Larger text
Smaller text
Print
E-mail
Man of letters
"Writing letters is in my blood," he said yesterday, adding that he's been writing them since he was 17. "It's my first love. I'm a political junkie. I eat, sleep and think news and public policy and current affairs. I think fast and write quickly and I can do it without upsetting my life too much -- and I have a very indulgent wife."
Spiegler, 47, lives in Upper St. Clair and makes his living as an unemployment compensation appeals referee for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He said he gets a kick out of knowing that thousands of people might be reading his letters.
It's always a thrill to be published in a prestige national paper like The Wall Street Journal, he said. But he says his "greatest hit" was in July, 2002, when "I'll take the suburbs," his opinion piece explaining why he left the City of Pittsburgh after 45 years, ran on the front of the Trib's Sunday Opinion & Commentary pages.
In honor of Spiegler's skills, his wide-ranging interests and his dedication to fine art of commentary, we hereby run the five emails he sent to the Trib on Tuesday morning.
The devil in Ms. Aguilera
It is easy to determine why a large portion of our youth are in a dreadful state when one examines the recent comments of well-known bimbo, dolt and songstress idol Christina Aguilera: "I like having sex. It's fun. And I shouldn't feel guilty about that. Sex is a very natural activity."
Here is exactly what society needs: one who is strangely looked up to, encouraging the "if it feels good, do it" method of living, promoting sexual activity outside of marriage: so much for character and morals, traits which apparently were not distributed to Ms. Aguilera.
As an adult, at least in years, Aguilera is, of course, free to act as irresponsibly as she wishes. It would be wonderful, though, if she would keep her big mouth shut lest others follow her down an unhealthy and immoral path, one which leads to unwanted pregnancies and venereal diseases.
An imprudent investment
The recent open house at the latest taxpayer-funded gift, the Pittsburgh Convention Center, was presented courtesy of $500,000 in state taxpayer dollars.
This at a time when our Governor is telling us that the state is in an extremely challenging budgetary period and that taxes must be increased to cover what he considers necessary government expenditures.
Given the 6,000 or so souls who appeared to preview the convention center, the cost to the taxpayer was more than $83 a head.
One should ask our state officials whether this was a prudent investment.
Better yet, the question should have been asked before proceeding with this vast waste of money.
Who is minding the store? Apparently it is individuals who possess "tin ears".
St. Paul of Baghdad
One of the best-kept secrets of American government is the quiet, steady hand of behind-the-scenes leadership and talent brought to the conflict in Iraq by Ambassador L. Paul Bremer.
Bremer very demurely works at a largely thankless task, serving as Iraq Interim Administrator. With talent, intellect and ability, he works in a dangerous environment with few of the comforts of home, his sole purpose to bring normalcy and order to the people of a nation who have led lives devoid of both.
Bremer's dedication is exemplary, even more so in view of the fact that he seeks no glory, no accolades, for his dedication to our nation and to the people of Iraq.
The people of the United States are privileged to have among our ranks a true public servant like L. Paul Bremer.
Soldiers or beasts?
As shocking revelations continue to come forth regarding countless alleged incidents of rape and sexual abuse of female students at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Co., it is legitimate to wonder whether the Academy is grooming soldiers or beasts.
The only thing more disturbing than the apparent prevalence of inhuman behavior toward females at the academy, is the fact that so many in important positions apparently knew what was occurring under their noses and chose to take no action.
There must be a thorough house-cleaning at the academy and those responsible for engaging in or allowing abuse must be exposed and punished to the fullest extent of the law. The message must be sent that behavior not befitting the Air Force Academy will not ever again be tolerated.
The architects of decline
A respected committee of distinguished individuals recently issued a scathing report on the state of the Pittsburgh public schools.
To those of us who have dutifully followed the increasingly sinking fortunes of the Pittsburgh Board of Education and its schools, none of the findings is the least bit surprising.
We are told that the Board is ineffective and divisive, that the tax burden in the city is a disaster and that teacher salaries in Pittsburgh are the highest in the nation, taking into account the cost of living in the area.
Numerous sensible reforms are proposed by the committee. It is, therefore, no surprise that individuals like Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers President Albert Fondy, one of the greatest villains in the destruction of this region and its residents, has labeled the study "dead on arrival."
Fondy has been well-compensated and kept in his lofty perch in order to escalate the salary structure of city teachers to an unsustainable, back-breaking level, and has always fought accountability and ridding the district of bad teachers. The health and welfare of area residents at large have never been of any concern to him.
Why did it take the school district and its beleaguered taxpayers coming to death's door before recognizing what needed to be done? Why were other cities with successful, low-cost school systems not studied and emulated?
Mayor Murphy, along with his criminal malfeasance in running the city into the ground, knew full well of the disaster that loomed with the school district, but chose to turn the other way.
He knew that other cities had been successful with appointed boards, boards which were accountable to their mayors and/or city council. He preferred not to make any waves, never asking for authority to change the composition of the Board or its tax structure, which helped to drive out of the city solid families like mine, families which the city could ill afford to lose.
It is difficult to have sympathy for Mayor Murphy, various Pittsburgh city councils, school boards and superintendents that have run the district into the ground and mightily punished city residents.
Now, as the city seeks to close the barn door that has been open for years, it may do little good to close it. I do not like to say, "I told you so," folks, but I told you so.
