The Brion McClanahan Show

Yoni Appelbaum believes moderate Republicans are the future. You see,  every problem in America can be summarized by one phrase: right-wing  extremism. The only way to change this, he believes, is for moderate  Republicans to repudiate these outlaws, take back the party, and  continue to support good progressive measures. There's just one problem  with this nonsense. Appel...

Judge Napolitano has become public enemy number one for the Trump administration. Why? Because he argues Trump deserves to be impeached. This does not sit will with Fox News viewers who think Judge Nap has gone to the dark side. Is Napolitano right? More importantly, should he be taking the heat from both the Trump administration and the viewers at Fox? I discuss the issue in this episode of The B...

World War II was a transformational event. It offered the United States general government the opportunity to codify the aggressive Lincolnian   nationalism prevalent but not triumphant since 1865. The entire United States was affected politically, militarily, diplomatically, and socially. I discuss how this happened in this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show. https://mcclanahanacademy...

In 1956, the great Southern philosopher Richard Weave penned a review of Russell Kirk's Conservative Mind where he asked which ancestors we should emulate. There are several traditions in America but which traditions are best? Should we follow Lincoln, the progressive tradition, or something else? Just as with the definition of liberty, tradition can be a thorny issue. I discuss Weaver and his bri...

Michael Vlahos argues at The American Conservative that "civil war" is the natural result of two competing "legitimacies" slugging it out for control of the same government. This I agree with. But he falls flat when he suggests that this has occurred twice in American history and when he considers nullification to be a root cause of such conflict. I was disappointed with this article to say the le...

Have historical sites gone too far in pushing a slavery narrative? Some people think so. I do, too. I discuss the issue in this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show. https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support http://learntruehistory.com

Most people seem to think that "think locally, act locally" is the product of some crazy conspiracy and distortion of history. Not so. In fact, two of the greatest American minds openly discussed federalism and decentralization. An amazing 1798 exchange between Thomas Jefferson and John Taylor of Caroline highlights that our political problems are not new and even members of the founding generatio...

A recent poll found that 70% of Americans think we are on the brink of civil war. This is troubling, but it is a symptom of American nationalism. This is a think locally, act locally episode. https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support http://learntruehistory.com

My latest McClanahan Academy course is now available, United States History 1865 to the Present. You're going to want to get this class. I title the last unit in the course The Triumph of Progressivism. Why? Because the progressive movement has transformed American society and most people don't realize it. We view almost everything in America through a progressive lens. Even "conservatives" do thi...

Jarrett Stepman has a new book out for Regnery titled, The War on History. This is a great subject and a needed tome on the ongoing effort to destroy Western Civilization. I offer my honest review of both the book and the subject in this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show. https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support http://learntruehistory.com

Professor Steele Brand wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post arguing that Roman History should be the savoir of America. The founding generation were certainly reared on stories of Roman republicanism, there is little doubt that this type of republicanism molded the culture of the founding generation. But can this help us today? In short, yes, but not completely in the way Brand suggests. https:/...

The big question of the day: has Trump committed impeachable offenses? The talking points have been distributed and almost every Democratic presidential candidate insists that Trump violated his oath of office. It's almost as if they read my book 9 Presidents Who Screwed Up America. Except, if they had, they would know that their position is on thin ice, at least in regard to the Ukraine "scandal....

Donald Trump is facing impeachment. Climate alarmists are twerking in DC. The Republicans in Washington are still spineless, and the Democrats are lunatics, and I say to myself, what a wonderful world. Why? Because none of that matters. I adopted a think locally, act locally mentally long ago. Most Americans, however, do not share the same attitude as evidenced by a recent poll. They can't even na...

The Washington Post published a piece by journalist Eve Fairbanks a few weeks back titled, "The 'reasonable rebels.'" Guess what? Everything we hate about American politics, particularly the rhetoric from the right, is because the South ruined America. That's right. You really can't make up this kind of stupidity, but Eve Fairbanks tried. You see, there is really nothing to modern right wing polit...

Professor Allen Guelzo has a new video at Prager U "explaining" the "good, bad, and ugly" of Reconstruction. Anyone that has watched a Prager U video knows where this is headed. I laughed through the entire six minutes. Guelzo has a history of South hating rhetoric, and he is a Lincolnian's Lincolnian. This guy never met a war he didn't like, an occupation he didn't see as necessary, or a centrali...

Professor Donald Kettl has an interesting spin on the current partisanship in America. In his mind, the States are driving conflict. Why? Because they are passing legislation other States don't like in an effort to push an agenda. Sounds like history to me. It also misses the point. The only way this would create conflict is through nationalism. I explain the real issue in this episode of The Brio...

Rutgers Professor Ross Baker wrote an opinion piece in the USA Today crying over Trump's impact on the executive office. This is pure leftist derangement hysteria. As I discussed in the last episode, Trump is a symptom of the disease. If Professor Baker is just now coming to the conclusion that the executive branch is broken, where has he been for the last three decades? I take apart his piece in...

I have probably been asked this question a thousand times. Has Donald Trump screwed up America? I have held off answering it for a while, simply because his term is incomplete, but I thought I could partially answer it today with the same criteria I used to rate the other presidents. Trump is a symptom of the disease. https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support http://learntr...

The leftist 1619 Project is perhaps the worst piece of popular history to hit the market since Bill Oreilly's "Legends and Lies," and that was just a few months ago. This seems to be trend. Produce some idiotic drivel for your echo chamber to either sell books or sell newspapers. Except the progs don't usually waste much time commenting on Bill Oreilly history and for good reason. It's awful. They...

Politico ran a piece the other day slamming Gerrymandering because it almost prevented Little Jemmy Madison from being elected to the First Congress. The horror. The piece was typical Leftist nonsense with a bit of hysterical hyperbole and a scattering of incongruous arguments. And it was written by a "journalism" professor. Go figure. I take it down in this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show. h...

The leftist website Five-Thirty Eight has recently produced a column titled "Political Confessional" where people submit "forbidden" political thoughts. This is standard leftist fare, but one was intriguing: "The Man Who Thinks The U.S. Is Better Off As A Bunch Of Separate Countries." Now for those that listen to my show, this is just an everyday conversation, but not to the subject of this articl...

Alexander H. Stephens's "Cornerstone Speech" is perhaps the most infamous speech in the 19th century. It is cited by every SJW group as clear "evidence," the "smoking gun" that it was slavery, slavery, and slavery that drove the Confederacy. Is this true? The speech offers a clear example of "contextualization," but not in the way the SJWs like to promote the idea. I discuss the speech and the CSA...

World War I was as transformational for the United States as the War for Southern Independence. While the 1860s helped produce the imperial executive and then led to Reconstruction, World War I created the American nation. I explain in this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show. https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://brionmcclanahan.com/support http://learntruehistory.com

Washington's Farewell Address used to be an important part of every Congress. The House stopped reading it in 1979 while the Senate still continues the practice. What does it say and what can we learn from it? A listener wanted an overview, so this is it. I consider it to be an important letter, one with prescient warnings but also lofty inconsistency. I discuss the Address in this episode of The...

The Washington Post published a piece celebrating Lincoln's ties to Karl Marx. This is something I have been saying for years, but what do I know? I am not the Washington Post. But if the Washington Post prints it, it has to be true and acceptable. Of course, I agree, and I discuss Lincoln and the Red Republicans in this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show. https://mcclanahanacademy.com https://b...