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Columns/Opinion

Immigrants serve America, too

Honor. Courage. Commitment. These were the Marine Corps values instilled in me day in and day out from the very moment I first stepped foot on those yellow footprints at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island to become a United States Marine. I was born in Pakistan. I immigrated to the U.S. around age 6. English was my second language. Oh yes, did I mention — I’m tan skinned and a proud Muslim. And just like many Americans, I follow the news and try to keep myself apprised of all that’s taking place in our nation, in particular, these days, the U.S. Congress and its potential ...

2020’s bellwether House race in western Pennsylvania

Army combat veteran Sean Parnell kicked off his race as a Republican running for the U.S. House here at Pamela’s Diner in Mount Lebanon, Pa. It’s within a stone’s throw of the district office of Rep. Conor Lamb, the Democrat he’s challenging for the 17th House District seat in 2020. “My plan for today is just to tell the voters who I am, give them a sense of what I stand for and just listen to them and figure out what they feel is important,” said Parnell before he headed off to two other diners in the district in Beaver and Butler counties in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. ...

Democrats preside over stronger national economies

Are you worried that the economy grew by only 1.9% in the recent quarter? That’s a pretty weak performance. But it would seem downright dismal if you believed Donald Trump’s assertion during the 2016 campaign that 1.9% growth during one of Barack Obama’s quarters signaled an economy “in deep trouble.” Economists are now forecasting 1.8% gross domestic product growth in the fourth quarter. Things are most definitely slowing down. Clearly, Trump will not whip the economy into the 4% annual growth he bragged about during the campaign. Never mind 6%. And despite the economy’s ...

The importance of ‘no-men’ to any successful leader

Shortly after Jim Bakker’s release from prison in July 1994, I invited the disgraced TV evangelist to my home. There was an important question I wanted to ask him. Some background: Bakker and his “Praise the Lord” (PTL) associates sold $1,000 “lifetime memberships” to people who were promised annual three-night stays at his Heritage USA luxury hotel complex in Fort Mill, S.C. According to what prosecutors revealed at his trial on fraud charges, Bakker sold tens of thousands of these memberships for a hotel that had only 500 rooms planned and was never completed. It was ...

Rule levels playing field, sort of

Adam Hoffer and Jared Pincin Tribune News Service The NCAA recently announced it will allow college athletes to profit from their names, images and likenesses beginning January 2021. The landmark decision is long overdue. The question on everyone’s mind is, “What happens now?” The new era should be fairer — for athletes, for many universities and even for fans pining for better competition. While officials have not yet decided on the not-so-small details of how these payments will be constrained, enforced and monitored, college athletes could soon earn what they’re ...

Social media platforms and fate of truth

It may be too much. And also too little. Meaning last week’s announcement by Twitter that it is banning all political advertising over concerns that the medium gives politicians too much reach, too much power to deceive. News of the ban, which takes effect later this month, comes as that other social media giant — Facebook — struggles with fallout from its refusal to reject untrue political ads. Meaning not simply “spin,” but flat-out falsehoods. CEO Mark Zuckerberg, whose understanding of the First Amendment evidences all the depth of a “Schoolhouse Rock!” video, seems to ...