MONDAY, AUGUST 4, 2025
"Democratization" in action: At present, the madness in the political culture starts at the top of the pile. Down below, we'll offer a hint about the way Kristen Welker knuckled under to the president on yesterday's Meet the Press.
For starters, though, let's go with this. According to Mediaite's Alex Griffing, manosphere brocaster Andrew Schultz is upset with President Trump:
Ex-Trump Supporter Andrew Schulz Fumes at the President Over Another Broken Promise...
Flagrant podcast host Andrew Schulz fumed at President Donald Trump on Sunday over a recent report that the administration is making no plans to mandate IVF care, despite Trump promising to do so during the campaign.
Schulz, who interviewed Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign and was part of the so-called “manosphere” of alternative media that helped elect him, has become a fierce critic in recent weeks, especially over the Epstein Files and increased government spending—despite publicly supporting and voting for the president.
On Sunday night, Schulz hit Trump for not fulfilling his promise to help make IVF more affordable for Americans in need of the fertility treatment. In an Instagram story, Schulz shared a Washington Post headline on the topic and wrote, “You don’t break your word. Your word breaks you.”
The broman is upset. He believed that Candidate Trump was someone he could trust. All of a sudden it's nothing but hurt—and who could have seen it coming:
In early July, Schulz raged on his popular podcast, “Everything he campaigned on, I believe he wanted to do, and now he’s doing the exact opposite thing of every single fucking thing.”
“There’ll be people, they’ll DM and say, you see what your boy’s doing? You voted for this. I’m like, I voted for none of this! He’s doing the exact opposite of everything I’ve voted for! I want him to stop the wars; he’s funding them. I want him to shrink spending, reduce the budget—he’s increasing it! It’s like everything that he said he’s going to do—except sending immigrants back,” Schulz added.
A few weeks later, Schulz went so far as to argue that Trump’s new anti-Obama conspiracy theory was proof that Trump is “guilty” when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein.
“The second he started talking about Obama, I was like, ‘Oh, he’s guilty,’” Schulz said, adding, “Like, why are you talking about Obama and treason?”
For unknown reasons, this giant of the manosphere is surprised to see Trump attacking Obama in a way which makes no sense. Does anyone know where this mofo may have been during the past fourteen years?
(Trump's rise as "King of the birthers" began in 2011, on the Fox News Channel. He kept it up for four straight years while Schulz was off the planet.)
Today, the star of the manosphere is shocked, shocked, to see the president attacking Obama in that ludicrous way. He's shocked to learn that President Trump nay not be the person he had somehow imagined.
Might we offer one small thought? Andrew Schulz may well be the world's most sincere and most good / decent person. That said, when we scan the leading authority's thumbnail sketch, we're not sure he was ever the perfect person to be dispensing high-level political advice:
Andrew Schulz
[...]
Schulz has hosted or appeared on numerous MTV2 shows, including Jobs That Don't Suck, Guy Code, Guy Court, Girl Code and The Hook Up. In 2015, he starred in the IFC series Benders...Schulz appeared in the feature film The Female Brain (2017)...
A four-part Netflix special, Schulz Saves America, premiered on December 17, 2020. The special was criticized for its Anti-Asian jokes blaming Asians for the COVID-19 pandemic.
[...]
Schulz also hosts Flagrant with his best friends and fellow stand-up comedians Akaash Singh and Mark Gagnon, and video editor AlexxMedia. Since starting the podcast, Singh created a Patreon where the hosts post an additional podcast a week.
In October 2024, Schulz hosted an episode with then presidential candidate Donald Trump. He later went on to defend his actions, stating that Democrats were "not cool" and his vote being based on "who gets the most pussy." Regarding the controversial quote, Schulz later said "I shouldn’t have said it like that" in an interview with The New York Times.
That's the way he decides how to vote! Thanks to the so-called "democratization of media," these are the bros to whom many voters have recently turned for their political guidance.
There has never been any such thing as perfect political journalism. There has never been any such thing as a perfect political discourse.
