The Curious Case of Keith Shuggart and the YouTube Scholars of Misinformation

How Bad Takes, Memes, and YouTube Degrees Became the Currency of Modern Political Discourse.

It started, as these things often do, with a post. Keith Shuggart, ever the reliable cheerleader for Vladimir Putin’s fan club, decided to declare, with the confidence of a man who just skimmed a Breitbart headline, that Ukraine is the real "grifter" in this situation. Never mind that Trump and JD Vance just turned the Oval Office into a discount WWE ring—no, the real crime here is Zelenskyy daring to exist while his country fights off an invasion.

Trump, who once had to be reminded that Finland is not part of Russia, scolded Zelenskyy about "gambling with World War III." This from the man who wanted to strong-arm Ukraine into a political favor in exchange for military aid. The irony is so thick you could cut it with a dull butter knife.

And then there’s JD Vance. Oh, bless his heart. A man who went from writing about the struggles of Appalachia to eagerly fetching Trump’s slippers like an overenthusiastic golden retriever. He probably thinks standing up to Ukraine makes him look tough, but in reality, it’s just embarrassing. He tried to lecture Zelenskyy like some kind of off-brand Tucker Carlson, but all he did was remind everyone that his entire personality is just "angry Twitter thread brought to life."

Then, as if summoned by the spirit of bad faith arguments, enters RH Newburn, derailing the conversation faster than a toddler let loose in a fine china store. Instead of engaging with the actual topic, he went straight to the tried-and-true tactic of attacking backgrounds. "Aleksander sells beads and oils! Tantra! Hilarious!" as if that somehow negates any geopolitical argument.

What followed was a textbook case of logical fallacies in action:

1. Ad Hominem – Attack the person instead of the argument. "You can’t take him seriously, he does Tantra!"

2. Appeal to Ridicule – Spam laughing emojis like a 14-year-old who just discovered Reddit.

3. Straw Man – Reduce Tantra to massage parlors because that’s easier to mock than engaging with history.

4. YouTube as a Source – The pinnacle of intellectual laziness. "Just look it up on YouTube!" Yes, because nothing says academic rigor like scrolling past flat Earth documentaries.

And, of course, Keith couldn’t let RH steal all the bad-faith glory. When faced with an actual counterargument, he did what any self-respecting internet warrior would do—he posted a meme. A stale, unoriginal meme. The kind of meme that should have stayed buried in the ruins of 2008 internet culture. The digital equivalent of a gas station hot dog at 3 AM: expired, unappetizing, and likely to cause brain damage.

The best part of all this? The evangelicals cheering from the sidelines, somehow convinced that Putin’s Russia is their Christian utopia. They fail to realize that in Putin’s Russia, proselytizing is illegal, evangelical churches are crushed, and religious expression is state-approved only. But sure, let’s keep pretending the guy who poisons political opponents is the savior of the faith.

The bottom line? Trump and Vance embarrassed America on the world stage, Keith clapped like a trained seal, and RH Newburn thought he could win an argument by citing YouTube and making bad jokes about Tantra. Meanwhile, Zelenskyy is still leading a country at war, proving that competence will always outshine performative ignorance.

Virgin Monk Boy blesses them all—may their VPNs finally glitch out and show them a page of real news. 🕊🔥