Ginsberg On Goverment

Trump: How to Be Cleverly Reckless

Donald Trump’s political success so far in 2016 is in large measure a result of his ability to not only dominate, but to drive the news. Beginning with his attack on FOX debate moderator Megyn Kelly and his pledge to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border (to be funded by Mexico), and his later plan to prohibit non-citizen Muslims from entering the United States, Trump has been able to invent issues and positions sufficiently outlandish to capture the full attention of the media and leave no space for coverage of other candidates. Continue reading “Trump: How to Win By Attacking the Pope”

Donald Trump has recently questioned whether his GOP rival, Senator Ted Cruz is eligible, under the Constitution, to serve as President of the United States. Cruz was born in Canada. His mother was a U.S. citizen, but his father was a Cuban national. Had both of Cruz’s parents been U.S. citizens, his eligibility would be clear. However, given his foreign birth with only one U.S. citizen parent, Cruz’s eligibility is a matter of some controversy. Continue reading “Is Ted Cruz Eligible for the Presidency”

During the January 2016 Republican debate, Ted Cruz repeated his claim that Donald Trump possessed “New York values,” that presumably distinguished him from Republican voters in America’s heartland–particularly those in Iowa– where the first actual clash among the candidates would take place.  Cruz had been making this claim while campaigning in Iowa and Trump had practiced his rebuttal which he delivered with great effect during the televised debate.  Trump declared that New York values were best exemplified by the police and fire fighters of the city on 9-11 and by the rebuilding of the city in the wake of the terror attacks of that day.    Trump’s response was widely seen as extremely effective.  New York’s democratic mayor hailed Trump for his defense of the city; the New York Daily News urged Cruz to “drop dead,” and Cruz spent the next several days on the talk show circuit explaining what he had meant–usually not a good sign. Continue reading “New York Values”

All of us have seen the bumper sticker asserting that war is not the answer.  In my new book, The Worth of War, I explain that this depends on the question.  War is the answer to some of the major questions of political life: statehood, territoriality and power. Continue reading “The Worth of War”

A few short months ago, Donald Trump was seen by pundits as a bit of a buffoon and not taken seriously as a presidential candidate.  Today, he is the front runner for the Republican presidential nomination and could potentially become the next president of the United States.  How did this happen? Continue reading “The Year of Trump”