Long ago, before the onset of democratization. Walter Cronkite and David Brinkley weren't perfect political analysts. On the other hand, they were deeply experienced correspondents who had reasonably sound personal judgment. They were neither crazy nor crass.
Today, thanks to democratization, a new ethos prevails:
Every flyweight a king!
Youngsters flock to savants like Schultz, intrigued by his thoughts about p***y.
The worst of them all is the nutcase at Fox—the stranger Blue America's tribunes refuse to name or discuss. All in all, it isn't clear that a very large, sprawling nation can survive "democratization" of this particular type.
Also this:
Yesterday morning, it seemed to us Kristen Welker took a dive concerning the president's recent BLS massacre. Tomorrow morning, before we leave campus for the bulk of the day, we'll show you what we mean.
There's no such thing as a perfect discourse. That said, a nation's discourse can get much dumber and it can get much worse.
Increasingly, that seems to be the culture we've chosen, with few people saying a word.
What kind of idiot would listen to anything Trump says?
ReplyDeleteSee 6:28.
DeleteSomerby doesn’t understand that good decent people do not engage in hate speech.
ReplyDeleteCalling people racist or fascist is hate speech.
DeleteNot if they're racists or fascists.
DeleteCall Republicans racists or fascists all you want. It isn't going to distract from the fact that they are pedophiles.
DeleteAnother Broken Promise??? Trump made a lot of promises and has kept an unusually high number of them. Border closed. No tax on tips. No tax on overtime. Stop funding Planned Parenthood. Renew the 2017 tax cut. End DEI. Tariffs. Iran nukes. Fight antisemitism.
ReplyDeleteI don't approve of some of these actions, but one cannot deny that he has kept a lot of promises. Even on the two big ones that he did not fulfill -- Ukraine and Gaza -- he clearly made great efforts to get peace.
How would we know how much effort Trump has put into bringing about peace in Ukraine?
DeleteWell, he DID post, "Vladimir, Stop!" on Truth Social that one time.
DeleteI love Trump's renewal of the 2017 tax cuts. It's a perfect slap in the face to morons worried about the nation'ss deficit.
DeleteI couldn't have told David in Cal to go fuck himself, any better than Trump did.
It might be interesting to read what Somerby was like and how others regarded him back in the early 2000s:
ReplyDeletehttps://web.archive.org/web/20050306151016/http://www.cjr.org/issues/2005/1/twomey-howler.asp
This was before he joined the ranks of Trump supporters, when he might defend a Democrat such as Kerry instead of advancing the right wing talking point of the day and bashing MSNBC cable hosts.
One of his reviewers discusses his use of Nexis-Lexus to do research on topics he himself was debunking. It has been a very long time since then. Somerby at age 50 was worth reading and provided new info and insights. Today's Somerby is a waste of time, including his own.
That's why it was so upsetting to some of us when he started the endless cribbing from the Iliad to encase blatant propaganda on behalf of the Trump and others on the right. The first sign that I can recall was when he defended the Boston parents' resistance to desegregation of the schools back during the civil rights era. Then came his claims that the South was being discriminated against by elitists who look down on them for being ignorant and misguided. Around that time, he defended the North Carolina lacrosse team, before the accusations against them were revealed to be a hoax. He accused Al Sharpton of race-baiting because he supported Tanisha Brawley in her rape charges, later claimed to be a hoax. His defense of Roy Moore and Brock Turner turned out to be the wrong side of those accusations.
This past ongoing history of standing up for accused men makes Somerby's complete silence about Epstein and Trump's relationship with him and his sex trafficking seem notable. This is exactly the kind of thing Somerby went after in the old days, but crickets since 2015 when Somerby apparently climbed on the Trump bandwagon.
The lack of substance, in general, in Somerby's recent articles lead me to suspect that the main purpose he has for continuing to write, is whatever obligation he has to Trump and the right. There has been some oddness, such as oblique references to white supremacists and Curtis Yarvin, defense of Trump's reference to Unite the Right as good people, and so on.
