Spread Great Ideas: The Podcast - Mark Pulliam: Lawyer, Writer, and Activist

Mark Pulliam: Lawyer, Writer, and Activist

02/15/24 • 63 min

Please welcome Mark Pulliam, an award-winning lawyer, writer, and activist living in East Tennessee. His work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, the L.A. Times, the Federalist, and many other publications. He writes regularly at Misrule of Law and is also a contributing editor at Law and Liberty.

As a "political refugee" from blue Austin, TX, today he's joining me to discuss the ups and downs of building a grassroots conservative movement as a local activist in a supposedly "friendly" area. After all, the part of East Tennessee in which he lives, Blount County, voted by a 71% to 27% margin in 2020 for Donald Trump. Yet in building this grassroots movement which, you'd think, would be welcomed by the political establishment that purports to also be "conservative" he has run into the local version of "The Swamp" - a long-standing good ole boy network filled with RINOs that demonstrates the same clannish behavior which the original Scotch Irish settlers of East Tennessee brought with them.

Is it possible for an "outsider" to inject a sense of urgency into the local populace and wake them from their slumber to defend their values and way of life from local leaders who say one thing and do another? Let's find out.

Favorite Mark Pulliam Quote

“One person can't change the political direction of a county... It requires a movement, it requires broad-based community participation... I'm hoping that others will step up and pick up the baton also.” - Mark Pulliam

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Favorite Mark Pulliam Quote

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Previous Episode

Phil Craig: Leader of South Africa's Referendum Party

On this episode, I invite Phil Craig onto the show. He is the leader of South Africa's Referendum Party — a single-issue party whose goal is to call a referendum on the Western Cape province seceding from South Africa. According to polls, 68% of Western Cape voters support holding a referendum, and 58% support independence.

We talk about South African politics and economics, why the Western Cape is so different from other provinces, internal and external migration trends in South Africa, what a free and independent Western Cape province would look like, and why Westerners (and especially Americans) who believe in political self-determination should care about this issue for moral as well as geopolitical reasons. I admire Phil's efforts!

Favorite Phil Craig Quote

“Since 1945, almost every single conflict around the world has its source in the denial of self-determination... It's not people looking to assert their right to self-determination that's the problem; it's when countries deny people the right to live out their existence as they see fit where problems start.” - Phil Craig

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Next Episode

Guy Smith: Founder of the Gun Facts Project

Please welcome Guy Smith, a 25-year gun control policy researcher and the founder of the Gun Facts Project. He's also the author of "Guns and Control", has appeared on Fox News, AlJazeera America, and is a frequent talk radio and podcast guest where he shares his team's learnings from conducting data-based investigations into criminology, public safety, and constitutional law.

The slogan for the Gun Facts Project is “We are neither pro-gun nor anti-gun. We are pro-math and anti-BS.” And Guy personally is not "a member of any organization — not the NRA, not Everytown for Gun Safety, not the Second Amendment Foundation, not the Brady Campaign. Nada. Not even any political party. Someone once bought (him) a membership in the California Rifle and Pistol Association, and (he) immediately demanded to be removed from the membership roster.

Let's hear what Guy has to say.

Favorite Guy Smith Quote

“What I wish of any person in any field of political thinking is: be rationally skeptical. You don't have to be a denier. You don't have to be a disbeliever, you just have to go: What does the data really tell us?” - Guy Smith

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