Friday on the RealClearPolitics podcast, Carl Cannon, Tom Bevan, and Andrew Walworth break down the media’s coverage of socialism as an ideology, as Democrats embrace the idea of government taking over the economy. Stephen B. Young joins the show to talk about his new book, “America vs the Overclass.” Tom and Carl discuss Secretary of State Marco Rubio deporting a sex offender that Gov. Tim Walz and Minnesota tried to pardon, and give their picks for “You Can Not Be Serious!?” absurd headlines for this week. Listen live weekdays at 11:00 a.m. Eastern on SiriusXM’s Megyn Kelly Channel 111, or on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or other platforms.

00:00 – Opening: Why Is the Media Spinning Socialism? Carl Cannon and Tom Bevan discuss how the media is framing openly socialist candidates heading into the 2026 elections, criticizing a recent piece in the New York Times. “It’s just such a soft-pedaling,” Bevan said. “These folks are literally calling for doing away with not just capitalism, but borders, the prison system and ICE. I mean, they want to deconstruct our society.” NY Times: How American Socialism Changed, and Stormed the Democratic Party “I hate to be so critical, but these were both journalistic malpractice,” Cannon said. “There was nothing in them that was wrong. What was wrong with the stories was all the things that weren’t in them.” *** 17:49 – Understanding The ‘Overclass’ Carl Cannon and Andrew Walworth speak with author Stephen B. Young about his new book, “America vs. the Overclass,” which argues that a college-educated managerial overclass has gained excessive power across government, business, media and education. Young discusses civilizational decline, the loss of personal responsibility, the difference between inner-directed and other-directed personalities, the political center, cultural renewal and his nonlinear writing process. More Info: “America vs. the Overclass: How a New Elite Corrupted Our Nation and What We Can Do to Stop Them” “I gave them the title of the ‘overclass’ because they manage. They’re in our government, they’re in our corporations, they run our media, and they run our educational institutions,” Young said. “What the overclass has done is override the Constitution. There are no checks and balances for them. It’s ‘I’m an expert, and you’re not.'” “Kissinger, you might say, is just the perfect example of overclass management of America and our people, based on his own expertise — and he ended up deciding to lose the Vietnam War.” “The overclass is a concept that I’ve sort of made up,” he explained. “Then there were some left-wing socialists, Burnham and Trotsky, who said, ‘Wait a moment. The socialism thing is not working out the way Marx talked about it.’ Instead of the ruling elite disappearing and the workers coming into power, we have a new ruling elite. They called that the ‘new’ class.” “Basically, these are white-collar people who earn salaries. They’re not capitalists, and they’re not workers. They’re something different,” he said. “I gave them the title of the overclass because they manage. They’re in our government, they’re in our corporations, they run our media, and they run our educational institutions. I think something like 38% of all Americans have college degrees or higher. The overclass is basically the college-educated.” Excerpt: “Restoring the Covenant” *** 39:55 – Rubio Intervenes in ‘Pedo’ Pardon The group discusses the deportation of a Laotian immigrant convicted of abusing a child after Minnesota officials granted him a pardon. Bevan presents the case as a straightforward failure to deport a serious offender, while Carl argues that the original handling was wrong but the pardon and deportation created a more complicated situation. “Bad facts make bad law,” Cannon said. “You’re going to send this guy to a country he’s never lived in. He came here as a boy for a crime that happened two decades ago. He probably should have been deported at the time.” *** 43:37 – “You Can’t Be Serious?!” The episode ends with the group’s picks for the weekly “You Can Not Be Serious!?” roundup of absurd headlines.

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