The Conversation - Is impeaching Trump pointless?

+ the rollout of the polio vaccine didn't go smoothly either ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

A House majority, including 10 Republicans, voted yesterday to impeach President Donald Trump for his role inciting the riots at the U.S. Capitol last week. The trial in the Senate likely won’t take place until after the president leaves office on Jan. 20, leading some to question the point of impeachment.

Scholar Michael Blake, who writes about the moral justifications of social and legal institutions, argues impeachment is not about control or punishment, but aims to mark the moral limits of a presidency.

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Kalpana Jain

Senior Religion + Ethics Editor

A different type of protest comes to the Capitol. Paul Morigi/Getty Images for MoveOn

Is impeaching President Trump ‘pointless revenge’? Not if it sends a message to future presidents

Michael Blake, University of Washington

Even though a House majority voted to impeach, President Trump, the process will likely not be finished before he's left office. A philosopher argues why the impeachment is an important moral action.

Ethics + Religion
Capitol siege raises questions over extent of white supremacist infiltration of US police Vida Johnson, Georgetown University The FBI has long warned that white supremacist groups are seeking to infiltrate police, which makes the events of Jan. 6 all the more concerning.

Science + Technology

The great polio vaccine mess and the lessons it holds about federal coordination for today’s COVID-19 vaccination effort

Bert Spector, Northeastern University

Massive vaccine distribution efforts take a lot of coordination. The rollout of the Salk polio vaccine in the US in 1955 holds lessons for those delivering COVID-19 shots today.
The price of a drug should be based on its therapeutic benefits – not just what the market will bear

Nicole Hassoun, Binghamton University, State University of New York

'Orphan drugs' with high price points are being tested as treatments for COVID-19. There's a better way to spur low-cost innovation for new drugs.

Politics/Election '20

The Confederate battle flag, which rioters flew inside the US Capitol, has long been a symbol of white insurrection

Jordan Brasher, Columbus State University

Since its creation, the infamous diagonal blue cross with white stars on a red background has been a symbol of white resistance to giving Black Americans more political power.
The perils of associating ‘white’ with ‘privilege’ in the classroom

Ritika Goel, University of California, Berkeley

Pointing out the benefits of white privilege has become a racial justice rallying cry, but associating 'white' with 'privilege' in the classroom can harm academic performance among students of color.

Education
Does reopening schools cause COVID-19 to spread? It’s complicated Scott A Imberman, Michigan State University; Dan Goldhaber, American Institutes for Research; Katharine O. Strunk, Michigan State University When a community reopens its schools and COVID-19 rates increase, other factors – not the reopening of schools – may still be to blame, new research finds.

Arts + Culture
Mega Millions jackpot is $750 million – where does all the lottery tax revenue really go? Liberty Vittert, Washington University in St Louis The Mega Millions lotto pot for Jan. 15 is the second largest it's ever been. Taxes on the lotto go to state governments, but often the money isn't spent in quite the way it's supposed to be.

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Anti-nutrients – they’re part of a normal diet and not as scary as they sound

Jill Joyce, Oklahoma State University

Anti-nutrients naturally occur in food and can block the amount of other nutrients available for your body to use. But their effects aren't all bad, which is why they're undergoing an image makeover.
Apollo landers, Neil Armstrong’s bootprint and other human artifacts on Moon officially protected by new US law

Michelle L.D. Hanlon, University of Mississippi

Who cares what happens to bootprints on the Moon? All humans should. And thankfully the US Congress and president agree.
I spoke to 99 big thinkers about what our ‘world after coronavirus’ might look like – this is what I learned

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There's no going back to normal after COVID-19, partly because our pre-pandemic world was anything but normal.

The Conversation - Is impeaching Trump pointless?

Is impeaching President Trump ‘pointless revenge’? Not if it sends a message to future presidents

Ethics + Religion

Capitol siege raises questions over extent of white supremacist infiltration of US police

Science + Technology

The great polio vaccine mess and the lessons it holds about federal coordination for today’s COVID-19 vaccination effort

The price of a drug should be based on its therapeutic benefits – not just what the market will bear

Politics/Election '20

The Confederate battle flag, which rioters flew inside the US Capitol, has long been a symbol of white insurrection

The perils of associating ‘white’ with ‘privilege’ in the classroom

Education

Does reopening schools cause COVID-19 to spread? It’s complicated

Arts + Culture

Mega Millions jackpot is $750 million – where does all the lottery tax revenue really go?

Most read on site

Anti-nutrients – they’re part of a normal diet and not as scary as they sound

Apollo landers, Neil Armstrong’s bootprint and other human artifacts on Moon officially protected by new US law

I spoke to 99 big thinkers about what our ‘world after coronavirus’ might look like – this is what I learned

Older messages

Turning the Capitol siege into a teachable moment

Why Biden's biggest challenge could be Trump

Reining in the president?

Thank you

Sustaining hope in bleak times

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