Get educated about life-saving vaccines

A child died last week.

The death was not caused by a firearm or a foreign power; it was caused by a microscopic organism -- the measles virus.

Measles is a contagious illness with multiple after-effects. My brother has hearing loss because he had measles before the vaccine was available.

He would not have had this lifelong disability if he was immunized.

Vaccine hesitancy of parents and caregivers put children at unnecessary risk.

If desired; the measles or mumps or rubella immunization can be given as a single vaccine instead of the trivalent (three immunizations in one shot).

The National Institute of Health considers the MMR one of the most effective vaccines.

Vaccine safety education continues to be the best method to overcome false claims regarding immunizations. Please talk with your trusted health care provider about vaccinations and save your child’s or another’s life.

Nancy Michela, DAHS, MS, RN

Burnt Hills

The writer is an associate professor of nursing at Russell Sage College.

Beware who’s really running the country

If Donald Trump was elected president on Nov. 5, 2024, and inaugurated on Jan. 20 as the 47th president, why is Elon Musk running this country and the office of president? Better be careful. There are snakes on the plane, and they are loose.

Rita Smith

Schenectady

Why are we backing Russia over Ukraine?

I watched the Feb. 28 press conference in the White House.

Both President Trump and Vice President Vance bullied and tried to humiliate President Zelenskyy before our very eyes and ears.

It was a “tag team” performance worthy of the WWE. Vladimir Putin cannot be trusted with words alone. He only respects power. If the United States doesn’t back our European allies and the Ukraine, the fighting will continue.

I don’t understand why President Trump believes he can trust Putin.

Also, Vice President Vance should not have interjected himself as he did because he antagonized President Zelenskyy, and the meeting went downhill from there.

Neither Trump nor Vance have ever visited Ukraine, so they don’t know the full extent of the damage done by the Russian invasion that continues into its fourth year.

They tried to humiliate and intimidate Zelenskyy, and they failed.

I don’t understand the strategy of embracing Putin and trying to publicly bully and humiliate an ally.

Doug McFadden

Niskayuna

Founders meant for change to be deliberate

I’m convinced that one of the biggest reasons Donald Trump is so popular right now is that he appears to be making changes happen quickly. As a society, we have become enamored with speed.

For the past few years we have experienced extreme polarization and political gridlock. Democrats and Republicans have often refused to compromise to solve our problems. So watching the president issue executive order after executive order seems like progress. This is certainly not what the framers of the Constitution wanted. They wanted a government that would be steady, careful, reliable, dependable and consistent.

The legislative branch, Congress, was designed to be slow and deliberate. It takes a long time for an idea to become a bill and for a bill to make it through both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The judicial branch also was created to move slowly. The Supreme Court holds hearings before determining which cases to consider. The evidence is carefully considered. An emphasis is placed on former precedents.

Our government was created to be strong and stable. It is very difficult to change our Constitution. That is why we have only had 27 amendments in over 200 years.

I hope we reconsider our desire for quick changes in our government. It is the consistency and reliability of our government that has enabled us to live in freedom for so long.

Raymond LeBel

Charlton

Trump enabled by a spineless Congress

The event in the Oval Office on Feb. 28 was a disaster for America’s standing as the world leader of free and democratic countries. What transpired over the following weekend? The president escaped to one of his resorts, the vice president went skiing in Vermont, while the rest of the leaders of the free world met in London to pledge support for Ukraine, a country desperately fighting for its freedom for the past three years.

I also find it incredible that the United States voted in agreement with Russia and North Korea to reject Russia’s aggressive invasion of Ukraine in a UN resolution supported by the rest of the free world.

We seem to have a Congress the majority of which is made up of spineless lemmings who have abandoned their morals and integrity to obey their leader and trample the Constitution as they lead us over the cliff. These folks and the collection of bobble-head dolls that fill the president’s cabinet and shake their heads yes to whatever he says have many of us wondering where this will all lead. I shudder to think of the possibilities.

Bob Fredette

Niskayuna

Musk administration empowers corruption

Now that we’re five weeks into the Musk administration, what has it accomplished?

First it killed USAID most likely because of an investigation into cost overruns with the Starlinks installation in Ukraine, the same system Musk wants $2 billion for to install at U.S. airports. Killing USAID will leave thousands without food and medicine, but these are mostly in what Donald Trump refers to as sh----le countries, so who cares?

Next, about a dozen........

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