The Brion McClanahan Show

Does the general government have the power to quarantine people? How about banning travel? If not, do the States have this power? This are pressing constitutional questions in the age of COVID-19. Judge Napolitano wrote that he considers all such bans, at both the State and Federal level, to be unconstitutional. A listener wanted my opinion on the Washington State prohibition on large gatherings,...

It seems Glass Joe is going to be the Democrat nominee. What does this  mean for the future of the Democrat Party? Not much. The real juice is  going to be who he picks for VP. We are witnessing a repeat of the 1840  Whig Party and the 1850s Democrats. The future is not great for a  unified left, which isn't a bad thing. And should Joe win, he'll be the  beneficiary of the...

The 1619 Project has led to the forthcoming 1620 Project and the 1776 Project. If nothing else, the 1619 Project achieved its core goal of starting a conversation. The 1620 Project will be worthless and the 1776 Project is not far behind. These are the "conservative" counters to the 1619's historical inaccuracies.  Unfortunately, the 1776 falls flat. It is nothing more than boilerplate Lincol...

A new book on George Washington, You Never Forget Your First by Alexis Coe, promises to give a fresh perspective on the first president. How? Why its written by women and for women about men. We've never seen this before, right? It's so laughable it's sad, but Coe honestly thinks she is blazing new trails with this book. The corporate press has been aglow at this new approach to history, but it's...

Several listeners have asked about the practical application of secession. How would it work? Is it legal? How could a State secede from the Union? Can counties secede from States? These are big questions, so I provide the answers in this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show.  https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support http://learntruehistory.com

The Democrats put on a show last night. It was the masses against Bloomberg and Warren delivered the tomahawk chop. But what does this mean for American politics in 2020? The debates personified everything that is the modern Democrat Party, and more importantly, set the stage for what could be a very interesting 2020 presidential election. I discuss in this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show. ht...

With the recent political revolution in Virginia and the slew of legislation coming from the now leftist controlled capital in Richmond, some Virginia counties want to secede and join West Virginia. Is this legally possible? And if so, could it happen? I tackle this interesting question in this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show. https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support...

Glenn Beck relies too much on David Barton. How do I know this? His latest event, Restoring the Covenant on the Sacred Land of Gettysburg, is just pure Lincolnian myth making and New England fantasy at its finest. This presents all kinds of problems for American conservatives. In fact, it is more dangerous long term than American progressivism.  If American conservatism is defined by Beck's "...

Mitt Romney, aka Pierre Delecto, had his moment this week. Delecto voted to convict Trump on the "Abuse of Power" charge and in the process made a "moving" speech in the Senate, one that was described as bringing members of the Democrat Party to tears. What a joke. His speech was nothing short of grandstanding hypocrisy and full of holes. I talk about why--and wrap up this impeachment Greek comedy...

Trump's latest "State of the Union" address was pure political theater, from the opening (non) handshake to the shredding of the script. But what about the actual substance? Was Trump right about anything he said? The Democrats embarrassed themselves, the Republicans pumped their fists, and the average voter watched with curious amazement at what has become the greatest show on Earth. Forget the c...

The hysteria surrounding the coronavirus hasn't reached its peak. It will when more cases show up in the United States. Hopefully, that won't happen, but if it does, expect the worst. But what if we thought locally and acted locally? Would a viral pandemic be possible? And how does the coronavirus fit within the history of the "Columbian Exchange"? I discuss all of these issues in this episode of...

Kobe Bryant's death has been covered wall to wall on network and cable  television since it happened Sunday Jan 26, 2020. Both Trump and Obama  Tweeted about the crash that killed Bryant and eight others, including  the tragic loss of three young teenage girls. We have seen a national  outpouring of grief. Just two days before, three American firefighters  died in an airpl...

1917 is the best anti-war war movie ever made. Of course there is no shortage of anti-war movies, but 1917 has everything you would want except the sad ending. I don't want to give away too many spoilers, but I thought the film deserved an episode along with a little WWI historical inference. What if World War I never happened? https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support http...

