Roe v. Wade

The recent leak of the potential reversal of Roe v. Wade has the left going nuts and predicting the apocalypse.

It’s pure stupidity.

On the other hand, as Michael Boldin at the Tenth Amendment Center likes to point out, it’s usually “constitutional conservatives” that have the hardest time coming to grips with real federalism.

They want nationalism as much as the next Yankee.

But I have hope. For years, my podcast theme has been “think locally, act locally.” It seems that a lot more people are thinking this way, not because they listen to my show, but because it makes sense.

You know what? If we just listened to the Old Republicans–along with John C. Calhoun–we probably could have avoided much of the political mess of the last 200 years.

And if you yell “SLAVERY,” then you really don’t understand Calhoun or any of the Old Republicans. Did most of them own slaves? Yes, but did that drive their worldview? No.

Calhoun spilled more ink talking about the structure of government than he did slavery. A lot more.

He was concerned with a real union and made some of the strongest arguments in American history in favor of the original federal republic.

His Disquisition and Discourse are political science masterpieces. By the way, my next class at McClanahan Academy, out later this month, covers Calhoun at his best. You won’t want to miss it.

But in saying all of this, I wouldn’t spike the football yet.

It’s not set in stone that the SCOTUS will come to its senses on any issue. And real federalism is still on life support, though it appears that someone has used an AED, at least for now.

But consider that Ron DeSantis has made federalism a priority, the SCOTUS seems to be taking it seriously, and in many ways COVID rekindled interest in federalism across the United States.

That’s good. But there is always room for more. And who knows, if SCTOUS does go through with its decision in June, we may be seeing a lot more talk about leftist secession.

Good riddance.

I talk about these issues on Episode 627 of The Brion McClanahan Show.