Campus Grade Inflation Threatens Your Right to Lawful Self Defense: Baird v. Bonta (2026) Part 3

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.

We continue Jaffa's discussion of Aristotle's Politics, this time finishing his take on Aristotle's Book II and beginning with his take on Aristotle's Book III, in our discussion of an entry in the 1963 Rand McNally publication, edited by Leonard Strauss and Joseph Cropsey, called "History of Political Philosophy." This episode contains discussion of pages 89 thru the top of page 97 covering the first part of Book II of the Politics. That entry on Aristotle is by Harry V. Jaffa, who famously applied his understanding of Political Philosophy to the history of the Republican Party in American politics, and who, as such, influenced me profoundly through my mentors, who were mentored by him. He is thus one of my intellectual grandfathers. We continue our discussion of Harry Jaffa on Aristotle, pp. 89 thru the top of page 97 covering the rest of Book II and beginning his section on Book III of Aristotle's Politics, discussing an entry published the year before the author wrote one of the most infamous (or famous, depending) Aristotelean speeches for 1964 presidential candidate Barry Goldwater (R, AZ). Jaffa also wrote one of the most influential phenomenological comparisons of the Democratic and the Republican parties using classical political philosophy for the political phenomenology in "Crisis of the House Divided" (University of Chicago Press) The Republican Professor is a pro-getting-political-philosophy right podcast. The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D. Warmly, Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D. The Republican Professor Podcast The Republican Professor Newsletter on Substack https://therepublicanprofessor.substack.com/ https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/podcast/ https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/articles/ YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRepublicanProfessor Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRepublicanProfessor Twitter: @RepublicanProf Instagram: @the_republican_professor

Part 4: On the 22nd of December 2025, Republican appointed federal Judge Roger Benitez (Cuban ethnicity) struck down the Democrat mandated lying to parents in the K-12 school system. We covered it beginning in late December 2025 and in a second episode in late January 2026. The third episode, the last one before this one, was 17 March 2026. Unusual behavior or conduct of a student at school isn't grounds for a violation of Constitutional rights, Benitez held in Mirabelli v. Olson (Filed 22 Dec 2025), available here : https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/63d954d4e4ad424df7819d46/6949e11ea6bae817c8eaf637_Dkt%20%20307_MSJ%20Order.pdf Part 4. We cover from Part B on page 30 through to page 38 up to but not including letter C. We'll continue from there next time. This episode includes a Chaplain's corner prayer time thanking the Lord for Roger Benitez and asking for wisdom for the future. The Chaplain's corner includes a reading from Psalm 57 and Streams in the Desert 28 Jan (Cowman Publications Lost Feliz Station Lost Angeles Calif). The Republican Professor is a pro-anti-tax-funded-abuse-of-parents podcast. The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

Part 5 of a series on the history of Israel based on a fair use and transformative reading of "Israel and the Nations: From the Exodus to the Fall of the Second Temple" (Eerdmans, 1963) by FF Bruce. This episode includes interaction with the famous historical characters of Elijah and Elisha in his chapter V entitled "The House of Omri 881 to 841 BC" by the Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis, FF Bruce, my intellectual and spiritual grandfather because he mentored my professor Bruce Demarest who himself studied under FF Bruce at the University of Manchester. We're going to do a fair use and make a transformative reading of this material. We'd like to thank Eerdmans for making it available and thank FF Bruce for writing it. It also contains multiple references to Deuteronomy 17. The Republican Professor is a pro-biblical-literacy, pro-Christmas, pro-quality-mentoring, pro-understanding-the-history-of-Israel podcast. The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

Part 8: We continue our timely coverage of Pope Leo XIII 's Rerum Novarum numbers 36 through the end of 45 in his continued condemnation of Socialism and collectivism against the individual rights of employers, workers and families in 1891, when Socialism was increasingly popular in intellectual circles, setting the stage for the statisms of the 1900s. The Republican Professor is a pro-getting-theology's-application-to-public-policy-correct podcast. The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D. Support the podcast. Buy me a cup of coffee or ten here : https://buymeacoffee.com/lucasj.mather Warmly, Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D. The Republican Professor Podcast The Republican Professor Newsletter on Substack https://therepublicanprofessor.substack.com/ https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/podcast/ https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/articles/ YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRepublicanProfessor Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRepublicanProfessor Twitter: @RepublicanProf Instagram: @the_republican_professor

We cover Justice Gorsuch's Concurring Opinion for the Court today for Episode 17 of this deep dive as we continue the Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (2024) decision that overruled Chevron (1984), Justice Gorsuch's concurring Opinion for the Court. This is the 17th Chevron Deference Deep Dive episode we've done on TRP podcast since winter 2024. And here it is Spirng 2026. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/22-451_7m58.pdf (603 U.S. _____ (2024) of the Opinion of the Court written by Chief Justice Roberts. The Republican Professor is a pro-correctly-articulating-separation-of-powers podcast. Donate a gift to keep the podcast going on Venmo at-sign no space TheRepublicanProfessor or https://buymeacoffee.com/lucasj.mather Warmly, Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D. The Republican Professor Podcast The Republican Professor Newsletter on Substack https://therepublicanprofessor.substack.com/ https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/podcast/ https://www.therepublicanprofessor.com/articles/ YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRepublicanProfessor Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRepublicanProfessor Twitter: @RepublicanProf Instagram: @the_republican_professor

Part 2: Karen Humphries joins us 4 years later for Part 2 in a series on getting elected to local School Board in Ohio. She's just been reelected this past Fall 2025, having first been elected to the position in 2017. The Republicans need to come to terms with what the plan is with public education. A good first step is having a good School Board in place, no matter what you think about homeschooling and vouchers and the plethora of other issues in public funding of education. Interested in running for School Board yourself ? Or, interested in recruiting quality candidates on how to do so and what it might be like ? You'll be interested in Part 1 which was Episode 32 published on 29 March 2022 and this Part 2 here 4 years later (26 March 2026 recorded). More to come in the future. The Republican Professor is a pro-education podcast. Therefore, welcome back Karen Humphries! This episode was recorded in my Dr. Dallas Willard, Ph.D.-trained Epistemology mentor Dr. Doug Geivett, Ph.D.'s home study in Orange County. The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.