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William B. Allen

William B. Allen is emeritus dean and Professor of Political Philosophy in the Department of Political Science at Michigan State University

Series

3 Whisky Happy Hour2 episodes

Recent Episodes

3 Whisky Happy Hour
3 Whisky Happy Hour

Special Episode: William B. Allen on VP Harris’s Demagoguery

I knew when I saw news of Vice President Kamala Harris claiming that Florida's new African-American history standards for public schools taught that "enslaved people benefitted from slavery," I knew instinctively that this was a lie of unusual medacity even for her. Don't take my word for it: read the curriculum guide for yourself, especially page six, where Harris and the rest of the race-obsessed educrat-complex twists one sentence in the most grotesque way imaginable. The real sin of the curriculum guide, from the left's demented point of view, actually can be seen page eight, where the curriculum mentions including the history of slavery before 1619. Ah—there's the rub. The real reason Harris attacks the Florida curriculum is that it dares to correct the distortions and omissions of the 1619 Project, which has become the platform for saying that America was, and is, purely a slavocracy, and that American capitalism practically invented slavery. One of my principal teachers in graduate school (and a past guest on this podcast), William B. Allen, was one of the authors of the new Florida curriculum guide, and he's been in high demand this week refuting the calumnies of our vice president. I managed to catch up with him this morning to note the obvious irony that the party of Calhoun would be reviving Calhounism just now, but trying to deflect it onto the other party. (Because of course the real reason for this attack is that Joe Biden might face Ron DeSantis as a candidate next year, so better start calling him a racist now.)
Hosts:
John Yoo'Lucretia'Steve Hayward
Organization
Ricochet

January 2021

3 Whisky Happy Hour
3 Whisky Happy Hour

Special Edition: Should Trump Be Impeached?

I was caught up short yesterday when I spotted, on the generally very pro-Trump American Greatness website, William B. Allen's article entitled "Let Us Impeach Him." It pays to read past the headline of this article, because the argument is not what you think: it's not a "get-him-out-office-as-fast-as-we-can" manifesto. Rather, Prof. Allen argues that we should take our time and impeach Trump after he leaves office, thereby allowing scope for a full and complete public debate over the entirety of the Trump years—especially the bad faith of the Democrats and their corruption of our constitutional order. This might not go as well for Democrats as you might think, and given that the left is going to be trying to use Trump's ignomious end of his term against us for months and years to come, maybe the best strategy is to emulate King Theoden's final counsel at the Battle of Helm's Deep, and "ride out to meet them" head on. An impeachment battle might just provide the opportunity to turn the tables on the Democrats (and there are hints a few of them know it). Listen in for the explanation. (By the way, if you're interesting in listening to our previous podcast from two years ago referenced in our conversation, you can find it archived here.) And yes, for you prog rock geeks out there, I chose the lyric-less exit music today because of its title: "After the Ordeal." Bonus points if you can name the artist and specific album without looking it up.
Host:
Steve Hayward
Organization
Ricochet