Breaking News

Local Columns

The twilight’s last gleaming

“This is not about freedom or personal choice.” — President Joseph R. Biden, Sept. 9, 2021 It was scandalous and infuriating to hear President Joseph R. Biden argue last week that his so-called vaccine mandates somehow have nothing to do with freedom or personal choice. In saying that, he has rejected our history, our values and the Constitution he swore to uphold. He made his ignorant statement while outlining his plan to have the Department of Labor issue emergency regulations requiring every employer in America of 100 or more persons to compel all its employees to receive ...

Real solutions come from the people

In addition to pushing back against a Washington-centric tax-and-spend plan that would add trillions more onto our national debt, I spent the month of August connecting with the people who live and work in communities across Pennsylvania’s 12th District so that our team can best represent them in Congress. Their message was clear. Americans should define their government; the government should not define them. Unfortunately, Washington Democrats’ $3.5 trillion proposal to radically expand the scope of the federal government in almost every aspect of Americans’ lives would lead to ...

How necessary are hate crime laws?

Love and hate: the two most prevalent human emotions. Every human on the planet, save those afflicted with serious mental health issues, has experienced these feelings. They cannot be legislated and neither emotion is in itself considered to be a crime. It is what some people do with their hate that is the problem. The eruption of hate into criminal behavior resulted in passage of a federal hate crimes law back in 1968. It has been amended several times over the years to include crimes committed against someone based on actual or perceived race, color, religion, sexual orientation, ...

20 years later, are we better off?

When the hijacked planes hit the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that first 9/11, the Taliban were in control of Afghanistan and providing sanctuary for al-Qaida. Today, the Taliban are in control of Afghanistan and providing sanctuary to al-Qaida. What then did our longest war accomplish? The Afghan army and government we stood up and sustained for decades has collapsed. The U.S. military has withdrawn. U.S. citizens and thousands of Afghans who fought alongside us have been left behind. The triumphant Taliban of today are far stronger than were the Taliban ...

Where were you 20 years ago?

Today is a solemn day in our nation’s history. For it was on this date 20 years ago terrorists attacked the United States using four hijacked airplanes. Of course, we all know what happened to them. Two of the planes — American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 — were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, eventually causing the iconic buildings to collapse. A third plane — American Airlines Flight 77 — crashed into the side of the Pentagon just across the Potomac River from Washington D.C. But the people on the fourth plane ...

Texas, abortion and the Constitution

Last week, this column addressed state nullification and secession under the U.S. Constitution. It argued, in effect, that when the government fails to protect fundamental liberties or actively assaults them — as it has done in the past 18 months under the guise of public health — the states and individuals can peacefully ignore the government and, if necessary, leave it. The concept of states leaving the federal government has been dead and buried since the outcome of the War Between the States. Yet four years after the war, the Supreme Court recognized secession in an old Texas ...