A look at the history of the Bill of Rights and why it was added to the Constitution, specifically the Second Amendment, helps to understand the individual right embodied in that amendment and its importance to our country from its early days through today.  Though some regulation may be warranted, the attempts to significantly limit gun ownership and access pose a threat to any and all other freedoms.

This episode discusses the issues created when courts overstep their judicial role and act in the place of legislatures and the people in creating and amending legal rules.  As the courts become more politicized, the people lose their voice on key policy issues.  A commitment to the text of our laws is the only way to ensure the rule of law endures and we do not become a society ruled by the whims of men.

With a historical review of the 1918 Spanish Flu and some consideration of proper emergency authorities of the President, this episode walks through the country's struggle through the recent pandemic, while reminding everyone that limits continue to exist on government authority even in times of crisis.

This episode delves into the separation of powers established by the founders and their attempt to avoid any concentration of power in one branch of government. With this understanding, the episode explores the use of Executive Orders over the years – the history of such directives, the questionable use of them in recent years and the issues raised by attempts of any President, unilaterally, to change laws and policies without going through the proper procedures set out in our Constitution.

This episode explores the increasingly prevalent tendency to push Americans into groups - to identify ourselves not based on our individual character and qualities, but based on membership in some class.  The episode further discusses the damage caused to the country as a whole by this movement and especially to our children, who are more and more the focus of efforts of identity politics.  This push toward identity politics serves only to separate and divide us, not to unify us around valuable American principles and ideals.

This episode explores the importance of free speech to any free society, the history surrounding speech - especially political speech - that led to the drafting of the First Amendment, and the risk posed to freedom by recent attempts of censorship, both public and private.  The episode will also discuss the importance of open discussion of issues, the relationship between the freedoms of speech and the press, and the dangers of current attempts to punish anyone who has a counter opinion.

This first episode of the Defending American Exceptionalism podcast explores the dangers of recent attempts to rewrite history as it relates to the founding of the United States and highlights the deterioration of many of our founding principles resulting from these attacks and outright falsehoods.  This episode provides a foundation upon which later episodes will explore key issues facing the country and the need to look to the Constitution and history as a starting point for addressing those issues.