The Electoral College is headed to the Supreme Court. This doesn't mean that SCOTUS will do away with the method of electing the president. It can't. But it will decide if so called "faithless electors" can be disciplined by the State. In other words, if an elector decides to choose a qualified candidate other than the one who won the popular vote of that State, can the State then fine that person...

Ian Millhiser is always good for a laugh. The fact that Think Progress went belly up couldn't have happened to a more despicable leftist. No worries. Vox quickly scooped up the king of platitudes and slander so he can continue to spew his leftist fantasies on a regular basis. Take for example a recent piece titled "A Modest Proposal to Save American Democracy." Without even reading it, you'd proba...

Is the War Powers Act of 1973 unconstitutional? John Bolton thinks so and Tweeted as much. Donald Trump immediately praised the move, and Republicans for several decades have called for its repeal. They are all right, but not for their stated reasons. The War Powers Act of 1973 is unconstitutional because it grants TOO much power to the president, not because it limits his "constitutional authorit...

Were the antifederalists "antifederalist"? The short answer: no. The  long answer, at least according to some historians, it's complicated.  Aaron Coleman had a great book review at Law and Liberty that tackles  this question and more, so I decided to cover both his review and the  topic in detail. This is the intellectual ammunition you need for "think  locally, act local...

Donald Trump ordered a drone strike on Iranian General Soleimani in Iraq and in the process created a potential crisis in the Middle East. What was an Iranian general doing in Iraq? The parliament in Iraq subsequently passed a resolution asking the United States to vacate at once which has led to a conflict in the Trump administration. Trump promised to get the United States out of the Middle East...

Dozens of counties in Virginia have declared themselves to be "Second  Amendment Sanctuary" zones in anticipation of new gun control  restrictions next year. This has led to a potential showdown between the  State government and the people of Virginia. Can these counties do  this? Is this constitutional? And is there a historic precedent for  this? I tackle all of these is...

Paul Gottfried has edited a new collection of essays on conservatism. It hits the shelves in April. That is all you should need to know before pre-ordering it. Without even cracking open the cover, you know it will be a double-barrelled assault on neoconservatism. That alone makes it worthwhile. David Gordon reviewed the book at LewRockwell.com. I talk Gordon, Gottfried, and neoconservatism in thi...

Paul Volcker died recently. Most Americans have never heard of him, but he almost single-highhandedly ended the "stagflation" crisis of the 1970s. How? As Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Volcker jacked up interest rates even though the short term pain would be substantial. It was, but the crisis ended and the dollar stabilized.  We are facing a potentially similar crisis in the 2020s, except...

If you watched Spielberg's Lincoln , then you undoubtedly know that the prevailing myth has Lincoln pushing for the 13th Amendment, so much so in fact that he was unwilling to compromise when he secretly met with Southern representatives in Hampton Roads in February 1865. Except this isn't  true. Paul Escott blew this narrative up before Spielberg produced Lincoln and yet he continued with th...

The nerve of those grassroot Republicans. A recent poll said that a majority of Republicans think Trump is a better president than Honest Abe. You might guess what happened next. Every Lincoln cultist on the Right and Left went nuts. The lefties responded by calling these people idiots who just want to have slaves. The Lincoln worshipers on the right were aghast at the cult-like following for Dona...

Adam Schiff released his long awaited report on impeachment, and as expected it is full of hypocritical talking points and short on concrete evidence of any impeachable offenses, at least in regard to foreign policy. I found the report laughable. The next morning, legal scholar Jonathan Turley made available his prepared statements to the House Judiciary Committee. It is a devastating blow to the...

The neoconservatives would have you believe that Abraham Lincoln was a conservative. This is blatantly false, but alas the myth persists. A new piece at the Kirk Center doubles down on the narrative. Lincoln, it seems, was not just a conservative, but a Burkean conservative. I discuss this lunacy in this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show. https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.co...