I don’t know where Westmoreland County Commissioner Doug Chew gets his idea that voters do not want mail-in voting (“Westmoreland commissioner says county voters want end to no-excuse mail-in ballots; another disputes that” ). There are many of us who are old, ill, frail or physically handicapped, or lack transportation, or are in fear of covid-19, but whose minds are in perfectly good working order.
We are grateful for the chance to make our voices heard, without the sometimes impossible struggle to get to the voting booths. Perhaps Chew needs to learn the simple lesson of considering other people.
If he is only concerned about his supporters, I am not one of them.
Lynne Henry, Greensburg
Abolishing the death penalty
At a recent virtual event on Catholicism and capital punishment, people with personal experience with the death penalty shared powerful stories. Vickie and Syl Schieber’s daughter, Shannon, a 23-year-old Wharton School doctoral student, was raped and murdered in Philadelphia. Kirk Bloodsworth, an honorably discharged Marine, was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of 9-year-old Dawn Hamilton.
As devout Catholics, the Schiebers believe that every human life has value. So when their daughter’s killer was caught, they pleaded with the district attorney not to seek the death penalty, believing that another killing was not the answer. Against their express wishes, the district attorney pursued a death sentence.
Bloodsworth spent eight years on death row before the newly emerging science of DNA proved that he was not the killer. Bloodsworth converted to Catholicism during that time and always believed that God was by his side and had a plan for him. His faith in God is what got him through that difficult time.
I have seen more cases where injustice was carried in a death sentence rather than justice, whether it be a wrongful conviction or constantly forcing victims’ families to relive their tragedies. The Schiebers and Bloodsworth have all been deeply affected by the death penalty and believe that it should be abolished. After hearing both stories, I, too, can only hope for the abolishment of the death penalty.
Lauren Cosey, Greensburg
The writer, an intern with Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, will graduate from Seton Hill University, Greensburg, in May with a criminal justice degree.
We’ll be glad to have another Republican president
To all you liberals out there, I hope you see what is happening to our country after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Democrats were going to “change America.” There have been so many changes in only two months of President Biden’s four-year term.
They are putting illegal immigrants up in hotels, in beds, while National Guard troops assigned to D.C. after the Jan. 6 riots were asked to sleep on the cement floor of a parking garage (and some were given moldy and contaminated food to boot). They are treating noncitizens better than our protecting troops.
Those who voted for Biden and his empty promise of unity should be ashamed. His policies and executive orders will leave a financial burden and a lower standard of living for your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
I know Donald Trump was not perfect, but he kept his promises more than other politicians, and loved America and its people. With 3¾ years to go with this one-party rule, America will be glad to elect a Republican for president again in 2024.
Ray W. Falbo, Unity
Steps we can take to stop gun violence
Sadly, as our country slowly returns to normalcy, it seems mass murders by white domestic terrorists have returned also. Lax gun purchase laws in Georgia allowed the shooter there to go out and purchase a gun as easily as buying a soda in a convenience store.
Had there been a five-day waiting period (or cool-down period for those with mental issues), perhaps the issues that plagued the Atlanta shooter would have passed, or he could have sought help instead of acting on his fatal desires.
Like clockwork, within two weeks, there was another shooting in Colorado. One detail we know is that the shooter should not have been able to possess a gun. Second Amendment nuts always fear total bans. That is not what reformists want. We just want to find a way to keep deadly weapons out of the hands of the mentally ill.
There is no foolproof method, but red-flag laws and waiting periods for purchases are a step. Hopefully someday those on the right will come aboard. Sadly, even with a majority, the Democrats will be thwarted in the Senate if they try to pass any commonsense legislation. If this occurs as usual the blood will be on the hands of the GOP.
Joe Lucas, South Side
Idiotic covid reasoning
This whole covid thing has put the idiots in charge.
I had to submit a release-of-records form to my doctor. I offered to hand-deliver it to the office. I was told that was unacceptable, and they would not accept it. I would have to mail or fax it (email not an option). I was told this was because of covid.
So let me get this straight: If I hand-deliver it, two people will come in contact with the document, me and the receptionist. If I mail it, I put it in an envelope, seal it with spit and put it into a mailbox with many other documents sealed with spit. A postal employee takes it out, handles it and mixes it with yet more mail. It then goes to a mail facility where it is handled and sorted. It then travels to the delivery site, again mixing with other mail, and is finally sorted to where another postal employee delivers it to the doctor’s office.
And that is safer than just one person coming into contact with the document by handing it directly to the doctor’s employee.
Dennis Pavlik, Murrysville
Citizens, not ‘anybody,’ have right to vote
In his column “Republicans consider ballots more dangerous than bullets,” when he states that “in America, you see, everybody should have the right to vote, period,” Leonard Pitts Jr. misses one very important item: Our Constitution states that “citizens of the United States” have the right to vote, not anybody living in the United States.
We need strong voter ID, especially for mail-in ballots. You cannot cash a check, enter a federal government building, fly anywhere, reenter our country from outside of it, enter Canada or Mexico, etc., without a valid ID.
Wake up America, before we lose the best country ever founded in the world.
Harold W. Beatty III, Arnold
Any satisfaction with presidential election?
I have chosen to not divulge an opinion regarding the unfolding of current events. With the hostility on exhibit in the divided world of today, it doesn’t seem to be worth the exposure. Recently, I read Carol Carion’s letter “Voting for Biden was critical mistake”). It was succinct, elucidating and, I think, on target. Hoorah for Carol.
I once had a high school assignment, from an astute English teacher, to research the name George Orwell and, in doing so, I came upon a book simply and provocatively titled “1984.” Years later, I came to discover that Orwell was a pseudonym for Eric Arthur Blair. About halfway through the book, “I got it.” It was a warning against totalitarianism. My reaction at that time was that totalitarianism could not happen in a free America. Today, my reaction would be different.
What is happening in the America of 2021? When did it start? Why are there so many forces trying to change America? Did the record number of votes counted in the recent election foretell of the current events? Is there any remorse, or is there general satisfaction with the outcome of the election? I would like to have some of my friends and relatives explain their satisfaction with the outcome of the recent election. I dare not ask.
Joseph G. Cremonese, Hempfield
"many" - Google News
April 10, 2021 at 11:01PM
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Sounding off: Many voters want, need mail-in voting - TribLIVE
"many" - Google News
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