The Brion McClanahan Show Podcast

I was told by an “actual historian” who teaches at Princeton the other day to “get to reading.” Why did he suggest I do this? Because I had the audacity to insist that he provide evidence that Confederate monuments were erected to “obscure bi-racial democracy.” His “proof” was David Blight’s book “Race and Reunion.” This professor assumed I had never read the book, and one …more

United States Senate candidate Roy Moore has been called an “extremist” for supporting…gasp…the founding generation and the Constitution. This is a troubling development but one that has been years in the making. The latest character assassination comes at the hands of CNN who ran a hit piece on Moore and The Tenth Amendment Center last week. Go figure. The attempt is clearly to reduce Moore’s …more

If you listen to the neo-cons (and their progressive forefathers), Americans have always supported foreign adventurism and have a moral obligation to do so. But is this true? How many wars in American history have been popular? I answer that question in Episode 119 of The Brion McClanahan Show.

A listener asked me to address this question so here you go. Is federal disaster relief constitutional? Big question with three major hurricanes doing serious damage in the United States and Puerto Rico recently. Short answer: No. I give you some historical examples (Cleveland and Coolidge) and talk about the political problems with this question in this episode of The Brion McClanahan Show.

A listener asked me if I support an Article V convention to amend the Constitution. Short answer, yes. There were many good amendments proposed by the States that did not make the final cut after the Constitution was ratified and there are also several good innovations in the Confederate Constitution of 1861. I proposed seven changes to the Constitution in my 9 Presidents Who Screwed Up …more

Catalonia independence was temporarily prevented by the heavy hand of the state. This was the news story throughout the day of October 1 and will be an important story moving forward. Much has changed since 1989 and 1990 when communist governments peacefully gave up power to secession and self-determination. How should Americans respond to these self-determinations movements? I talk about that in Episode 116 of …more

Reconstruction used to be described as a tragic period in American history. It is now labeled an “unfinished revolution.” This lends to the current trend of American iconoclasm and the push for the eradication of Western Civilization. I discuss Reconstruction and its legacy and meaning in Episode 115 of The Brion McClanahan Show.

Donald Trump tells a crowd that NFL owners should fire players who take a knee. A few days later, 25% of NFL players took a knee and some refused to take the field during the “national anthem.” One baseball players decided to take a knee as well and several NBA players took to social media to give Trump an earful. What is going on here? …more

People often ask me about James K. Polk. Wasn’t he one of the greatest presidents in American history? His reputation has certainly received a boost in the last decade, and if we use that as a yardstick, I was cutting edge. As an undergraduate twenty years ago, I thought Polk was a fantastic president and wrote several laudatory research papers on the man. Boy was …more

The Constitution for the United States is not the only Constitution in the United States. There are fifty other constitutions that no one knows anything about. American constitutional history must involve not only a discussion about the “Constitution,” but also the Articles of Confederation, the Confederate Constitution, and the several state constitutions. I cover the constitutions of the original thirteen states in this episode of …more