The Republican Professor

We cover the DC Court of Appeals 5 March 2026 decision overturning the wrongful conviction of Tyree Benson who was criminalized for innocent conduct.

We cover up through the middle of page 22. We continue there next time.

https://www.dccourts.gov/court-of-appeals/opinions-and-memorandum-of-judgments?search=benson&date=&date_range=&type=All

The Republican Professor is a pro-non-criminalizing-innocent-conduct-podcast.

The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

Episode 2 in the series marking the 250th Anniversary of the USA in this second quarter 2026.

When the Founders signed their names onto the Declaration of Independence, they were committing a capital crime, and they were signing their own death warrants if they were caught.

They took themselves not to be looking for a fight, but rather, refusing any longer to duck the fight that in fact had come to them. And they sought to ground their cause, their reaction, to right reason in the natural law, consistent with Revelation and the Scriptures. They sought to articulate such an argument for their cause in such a way that would be rightly persuasive to any future reader and any of the nations which may inquire as to the source of their actions.

Of course, their cause was initially, in large measure, a reaction against Executive Power. But such a war require itself strong Executive Power. Therein lies the rub: how can Executive Power be strong yet consistent with the principles of Liberty ?

We're making a fair use, transformative reading and discussion of Charles C. Thach's doctoral dissertation at Johns Hopkins in 1922 called "The Creation of the Presidency, 1775-1789 made available by Liberty Fund INC in Indianapolis, Indiana in 2007. Go out and get your physical copy today. Follow along. We'd like to thank Liberty Fund for making this material available, and we'd like to thank Charles C. Thach for writing it.

This material was required reading in my Ph.D. program in Public Law and American Politics at The Claremont Colleges. It was used on the 6 hour comprehensive exams (6 hours each) and in a course called The Presidency and the Constitution taught by Joseph M. Bessette, who also served on my dissertation committee many years later.

The Republican Professor is a pro-correctly-understanding-the-American-Presidency, anti-grade-inflation-plantation podcast.

The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

Discussing Dinesh D'Souza's Illiberal Education, Chapter 2: "More Equal Than Others: Admissions Policy at Berkeley" 11 March 2026 TRP Podcass

Editor’s Note: Philosophers pronunce “Berkeley” as “Barkley” when referring to the man who was the namesake of the university town. So Professor Mather has adopted the same phonetic ambiguity in the discussion.

The full discussion from which this clip is taken is available under that date on The Republican Professor podcass.

The Republican Professor podcast is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

We continue with Part 3 (Part 2 was 19 Feb 2026 and Part 1 was 15 Jan 2026) of our study of open carry in America's Constitutional tradition by spending more time today with Baird v. Bonta (2 Jan 2026, 9th Circuit) from the top of page 27 (Roman Numeral II) through to the top of page 37 (up to Roman Numeral VI Letter D as in Boy just kidding D as in Cat). The pro-Second-Amendment opinions, both of them that we take a look at, were written by Republican appointees (Trump, with a Republican US Senate).

We will pick up at page 37 and Roman Numeral VI letter D next time.

https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2026/01/02/24-565.pdf

Here's a link to the article I wrote 9 April 2020 for San Diego County Gun Owners, published on Gun Owner's Radio, that I entitled : "Two Types of Self-Defense" here.

https://gunownersradio.com/two-types-of-self-defense/

This episode and this series is dedicated to the memory of my closest first cousin, Little Dan Mountain Jr, closest in age by just a couple of weeks, who died earlier this year in January.

I picked a topic that would bring a smile to his face and that would honor the bright spots in our childhood together in Colorado.

The Republican Professor is a pro-Second-Amendment-in-California podcast.

The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

Episode 1 in the series marking the 250th Anniversary of the USA in this second quarter 2026.

Martin Diamond channels Alexis de Tocqueville in raging against the grade-inflation machine back before IA, before much of the grade inflation crap got off the ground.

We're making a fair use, transformative reading and discussion of Martin Diamond's 1970 "Reading in an Age of Mass Democracy", which is in a section called "'Enclaves of Excellence' and the Study of Politics" as essay number 16, made available by AEI in Washington DC in 1992 in a volume they called "As Far as Republican Principles Will Admit: Essays by Martin Diamond, " edited by William A. Schambra.

Diamond would be another one of my intellectual grandfathers, as he mentored, among others, the Chair of my dissertation committee at The Claremont Colleges, Ralph Rossum, who was on the podcast back in 2022 and was the Salvatori Professor of American Constitutionalism at Claremont McKenna College (where Diamond had taught when it was called Claremont Men's College). Diamond had been a product of the University of Chicago as had been Rossum and another one of my committee members, Joseph M. Bessette.

Martin Diamond never finished college but talked his way into a masters and Ph.D. at the University of Chicago by his post war-time self-education. Amazing.

The Republican Professor is a pro-as-far-as-Republican-Principles-will-admit, anti-age-of-mediocrity, anti-grade-inflation-plantation podcast.

The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.