Democratic Identity Crisis, Trump’s Culture Jabs, 80s Icons Exit

The Politics Guys

Michael Baranowski

Politics, News

4.5 • 772 Ratings

🗓️ 29 July 2025

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Justin and Joey open this midweek supporters’ episode by exploring the Democratic Party’s post-2024 crossroads, sparked by a socialist win in New York and Hunter Biden’s provocative media appearances. Justin argues the party’s aging leadership and weak bench leave it vulnerable and fragmented, with no clear 2028 frontrunner. Joey sees a party ideologically fractured between moderates and a resurgent left, raising questions about whether Democrats can unify—or even keep their voters—heading into the next presidential cycle. Next is Trump’s push to reinstate Native-themed sports names like the Redskins and Indians. Justin, once more strident, now sees the issue as complex and notes even Native opinion is divided; he finds Trump’s micromanaging of cultural matters more noteworthy than the naming itself. Joey defends the names as tributes rather than slurs and frames the episode as part of Trump’s broader fight against elite-driven cultural conformity that politicizes even leisure spaces like sports. They close by reflecting on the deaths and cultural impact of Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Hulk Hogan, and Ozzy Osbourne. Joey praises the Cosby Show’s enduring humor and the unifying presence of Hulkamania, seeing both as touchstones of American optimism. Justin offers a heartfelt tribute to Ozzy as a musical innovator who helped birth heavy metal, arguing his creative legacy far outshines his controversies. Both agree that these icons transcended politics and offered generational moments of shared meaning. The Politics Guys on Facebook | X Mike’s Substack: What Fresh Hell is This? Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo, we’re @PoliticsGuys. The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Atheists, agnostics, long-haired widows, short-haired widows, vandal,
0:04.9	gulagos.
0:05.3	I love the government, hug the government, hug the government, hug the government, love, the government,
0:11.1	hug the government, hug the government.
0:12.0	Welcome to the politics, guys, a place for bipartisan, rational, and civil debate on
0:16.6	American politics and policy.
0:18.8	Hello, and welcome to the politics guys. This is our special
0:22.4	midweek bonus episode. If you found yourselves here, you probably know the story, but we are
0:27.4	the home of rational, bipartisan, collegial, political discussion, et cetera. And gosh, there is
0:34.3	so much to fit in in any given week that we really need to do two whole shows every week.
0:40.4	So anyhow, this brings us to today.
0:43.7	And thank you for joining us.
0:45.0	Those of you that are subscribers, thanks for being subscribers.
0:48.7	Those of you that are getting the 15 minute sample, go to the show notes and find out how to subscribe.
0:57.1	With that, today I am joined by conservative lawyer Joey Ashbrook. How you doing today, Joey?
1:02.4	Doing great, Justin. Great to be with you. Hey, it's great to be with you too. It's always a
1:06.8	pleasure talking to you. So we've got sort of about three topics, I think, that we're
1:11.5	going to hit for today. And how about you take it away? You've got the intro in the first couple of
1:16.5	them. I would love to, Justin. This first one is one that I have been really curious and looking
1:22.0	forward to getting your take on. And it is the current state of the Democratic Party.
1:28.3	And some recent news, as everyone knows, the Democratic Party in New York City nominated an
1:35.7	unashamed socialist for the party nomination, and Mr. Mondami is still polling very strong
	...

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