In the time just before the rise of Pewidepie as the most popular YouTuber there were the angry and nostalgic reviewers. The Angry Video Game Nerd formally Nintendo, Nostalgia Critic, Spoonyone, Cinemasnob and so on all were prominent on the platform. Mostly in their homes putting together reviews with skits that either missed or hit, while inventing characters to make a point. In that age the intended audience was not little children but rather teens and adults. Some of the reviewers became famous enough to inspire copy cats, or motivate others to take up the webcam and angrily criticise a film or game. Irate Gamer to AVGN being an example of one such copy cat reviewer. Then came Mr Plinkett. the Red Letter Media created character who narrated in a garbled voice lengthy reviews of Star Wars, Star Trek and other films with a comical break down. Such long form commentary form would pave the way for Mauler and many of those in the Every Frame A Pause realm.

The Fair Use period of YouTube ensured that some went to blip.tv or invented their own websites, the Nostalgia Critic heading That Guy With Glasses which had a stable of reviewers under one roof as such. Normal Boots would house many gamer types for a time such as Jon Tron to Peanut Butter Gamer. Lindsay Ellis, was then known as the Nostalgia Chick. She rose to prominence reviewing among the TGWG crew a fan favourite. In his own corner of YouTube lurked Movie Bob, who would often bludgeon contemporary American politics into basically every film he reviewed. Under the pretentious category of reviewer along with Patrick (H) Willems where the reviewer insists that they are the smartest person ever to review a thing to be reviewed. Movie Bob was a cliché that helped invent the modern meme of a Well Ackstually neckbeard.

At one convention where fans met their favourite online celebrities Movie Bob got a photo with Lindsay Ellis. He then went on to use this photo some time later as proof that he and her are friends. They are after all “colleagues” in the realm of reviewers, so to those peering in through the portal of social media it stands to reason that they could be real life friends. Ellis then responded by putting Bob in his place, calling him “creepy” for sharing such a photo with his claim of friendship. The very public Twitter shutdown put Bob down a rung and helped secure him as a meme. He would go on to complain about how it hurt him. You see, Bob is a male feminist type. The kind of male feminist who loses his feminist values when a drunk female is passed out nearby, (not Bob personally but the type of feminist I am referring to, I would never accuse such a man of such a thing…) and Ellis called him out for it.

Years later, Lindsay Ellis apologised for her tweet because it had hurt Bob’s credibility. Though his claim and boast on Twitter itself should have been condemnation of his character, being a false claim and all that. Now why have I informed you of all of this, because recently a 2016 photo of Tulsi Gabbard standing alongside Rabbi Shmuley was X’d out by the pro-genocide Rabbi. Shmuley claimed in his tweet above the 2016 photo that he was, “Excited to see my two close friends Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F Kennedy, Jr lead the Donald Trump transition team.” Many Xers (Tweeters was much easier to say), seemed convinced that it was a recent photo of the Trump team alumni Gabbard.

Whether Shmuley is friends with Gabbard or Kennedy is unknown. They are both politicians who seem to have countless friends, the nature of the photo and tweet is reminiscent of Movie Bob. The attachment of self to another, a political beast determined to steel the flames of fame and influence from another. Or in the case of Shmuley the attachment of a woman who is associated with some antiwar sentiments to himself, who is pro a particular war. The X-tweet is all rather political and much ado about nothing in the grand scheme of things but it does further reveal the damaging attachment of personalities to causes and their association of a message when they themselves seek politics. This is the nature of politics, shaking hands and standing in photos with people of disrepute.

Lindsay Ellis is a much more talented reviewer and film maker than Bob ever was. Tulsi Gabbard is also a far more accomplished person than Shmuley could ever be. Which is why both feel the need to associate themselves with such women. It’s also the dangerous reality of having ones photo taken with strangers, because you never really know who they may be or what they will do with such a photo. But Gabbard is in Team Trump, where the policies seem onboard with enabling the genocide in Palestine. Shmuley already has many friend’s like that.