The Brion McClanahan Show Podcast

The Heritage Foundation accepted the resignations of two members of its leadership team last week. This prompted MSN.com to write a piece wondering “What is the future for conservative ideas?” Notice conservative and ideas bonded together in a symbiotic relationship as if “conservatism” is an ideology. The Staussian neoconservatives think to. Lincoln created this myth with the Gettysburg Address in 1863 and his acolytes have …more

March 18 is a great day for birthdays. Not only was John C. Calhoun born on that day, so was Grover Cleveland. Most Americans don’t know anything about either man except the standard platitudes: racist, conservative, xenophobe, etc. Or they might know Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms as president. But that’s it. Cleveland was a rock star of a president, a truly great conservative who …more

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, Yankees could praise Calhoun and everyone cheered. This was normal. In 1910, the Massachusetts born and bred Henry Cabot Lodge gave a gallant speech on the Senate floor praising John C. Calhoun as one of the truly great Americans in its history. This was to honor the placement of Calhoun’s statue in Statuary Hall at …more

The unholy alliance between the modern historical establishment and the media is only slightly worse than that of the media and the progressive political establishment, but both have the same results. America becomes less informed by the day. Take for example a recent piece in the AP titled, “160 years later, Confederate constitution an ignoble relic.” You would think from reading the article that Jefferson …more

Dr. Seuss is being canceled? Not so fast. Only six of his books are being shelved by the publisher. But conservatives everywhere went nuts over another round of cancel culture. At first glance, this looks like an open and shut case of idiotic overreach. Seuss published material indicative of the time in which he lived when people weren’t overly sensitive and when only sticks and …more

Was Martin Luther King, Jr. a conservative? Social justice conservatives would have you believe so. The same would hold for Elizabeth Cady Stanton and a host of other reformers who would have rejected the term outright during their lifetimes. See Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. Paul Gottfried argues that’s the point in a recent essay for Chronicles magazine. American conservatives trip over themselves trying to …more

John Randolph of Roanoke always had a good quip, and more often than not a prescient position on a contemporary event. Take standing armies. Randolph thought that standing armies were a form of welfare. People who could not obtain work often joined the military. Not much has changed. The modern United States army will fork over up to $40,000 for recruits to sign up. That …more

What is a myth? To many Americans, a myth denotes a lie, a fairy tale that cannot be proven. Take for example the “Lost Cause” myth and how establishment historians use the term myth as a pejorative. But myths are the foundation of much of our historical consciousness, and a recent piece in The Smithsonian Magazine wants Americans to subscribe to a certain myth about …more

You might recall that back in December I talked about the lawsuit Texas filed in federal court to try to stop the certification of the Electoral College results. They built their case around the “Electors Clause” of the Constitution, meaning that the Constitution explicitly states that the Electors are to be chosen by the legislatures of the States. Article I, Section 4 also declares that …more

America isn’t in trouble because of Joe Biden. Uncle Joe wouldn’t remember to tie his shoes unless someone told him to do it. America isn’t in trouble because of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and “The Squad.” They are too stupid and mentally unstable to be taken seriously, though most leftists on Twitter seem to do so. That alone is an appalling commentary on American politics. America is …more