| This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a presidential phone call transcript of Bloomberg Opinion's opinions. Sign up here. Today's AgendaCoup Watch: The Pence-eningOn this day a year ago, we were getting ready for the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. Now, less than three weeks before Trump is due to leave the White House, perhaps Jerry Lundegaard style, people are talking about impeaching him once again for old time's sake. That's because Trump probably broke some laws, and definitely abused his power, when he rang up Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to tell him he had a nice state there, be a shame if something should happen to it if he couldn't find 11,779 votes to swing the presidential election to Trump. Threatening officials is a well-worn page from the Trump playbook, writes Tim O'Brien. But this time the stakes are the highest they've ever been. Trump really seems loath to leave the protections of the presidency, and will gladly set democracy on fire to avoid it. Of course, this is just Trump being Trump. It wouldn't matter nearly as much to our social fabric without the backing of several Republicans who should know better, such as Harvard Law-educated Ted Cruz. He and other lawmakers have cheered on Trump's delusional quest for weeks and plan to object to Wednesday's congressional rubber-stamping of President-elect Joe Biden's victory. This is all for show, merely delaying the inevitable, and Jonathan Bernstein notes it's impossible to know whether Republicans actually agree with Trump's conspiracy theories. But that really doesn't matter: It's still dangerous that so many of them think they can get away with these stunts. Fortunately, enough Republicans have done their jobs to preserve the system, including Raffensperger. The next one could be Vice President Mike Pence, whether he likes it or not. His superpower is avoiding doing anything that could slightly discomfit Trump, but Cass Sunstein writes Pence has no legal choice but to preside over Wednesday's proceedings. Barring an actual coup, that will be the end of the line for Trump, impeachment or no. Goofus and Gallant, Vaccine EditionThroughout this pandemic, we've heard various good reasons for slowing the spread of Covid-19, starting with the need to keep hospitals from overflowing, as they're doing again now. What we haven't heard as often is that letting these bugs replicate bazillions of times fast-forwards their evolution, leading to new strains that could be harder to control. We're getting to that point now, warns Faye Flam, with worrisome variants in the U.K. and South Africa. This is all the more reason for everybody to wear masks and keep their distance and hurry the heck up with those vaccines, already. If everybody handled vaccinations the way Israel does, then maybe we wouldn't have to worry as much. The country has gotten shots in the arms of nearly a fifth of its population in just a couple of weeks, writes Daniel Gordis, a reminder of its socialist roots and its unique ability to unite against a common enemy. The Goofus to Israel's Gallant has to be France, which as Lionel Laurent notes has inoculated only 516 people at last count, not even enough to fill a big Dave & Buster's. This is a disgraceful showing for Emmanuel Macron's government. Between these extremes are countries such as the U.S., whose vaccination campaign is off to a sluggish start, and India, which is trying to rush a home-grown vaccine to market without adequate testing. Andy Mukherjee warns nationalist fervor could erode the world's trust in the vaccines India does produce. Further Pandemic-Management Reading: Singapore's success requires high levels of government control and public willingness. It may not travel well. — Dan Moss Markets Still Writing '2020' on Their ChecksIt's a new year for most of us, but for markets, it's basically the 13th month of 2020. Just like last year, John Authers notes, we still face the threat of bubbles in Bitcoin, SPACs and the S&P 500, only now with more bubbliness. Of course, bubbles will keep inflating long after you expect them to pop. But David Fickling notes Bitcoin is running out of one energy source in big new investors. And don't expect Bitcoin to be a safe haven if any of the other bubbles burst:  Further Markets Reading: Bond ETFs might not have held up in March without the Fed's rescue. — Brian Chappatta Telltale ChartsAmerica is creating too many humanities Ph.D.s, warns Noah Smith, which is bad news for not only the people getting these degrees but for society.  Further ReadingMaking everything in America isn't the solution to supply-chain disruptions. — Bloomberg's editorial board Europe should work with Biden to confront China, making its new trade deal poorly timed. — Bloomberg's editorial board British delusions about World War II are at the root of Brexit. Winston Churchill knew better. — Max Hastings Rural towns were on the mend before Covid struck. With some help, they can bounce back as people flee cities. — Adam Minter Pete Buttigieg could help save mass transit by taking on the unions that make it so expensive to operate. — Matt Yglesias A brief history of the Wall Street bonus. — Stephen Mihm How to make New Year's resolutions that stick. — Sarah Green Carmichael ICYMIBoris Johnson declared another full lockdown. Google workers unionized. The Amazon-Berkshire-JPMorgan health care venture is shutting down. KickersJapan hopes wooden satellites will lessen space junk. (h/t Ellen Kominers) Scientists discover venomous centipede ruling toxic hellscape (not New Jersey). (h/t Mike Smedley) David Hasselhoff's personal Knight Rider car is for sale. Area man logs his life in 15-minute increments. Note: Please send venomous centipedes and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. Sign up here and follow us on Twitter and Facebook. | 
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