The Brion McClanahan Show

https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support http://learntruehistory.com Remember when children's television had a fairly traditional message? Me neither, at least not in the last decade. Everyone's a princess, and the "princes" are all bad guys. It hasn't always been this way, and there is at least one modern film that bucks this trend. I discuss modern children's entertainment in this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show.

https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support http://learntruehistory.com Nationalism presents a real problem in American politics. The razor thing majorities in federal elections means that half the population will use the power of government to abuse the other half of the population. Winner take all and elections have consequences. The founding generation designed a system that could prevent this, but the nationalists on both the Left and the Right have destroyed the original federal republic. The election of 1876, among others, exemplifies this problem. I discuss nationalism and "nationalizing" elections in this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show.

https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support http://learntruehistory.com Donald Trump is a Confederate and Alexander Hamilton invented America. I learned both last week while sorting through my email. Several people sent me a piece from the Guardian that claims Trump is nothing more than a reincarnation of the Confederacy while Prager U. published a short video on how we live in Hamilton's America. News flash: you can't have both, or can you? I take on how these two pieces are related in this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show.

https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support http://learntruehistory.com Did you survive the most important election of our lifetime? I thought that was two years ago, or perhaps ten years ago. Regardless, one thing is certain: big government was going to win no matter which party controlled the general government. But what about thinking locally and acting locally? There were interesting elections and ballot measures at the state and local level across the United States. That is the focus of this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show.

https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support http://learntruehistory.com Nationalism has become the new political pejorative. According to such geniuses like Alyssa Milano and Sarah Silverman, nationalism equals Nazi. And the young minds of mush believe it. This is a strange development but par for the course in the age of social media. If they'll eat Tide Pods....Regardless, what is American nationalism and what does that term really mean? I discuss the issue in this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show.

https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support http://learntruehistory.com Donald Trump is the most important political figure of the early 21st century. No one else has been able to turn the political discussion on a dime like Trump, and that discussion quickly turned to immigration and the 14th Amendment on October 30, just days after everyone was talking about political violence. Not anymore. But can Trump end birthright citizenship with an executive order, and is birthright citizenship codified by the 14th Amendment? No and no, and I discuss both issues in this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show.

https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support http://learntruehistory.com Does the general government have the authority to get involved in the horrible mass murder in PA? Short answer: No. Had the founding generation thought otherwise, the Constitution would not have been ratified. There are countless examples from the early federal period that point to opposition to federal overreach, but Americans today have become accustomed to it, so we accept it without asking any questions. This should stop. Here is a think locally, act locally moment.

https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support http://learntruehistory.com Hillary Clinton tweeted that the progressives need to start using the States to protect their citizens. Sounds a lot like nullification. Is Hillary a closet "neo-confederate?" The progressives have become more interested in real federalism since Trump won the 2016 election. Their dedication may be fleeting, but this provides a "think locally, act locally" teachable moment for The Brion McClanahan Show.

https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support http://learntruehistory.com We've all been told by the "actual historians" that Confederate monuments were erected to perpetuate "white supremacy." Unfortunately for these "actual historians," they have no evidence. In fact, the primary documents point to an entirely different conclusion. The Oak Woods monument in Chicago proves the point. I discuss that monument and its dedication ceremony in this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show.

https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support https://learntruehistory.com The progressives want to kill the Electoral College. This isn't really new, but why is the bizarre part. They say it is a vestige of slavery. This is one of the more idiotic positions in a list of idiotic positions. The Electoral College had nothing to do with slavery, nor is it "racist." I discuss in this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show.

https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support http://learntruehistory.com Kanye West stirred the pot recently with his visit to the White House and an earlier social media post calling for the "repeal of the 13th Amendment." The progressives haven't been this upset with an African-American visiting the White House since Booker T. Washington dined with Teddy Roosvelt in the early 20th century, nor have they been so hot under the collar about an amendment since the ERA went down in flames in the 1970s. Of course, West was not talking about the portion of the 13th that ended slavery, but the portion that allows slavery to exist when people are incarcerated. Most people don't know that language exists. They also don't know about the original 13th Amendment passed in 1861 but never ratified. That one would have made it illegal for the general government to abolish slavery. I discuss both in this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show.

https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support http://learntruehistory.com I find tradition to be a fascinating topic, and no modern show better explores the subject than the British hit Downton Abbey. There are so many areas to discuss--paternalism, class, economics, manners, sport--that a quick podcast does not do it justice, but I wanted to whet your appetite and get you to binge watch like I did over the summer. You won't regret it.

https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support https://learntruehistory.com Should we admire Andrew Jackson? Brad Birzer of Hillsdale College says yes, and I generally agree. I have written two chapters on Jackson, once in my Politically Incorrect Guide to Real American Heroes, and once in my 9 Presidents Who Screwed Up America. Brad has done a service to Jackson's reputation and his book is worth your time to read. I cover Jackson and Birzer's fine work in this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show.

https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support http://learntruehistory.com I have argued that repealing the 17th Amendment would be a step in the right direction for restoring federalism in America, but would it be sufficient? Some "conservatives" stop there, thinking that once the 17th is gone, the States would wrest control of the government from the bureaucrats and bring some sanity to Washington. There may be some truth to this, but more would need to be done, including having an American polity that "thinks locally and acts locally." I discuss all of this in Episode 175 of The Brion McClanahan Show.

https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support http://learntruehistory.com What did the founding generation want and expect from the executive branch? Did they desire an elected king? And did Americans following that generation think the American presidency should have the powers of a monarch? The answer is unequivocally no. The Congress was designed to be the most powerful branch in the federal city. The president could execute the laws, but Congress controlled both the purse and the sword, not the president. Everything has changed. We now want the president to part the seas and shake the political foundations of the United States. I wrote a little piece about Jimmy Carter for the Abbeville Institute a couple of weeks ago that irritated some people. Why? Because I had the nerve to call Carter "The Last republican President." Notice "republican" is lowercase. What did I mean by that? I tell you in this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show.