People might think it’s counterproductive to keep debating the importance of John C. Calhoun to the American political tradition.
It’s not.
The Straussians are troubled by Calhoun. This has led to people like Hugh Hewitt calling Calhoun an “evil” person and the reason America went off the rails.
Larry Arn, President of Hillsdale College, agrees. Just listen to this interview from July.
This is nothing short of stupid. You can’t describe it any other way.
Hewitt states he doesn’t want statues removed or buildings renamed, except for Calhoun.
Why does he get to decide? The same can be said for their foolish belief that America was founded on the “proposition that all men are created equal.” The Straussian/Hillsdale/Claremont people don’t agree with the modern Left’s interpretation of “equal” and think they have gone too far. But again, why do they get to decide?
Once you open the Pandora’s Box, you can’t close it.
See the sad removal of the Robert E. Lee statue from Richmond yesterday. Take one down and they all come down.
We can’t think about winning until we come to the realization that “conservatives” who seek to “conserve” a leftist vision of America will will inevitably lead to more leftists.
If the John C. Calhoun was evil, so was Washington and Jefferson and every slaveholding member of the founding generation. The left won’t split hairs like the Straussians. Slaveholder=evil, no matter if they had different views of the institution.
The answer to Hugh Hewitt and Ralph Northam should have been the same: “No, shut up.”
I discuss these nincompoops in Episode 507 of The Brion McClanahan Show.