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The Thought Provoker:

Matt is first this week: This week The US House voted to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib over her Israel-Hamas rhetoric in a stunning rebuke for using this phrase. A censure is the strongest action the House can take against one of its members other than removing them from office. In the 1860s members were censured for Making statements in support of the Confederate rebellion. In the 1980s members were censured for engaging in sexual conduct with pages. Rep. Tlaib is the only Palestinian-American in Congress. The censure was bi-partisan. Was this the right thing to do?

Next up Shawn: This week Joe Manchin announced he’s quitting politics. Mitt Romney is done.  Vivek Ramaswamy accused Nicky Haley of failing financially in her personal life then using her political influence to get on the boards of Boeing, etc to become a millionaire. Our government Institutions are platforms for notoriety. Does The incentive structure of notoriety and income outweigh the altruistic duty of service and loyalty to the values of the Us constitution? Are Politics now performative instead of substantive?

Finally, Sam: What are the moral implications of implanting neuralink with AI capabilities and allowing that to govern the human body and possibly, ultimately the human mind? Here is a video showing what the technology can do.

The Big Question:

McKay Coppins wrote a biography of Mitt Romney and had access to his journals and private correspondence. I want to do a series of big questions based on things Coppins reports about Mitt Romney in this interview. Here is the first Big Question: At the 29:00 mark, Coppins discusses a time in which President Ballard asked Romney to create an LDS version of the Anti-Defamation League to defend the church. Romney decided not to do it because he thinks that the biggest problem for the church is young people leaving the church, not attacks from the media. If a member of the Quorum of the Twelve asks you to do something, what is the appropriate response?