2020
January
16
Thursday

Monitor Daily Podcast

January 16, 2020
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Our five selected stories cover U.S. judicial independence in a time of impeachment, President Vladimir Putin’s leadership transition plan, environmental stewardship in a time of deregulation, talking about faith with Democratic candidates, and a delightful film about “The Woman Who Loves Giraffes.”

Space is a reminder of infinite possibilities, a frontier that gives us an opportunity to shatter our Earth-bound assumptions.

Let’s take a moment to look at Maj. Jasmin “Jaws” Moghbeli. She’s a jarhead – a Marine – a helicopter combat pilot, and a graduate of the latest class of NASA astronauts. That’s an elite group of just 11 people culled from 18,000 applicants.

Born in Germany to Iranian parents, Major Moghbeli’s family moved to New York when she was 8 months old. She graduated from MIT with an aeronautical engineering degree. She joined the Marines in 2005, flew 150 combat missions in Afghanistan, and later became a test pilot. 

NASA classmate Jonny Kim describes her as dependable, resilient, and fierce, in short, “the perfect crewmate I’d go into the void of space with.”

Major Moghbeli told Agence France-Presse that space is where humanity tends to “agree” and “unite” even during our disagreements on this planet. She points to the International Space Station, where Russia and the United States have worked together for two decades. 

What’s next for Major Moghbeli? She could serve on the space station, NASA’s Artemis 2024 moon mission, or a Mars mission.

Consider this: The first woman to step on the moon could be an Iranian American.


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

A deeper look

As he presides over the Senate impeachment trial, expect Chief Justice John Roberts to seek to embody the independence he often promotes. He doesn’t want to lose public trust in the high court by putting a politically partisan thumb on the scale of justice. Can he do it?

Anton Vaganov/Reuters
Vladimir Putin's plan to change the Russian Constitution, which he revealed Wednesday, means he likely will hold a new office in 2024 after his presidential term ends. Here he is seen speaking during his address on a broadcast shown on the side of a building in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Most outside observers of the Russian leader’s latest plan to remake the government are focused on a personal power play. But our reporter finds that Russians also see a transition play for the day when Mr. Putin leaves. It may – or may not – be more democratic, but they see a plan that offers stability.

Nati Harnik/AP
A grain truck drives past a Keystone pipeline pumping station near Milford, Nebraska. President Donald Trump took action Jan. 9 to clear the way and speed up development of a wide range of commercial projects, such as pipelines and highways, by cutting back federal review of their impact on the environment.

Conservatives see unnecessary red tape that slows progress and costs American jobs. Liberals see transparency that protects the land, water, and air. Either way, the Trump administration is making a concerted effort to roll back environmental oversight. 

In one of the nation’s least religious states, a group of faith leaders is trying to bend the political dialogue toward spirituality – and get a clearer sense of what’s in the candidates’ hearts.

On Film

Courtesy of Zeitgeist Films
Canadian biologist Anne Innis Dagg, co-author of the 1976 book “The Giraffe: Its Biology, Behavior, and Ecology,” visits the Brookfield Zoo in Illinois.

Yes, this is a documentary about Africa's giraffes. But it’s mostly about the delightful resilience of a Canadian biologist who for 60 years pursued her long-necked passion despite discrimination. Monitor critic Peter Rainer says “Dagg is such a singular personality that everything about her seems sprightly and newly minted.” 


The Monitor's View

In many countries, where checks on both power and the abuse of power are scarce, people will be watching in awe as the U.S. Senate decides whether to remove President Donald Trump from office. Even though many Americans view either the House impeachment or the Senate trial as partisan, the formal exercise in accountability stands out on the global scene.

Just note these examples in a few big nations in which citizens have recently been denied a right to rein in personal power or ensure leaders reflect the integrity of their societies:

Two years ago, China’s president, Xi Jinping, arranged to have the ruling Communist Party eliminate a two-term limit on the presidency, allowing him to rule as “supreme leader” for life. A new official song for him is titled “To Follow You Is to Follow the Sun.”

In Egypt last year, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi won approval from parliament to rule until 2034 and to control the judiciary. He now has “authority with no accountability” in the Arab world’s most populous nation, said one Egyptian critic.

And in Russia on Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin, who has been in power for 20 years through concocted constitutional changes, made a similar move. Facing term limits in 2024, he proposed “reforms” that may allow him to rule for decades as head of a supreme “state council.”

Such authoritarian leaders can be popular – for a while. They might rule effectively to make “the trains run on time.” Yet such rule is based on the notion that individuals are not equal and cannot be trusted to define their freedom and rights through public deliberation, negotiation, and free elections. Leaders who arbitrarily set the law or deny an institutionalized mechanism for popular accountability place themselves and their cronies above the law. Corruption arises. Big mistakes are made as alternative voices are kept silent.

Holding people accountable relies on the very idea that values such as equality are universal. Just witness the mass protests of the past year in Hong Kong, Sudan, Chile, Iraq, and elsewhere. The vast numbers alone represent a demand for leaders to pay better regard to the greater good, which is best reflected in democracy. “We must always live as if we expected to have to give an account of what we have been doing,” said the statesman Scipio Africanus of ancient Rome.

In a study last year of 179 countries by the Varieties of Democracy Institute, democracy seems to be holding its own. Between 2008 and 2018 – and despite a global recession – 21 countries made progress while 24 were in the process of “autocratization.” Democracy still prevails in a majority (99) of countries. This means the methods of accountability, such as an independent judiciary and constitutional limits on executive power, still endure. In the United States, it means the people allow an impeachment trial of a president, no matter their disagreement or the outcome. Despite flaws in the process, they see their civic values at work.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world that is not so democratic can take note.


A Christian Science Perspective

About this feature

Is our destiny defined by events outside our control, limiting our potential for progress or even our chances of survival? Christian Science shows how we can experience the bright promise of salvation and blessings, not doom, in our daily lives.


A message of love

Agustin Marcarian/Reuters
Climbers trek on the Perito Moreno glacier, near the city of El Calafate, Argentina, in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz Jan. 14, 2020.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Jacob Turcotte. )

A look ahead

Thanks for joining us. Come back tomorrow: We’re working on a story about a Second Amendment sanctuary movement led by gun owners in Virginia. 

More issues

2020
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Thursday
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