many Americans angry, bewildered and disenfranchised. Millions believe the vote was rigged and such strong sentiments do not bode well for future political bipartisanship.
“Green New Deal.” The phrase evokes a kind of nostalgic magic for many U.S. progressives, recalling the first 100 days of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s presidency, when Congress passed 76 laws, created transformative institutions like the Federal Direct Insurance Corp., and set the stage for a…
As our nation prepares to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 18, I can’t help but notice how much Dr. King’s dream remains relevant to the work we do at Geisinger. Dr. King dedicated his life to the peaceful service and betterment of others, just like we at Geisinger do every day for our communities.
We join the bipartisan calls for the removal of President Donald Trump from office by invoking the 25th Amendment or a swift impeachment. His incitement of his supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday was a treasonous act that cannot be tolerated.
While the mainstream media is rightfully focused on the second impeachment of President Trump and the assault on the Capitol, right wing media is obsessed with “Freedom of Speech.”
Let’s move forward
Capitol tactics
Even after the mob inspired by President Donald Trump’s lies mounted a bloody insurrection at the Capitol Jan. 6, Republican U.S. Reps. Dan Meuser and Fred Keller, both of northeast Pennsylvania, disgraced themselves by voting to reject the results of the Pennsylvania presidential election.
You might have seen the photo by now. Of all the disturbing images of Wednesday’s insurrection, this one lingers.
Why should we be surprised that at a time when everything is supposed to be about race, from the skin color of certain newspaper editors forced to resign to whether we should capitalize the “B” in “Black,” the most disturbing and consequential attack on our civic body in decades ends up bein…
Unworthy servants
Many of us began 2020 taking for granted the relative comfort and freedom we enjoyed—to get whatever we wanted, when we wanted it; and to do what we wanted to do, when and with whom we chose.
Without grace, our public discourse will continue to suffer.
Only the most
Those who took such actions Wednesday are far different from the thousands of the legitimate protesters in the nation’s capital to show their lawful support for President Donald Trump, who objected to the election results but who didn’t take part in unlawful activities.
When a New York nurse became the first person in the U.S. to receive the much-anticipated COVID-19 vaccine, even President Trump’s critics heralded the moment as a victory in the fight against the virus that has killed 350,000 Americans. It seemed a partial vindication of Trump’s reliance on…
Assembling to protest is our right under the First Amendment — it’s how we talk to each other as a nation.
To the editor: Fred Keller, Dan Meuser, Glenn Thompson and five other Pennsylvania Republican congressmen, Mike Kelly, John Joyce, Scott Perry, Guy Reschenthaler and Lloyd Smucker, should resign from Congress because:
To the editor: U.S. Army Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds, a Christian (Methodist denomination), said these words. These words coupled with his extraordinary leadership and courage saved the lives of more than 1,200 American World War II soldiers, 200 of which were Jewish-American soldiers, and al…
Congressman Keller needs to denounce false information
Inspect the machines
During New Year’s Eve, many stayed up not to see the emergence of 2021, but to make sure 2020 made its way out.
We shouldn’t take the threat of sedition lightly. In the United States, democracy has prevailed for over 2 1/2 centuries and the transfer of power from one political figure to another has always occurred peacefully. We are experiencing a profound threat to this orderly transition—one our fou…
Having worked in a newsroom for 10 years now, I think I’ve been able to get a pretty solid handle on how people perceive journalism in modern times.
To the editor: In 2019, Shamokin City Council passed an ordinance to place a question on the ballot requesting the formation of a “government study commission” as the intent of council was to enact a Home Rule charter. Seven of the 14 government study commission candidates were made up of po…
One word for Keller
All aspects of our lives were upended by the 2020 pandemic. The media reminded us daily of the violent social unrest and alleged racial injustice. They failed to cover abuses of our core democratic voting practices which cast long shadows over the efficacies of our election process. At a tim…
To the editor: Sen. Gordner, in the past you and I have sat at the same table and discussed political issues. What has happened to you that you have decided that your membership in the Republican Party trumps all other concerns — and overrides the votes that Pennsylvania citizens have cast? …
Biden’s fault
To the editor: As owner of the Catawese Coach Lines Inc., I applied for financial assistance from the Northumberland County commissioners through Coronavirus Aid (CARES) Act. The county commissioners rejected my application without explanation.
Permit fees
They were fired, demoted or passed over in their jobs. Their lives and the well-being of their families were threatened. They faced harassment on the streets and savage attacks on social media.
Bush-leaguer
When the federal government began doling out COVID-19 relief funding, its goal was to act quickly to pump money into the pockets of individuals and businesses in need of assistance.
My new puppy entered the world on Christmas and he’s already bringing incredible joy into my family – just as many dogs, cats and other bundles of joy are doing for millions during these unusual times.
This column expresses the views of Gene Policinski, senior fellow for the First Amendment, Freedom Forum.
Across the 15 years in which the gas industry has made Pennsylvania the nation’s second-largest producer, the state Legislature has taken extraordinary steps to give the industry its way. At different times, lawmakers have reduced the state’s regulatory capability, overriden local zoning, gr…
Some scholarly soul observed that 2020 began as 1974 with a presidential impeachment. Then it turned into 1918 with a global pandemic that quickly morphed into 1929 with the March stock market crash, followed by 2008 with a recession, and finally 1968 with civil rights protests.
O’ Pennsylvania! Where do we go from here?
To the editor: Once again, I am dismayed by what is taking place in our country. OUR country. The country of the people that was founded almost 250 years ago because were under the yoke of tyranny, despotism and bad government. A government that cared little for its own people and used its p…
To the editor: Time is running out for the Republicans to make a decision: Trump or country. These individuals must exhibit the courage to reject Trump’s assault on our democracy or support a president who has governed with a lack of integrity, ethics, knowledge and organization. Trump’s lea…
Where’s the money?
The 40th anniversary of the Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear accident has produced an irony no fiction writer, however, brazen could produce: TMI’s owner, the Exelon Corp., has announced that it will close the plant in September.
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