PaulsEgo is Dividing the Left For His Own Gains
No, this is not just another Paul Derangement Syndrome (PDS) article for temporary internet clout. This is a public service announcement for anyone on the fence about PaulsEgo: get the hell away from the DFF podcast. It’s clear that TJ and Scotty are just phoning it in at this point to appease one of their closest friends, Paul, who in return is decimating their Patreon income because he can’t handle even the slightest criticism. Some friend, right? That’s like keeping someone in your house out of pity while they repeatedly defecate on your couch. Paul, stop defecating on TJ’s couch!
But in all seriousness, this article primarily addresses why Paul is a complete menace to the left. He still has some influence in leftist spaces, diminishing but present. And what does he do with his fading stardom? He attacks other leftists who mostly agree with him over trivial, non-issue disagreements that supposedly elevate his status as a "labor leftist."
The latest victim of Paul’s antics? None other than one of the show’s former friends, Kyle Kulinski, host of the YouTube podcast Secular Talk.
Yes, the same Kyle who once endorsed the DFF podcast and defended their right to free speech on YouTube. But, of course, Kyle wasn’t initially connected to Paul; his involvement stemmed from his appearances on the original Drunken Peasants podcast back when Paul was just a recurring guest. Since Paul didn’t help build that bridge, he’s more than happy to burn it. You can watch the referenced video here:
It’s long, so you don’t have to watch it all, but the title alone tells you what to expect: childish straw-man arguments against Kyle.
It’s honestly pathetic how quickly Paul burns bridges over the pettiest issues. Kyle distanced himself from Joe Rogan because Rogan has become a conduit for pseudoscience in America. And what’s Paul’s reason for attacking Kyle? Oh, the DFF podcast thinks Kyle is a "sucker" for supporting Bernie Sanders, who, by the way, is actively campaigning in purple states, something no other influential Democrat of his caliber is doing. Meanwhile, Hakeem Jeffries has completely caved to the Trump agenda, yet Bernie is doing the exact opposite. There is no good argument for equating support for Bernie now with endorsing Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign, but that’s exactly the absurd logic DFF is pushing.
I honestly don’t know if TJ and Scotty have been radicalized by Paul or if they just don’t care enough to challenge his idiotic positions. Maybe they’re just going with the flow. Either way, this is not a good look for DFF. Just check the comments under the Onion Nuggetz video referenced earlier.
It’s one thing for an audience to occasionally disagree with content creators, but what’s happening at DFF is different. Their Patreon is tanking because viewers are tired of hearing three guys do nothing about the increasingly right-wing American political climate except berate those actually trying to resist the shift. Kyle supports Bernie, DFF mocks him for it. That’s the pattern.
And just when you think it can’t get more pathetic, oh, it does. After spending their time attacking someone who has done more for progressive causes than all three of them combined, they’re now mad at Kyle for being "too hard" on Joe Rogan. Their argument? "He’s going hard at Joe for a guy that’s been on his show, I think, four times or something."
Do they have short-term memory loss? Do any of them remember when Kyle was on their show? And by the way, this isn’t even the first video where they’ve gone after Kyle—at least the second one I know of, possibly more. So what’s the rule here? It’s fine for DFF to attack someone they’ve collaborated with, but no one else can? And they wonder why their show is failing.
If you haven’t figured it out by now, the only reason Paul brands himself as a "labor leftist" is because he knows he would crumble under scrutiny if he tried defending a more complex, nuanced socialist ideology. Instead of admitting that he doesn’t want to put in the effort to understand socialist philosophy, he avoids it entirely so he can keep yelling in front of a camera. Real work ethic, folks. No one expects Paul to become a political professor just because he has opinions, but he is involved in political discourse. And because he’s only in it for himself, he takes the path of least resistance because that’s all he’s ever done. Nothing is ever his fault. He has a bad back. He "didn’t have a pool growing up" (which, by the way, was a lie—shocking). So why not also shift his political positions like a clout-chasing streamer floating wherever the wind blows?
And it doesn’t even stop there. Now Paul is a Daoist. OK, sure. I was specifically told he’s not a theist, just "spiritual." Yeah, because I haven’t heard that line of bullshit before, usually from Christians who want to distance themselves from the baggage of their faith’s bigotry. But since Paul was once a well-known atheist, he can’t outright say he’s a theist now, so instead, he pivots into being the equivalent of a 40-year-old cat lady who thinks essential oils can cure everything. Makes perfect sense, right?
All in all, Paul just needs to shut off the camera and find some run-down grocery store in the middle of nowhere to work and mope around in because sooner or later, the internet will just entirely eject Paul and he shouldn't bring down TJ and Scotty with him. There's hope yet for TJ, but he has to act fast and dump Paul. His channel is taking a new direction, although there are some Paul moments on there, but I think TJ can steady that ship if he went full time on there.