Anyone can change their opinions over time and Somerby is entitled to do the same. The problem is that the background and bio info portrays the person he used to be, not his current content. That is more deception, of the same time that he perpetuates every day that he calls himself a lefty while writing right wing propaganda. Somerby would have been the first person to care about that, back in the day. But he has clearly changed.
Cancel your subscription.
DeleteKick a fascist in the face.
DeleteQuaker, you are missing the point. Is identity theft OK with you?
DeleteProjecting a fake identity via the media is disinformation just as much as lying about something else, especially when Somerby is an advocate of people following trusted authorities in the media and has been urging the return of gatekeepers like Cronkite.
DeleteI don't find the term "brocaster" very cute.
ReplyDeleteMy search engine will not accept it or provide a meaning for it, switching automatically to broadcaster, which is a term.
Did Somerby make this up? I find it sexist because it excludes women from the occupation of broadcasting and by extension from the topics discussed by a brocaster. That is the intent of those who populate the manosphere.
Schultz is an example of the leopard eating his face, or FAFO, terms that apply to people who supported Trump for fatuous reasons and got burned.
Does Somerby blame Schultz? Not so much. He seems to be blaming democratization of media -- the fact that anyone who wants to put in the effort and funding can have a media platform. But hasn't it always been that way? And haven't there always been pernicious sources in media at the fringes? Somerby generally ignores the strong independent liberal voices on substack and podcasts who are intelligently addressing issues. It is almost as if he doesn't want his readers to find any of them, the way they are never cited and Somerby seems oblivious to their existence. Kate Manne has a substack. Amanda Marcotte writes for Salon. These are women's voices opposing Somerby's brocaster idiot and standing up against the right wing's attack on women. Somerby has never said a word about the ongoing attack on women's rights, except to object when someone is called sexist, misogynist, or gender is mentioned. That makes him a bro-blogger in my opinion. But his own ignorance is greater than that of the many readers who have discovered important work surveying the entire breadth of so-called democratized media. We find it good, not a problem, and when Republican say stupid stuff, we don't blame the liberal voices but the Republicans themselves, including Somerby.
"That's the way he decides how to vote! Thanks to the so-called "democratization of media," these are the bros to whom many voters have recently turned for their political guidance. "
DeleteDG and AC/MA may be unable to find where Somerby blames democratization instead of Schultz. Here it is.
Is Schultz to blame for what he says out loud on air? Or are his watchers to blame because they found his podcast and watched it? Somerby blames democratization -- the ability of fringe podcasters to find an audience. Too many voices, Somerby says. How will people choose? That is the voice of authoritarianism. People must be protected from themselves by presenting only authority-approved voices, screen by gatekeepers to keep the people from becoming confused.
Spot on. Democrats are as unpopular as they have ever been.
DeleteLOL! Nothing funnier than maggots pontificating on the 1st Amendment to our Constitution.
DeleteThe current FCC (Federal Communications Commission) commissioner involved in an investigation of CBS is Brendan Carr. Specifically, he is leading an investigation into CBS for potential violations of the FCC's "news distortion" rule. This investigation stems from a complaint about CBS's news reporting accuracy and potential bias. The FCC under Carr is also facing criticism for allegedly weaponizing its licensing authority against CBS.
We are living in a fascist country now. Pass it on.
"Brocaster" is not a complimentary term. It refers to a subset of Trump supporting male comedians who do podcasts. Bernie Sanders had a following referred to as a bro cult. That was not complimentary. There are athletes known as lax bros. That is not complimentary. Geez, get over yourself.
DeleteSorry, not a bro, so it is helpful to explain this stuff to the other half of the population that is not you.
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"manosphere brocaster Andrew Schultz is upset with President Trump"
ReplyDeleteSquealing idiot-Democrats is good. I would like to see more of it. It means that draining the swamp goes well.
Don't be so lazy, Mao.
DeleteYou're going to have to put a lot more effort, if you want to distract us from the fact that the Republican Party is an international pedophile ring.
Enjoying the show as the Orange Jesus's fan base unravels. Approval rating in the thirties.
DeleteWhy would we trust a man who cheats so expertly at golf to be capable of draining the Swamp?
Delete