Opinion

“It is never too late to get caught up with a vaccine series.” That message from Dr. Gigi Chawla, vice president and chief of general pediatrics at Children’s Minnesota, is sound medical advice for parents and students as the new school year begins.

The Secret Service agent who unsuccessfully offered his agency’s protective services to Harry and Bess W. Truman at their home at 219 N. Delaware in Independence must have had a long walk back to his car. It was late 1963 or early 1964, and the Secret Service was offering security for the Trumans following the assassination of President John Kennedy on November 22, 1963.

Last week, we lost an American treasure and a tremendous friend. Like many of you, I first met David McCullough through his Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of America’s 33rd president, “Truman.” And, like you, I have been reading the many tributes, including one by another acclaimed writer of history, Candice Millard. Writing for The Atlantic, she noted, “From David McCullough, we learned that it is never enough to simply describe the past. To read one of his books, is not just to understand the people who populate its pages, but to feel like you know them.”

A Colombian family hoping to visit Disney World right now might have to wait more than two years to get their visas. The same goes for a Nigerian investor looking to close a funding round in Silicon Valley.

by Eve Glazier, M.D., and Elizabeth Ko, M.D. Hello again, dear readers, and welcome back to our monthly letters column.

Larry Pearce, Independence To the editor: The “Vote No” crowd in Kansas won their election this month. It brought back memories of another event along the same lines held in Missouri several years ago. The “Partial Birth Abortion Act” backed by Gov. Mel Carnahan was up for passage. My wife and I were with our friends Charlie and Kathleen Kirchner motored down to the capital to talk to our senator, Ronnie DePasco, who was the Senate “whip.” We both lived in Northeast Kansas City at the time and were Democrats (like most folks in our area). I was a union man for years, first in the Ironworkers’ Local No. 10 and later in the American Postal Workers’ Union as secretary and board member.

Having spent the past week inflaming the base over the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, Republican leaders are getting exactly what they invited: threats against law enforcement and at least one actual attack that resulted in the attacker’s death. The lesson of Jan. 6, 2021 — that some of former President Donald Trump’s most radical followers will convert dangerous words into dangerous action — seems to have been lost these elected officials. They must decide which side they’re on: Law and order, or chaos and death. There is no middle ground.