Lydia Williams's Government Blog

1. The seven most recent polls they looked at measured opinion about last weekend (Those covering Jan 19 in the polling dates).  How many showed more support for removing Trump than opposition for removing Trump?  In all seven of the most recent polls, there was more support shown for removing Trump the opposition for removing him. 2. Which of these 7 polls found the most support for removing Trump? Which found the most opposition to removing Trump? The January 17-20 FiveThirtyEight/Ipsos poll showed showed the most support for removing Trump. The January 16-20 Monmouth and January 19-21 The Economist/YouGov poll showed the most opposition for removing Trump. 3. In FiveThirtyEight's polling average, what percentage of Democrats support removing Trump from office? What percentage of Republicans support removing Trump from office? 83.9% of Democrats supported removing Trump and 8.4% of Republicans supported removing Trump from office.  4. What differenc...

1. What issue is at the center of both the  Trinity Lutheran  and  Espinoza  cases? Both  Trinity Lutheran  and  Espinoza  involve state constitutional provisions that prohibited those states from spending money to “aid” churches and other religious institutions. 2. How does Justice Kagan argue that banning ALL funding to religious institutions would be ridiculous? As Justice Elena Kagan noted during oral arguments in  Trinity Lutheran , the Missouri constitutional provision at issue in that case might be read to prohibit the state from providing “police protection or fire protection” to churches. That is, if a church caught ablaze, the fire department would be required to let it burn. 3. What choice do the plaintiffs argue that these bans force on students? Lawyers for the plaintiffs in  Espinoza  — parents who wish to keep their children in a private, Christian school —   push a radical theory of the government’s obliga...

1. Why was General Soleimani an important target for the airstrike? General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region. He was a big figure in Iran. 2. How did the Department of Defense (the Pentagon) justify this attack? The Pentagon said that General Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more. 3. How have Iran's leaders responded to the US attack? They have vowed revenge. 4. How has President Trump responded to Iran's promises of "revenge"? He has threatened back and been unapologetic. 5. Why have some said that Trump's response would be considered a war crime? Because targeting cultural sites is a war crime. 6. What impact has this attack on Iran's leadership had on normal Iranian people? They are mourning and trying to change the state of leadership in Iran. ...