yes, really.
Remote
David Benfell, Ph.D. (he/him/his)
@benfell@infosec.exchange
mastodon 4.8.0-alpha.3+glitchPh.D. Human Science (Saybrook University, 2016), vegetarian ecofeminist (#vegan and #libertariansocialist) scholar, #anticapitalist. Disgusted by Republicans, furious at the Democrats.
520 Followers
792 Following
50 Posts
Joined November 28, 2023
RE: https://flipboard.com/@wsj/u.s.-8dpuvhbgz/-/a-bM82wONBTxikYOAeqdyekA%3Aa%3A248213600-%2F0
“Blanket” is not an exaggeration. As I headed out this afternoon, I could see and smell a bank of smoke that now fills the sky.
Apparently, Chuck Schumer does not understand[1] many folks’ absolute fury with the Democratic Party establishment[2] and has been working—with mixed results—to undermine populist candidates. The stated rationale is to improve chances in the general election.[3] The trouble is that a lot of voters are fed up with a party that continues to persuade me it prefers to sit in opposition, where it can complain about the Republicans without ever being expected to actually accomplish anything.
[1] Alex Roarty et al., “Chuck Schumer Hits His Limit,” News Of The United States, July 1, 2026, https://www.notus.org/democrats/chuck-schumer-dscc-senate-primaries
[2] David Benfell, “We have to take care of people,” Not Housebroken, June 24, 2026, https://www.disunitedstates.org/p/we-have-to-take-care-of-people
[3] Alex Roarty et al., “Chuck Schumer Hits His Limit,” News Of The United States, July 1, 2026, https://www.notus.org/democrats/chuck-schumer-dscc-senate-primaries
Dan Rather makes one mistake in his explainer on Democratic Socialism. The Soviet Union, People’s Republic of China, and other authoritarian socialist regimes are not “modern communism.”[1] They are authoritarian socialist. We can argue about whether the dictators who arose from the revolutions that brought these regimes to power ever really meant to use the state to wither itself away or were simply cynics who found a route to power.
The huge historical argument between Michael Bakunin and Karl Marx was over whether the state could be so used.[2] Marx won that battle, but the history vindicates Bakunin, who argued that it couldn’t work.[3]
The “true communism” which, as Rather notes, has never been tested,[4] is in fact difficult to distinguish from anarchism. All are equal under communism just as under anarchism; there can be no political or economic dictators and no ruling parties under either system of social organization. Communism and anarchism employ true democracy in which everybody, not economic or political elites, has a say in everything, which is why I refuse to call the former constitutional oligarchy, now an aconstitutional broligarchy in the U.S. a “democracy.”
“True democracy” hasn’t been tried either. But our misnomers train us to believe it is. Just like we think authoritarian socialism is “communism.”
[1] Dan Rather, “Blue Scare,” Steady, July 2, 2026, https://steady.substack.com/p/blue-scare
[2] Brian Morris, Bakunin (Montreal, Black Rose, 1993).
[3] Brian Morris, Bakunin (Montreal, Black Rose, 1993).
[4] Dan Rather, “Blue Scare,” Steady, July 2, 2026, https://steady.substack.com/p/blue-scare
Worth noting, as before, that the Pentagon is trying to suppress information about the war on Iran: “Most of what we know so far about the deaths of US service members in Jordan and Iraq has been attributed to anonymous ‘officials.’
“This morning, the NYT’s Eric Schmitt revealed that Iran ‘carried out three other strikes’ against US forces in Jordan in recent days, injuring dozens of service members and damaging several helicopters. ‘But the Pentagon did not disclose the earlier strikes, nor the casualties and damage they inflicted,’ Schmitt wrote.
“Schmitt listed other examples of the government withholding info: ‘The [Donald] Trump administration has failed to disclose how the Iran war has drained U.S. supplies of critical, costly weapons, and how Iran retained and rebuilt substantial missile capabilities.’
Over the weekend, The Washington Post cited an official ‘speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media’ who said the US is planning for a wider war, but who ‘cautioned that the expansion of U.S. operations will be limited by dwindling stockpiles of air defense and long-range munitions and constraints on the ability to surge more troops and aircraft into the area because of battle damage.’
The official was quoted as saying, ‘We do not have enough to safely sustain operations, and I don’t think the White House is aware of that.’ Perhaps the person leaked to the Post in order to alert the White House?”[1]
In toxic masculinity, it is critical to appear tough, to win, because not to do so is to admit weakness. As I’ve said before, if the news was good, the Trump administration would surely be trumpeting it rather than suppressing it. But also, while Trump and Pete Hegseth stroke their egos and their parts down low, people suffer and die for no apparent reason. It’s certainly nothing to be proud of.
[1] Brian Stelter, “The Pentagon avoids questions as the US war with Iran escalates,” July 20, 2026, https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/20/media/pentagon-trump-hegseth-iran-press-briefings
Replying to
@huntingdon@mstdn.social
I didn't see the driver. I've been contemplating the possibility that the driver might have been a woman.
I suspect the problem with the social sciences and the humanities is that one has to study them—with some seriousness—to appreciate them.
A money quote if ever I saw it: “The administration is fighting hard to persuade the American public and American politicians that this [memorandum of understanding declaring a 60-day ceasefire in the war with Iran] is not a defeat for the United States.”[1] But there is no regime change, no agreement on Iranian proxy militias (e.g., Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis), and no agreement on Iran’s nuclear program beyond that they will not develop nuclear weapons, which they have long insisted they have no intention of doing. There will be a $300 billion fund to reconstruct Iran, a lifting of all sanctions against Iran, Iran will retain joint control with Oman over the Strait of Hormuz, and the U.S. will withdraw its naval blockade and unfreeze frozen Iranian funds.[2] Indeed, “[t]he agreement is a record of US failure. People will see it and judge.”[3]
[1] Mike Hanna, quoted in Al Jazeera, “Diplomat confirms that US and Iran have signed MoU electronically,” June 17, 2026, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/17/iran-confirms-that-mou-has-been-signed-electronically-by-both-sides
[2] Al Jazeera, “Diplomat confirms that US and Iran have signed MoU electronically,” June 17, 2026, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/17/iran-confirms-that-mou-has-been-signed-electronically-by-both-sides; Al Jazeera, “Read the US account of unreleased 14-point Iran ceasefire memorandum,” June 17, 2026, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/17/read-the-us-account-of-unreleased-14-point-iran-ceasefire-memorandum
[3] Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, quoted in Al Jazeera, “Diplomat confirms that US and Iran have signed MoU electronically,” June 17, 2026, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/17/iran-confirms-that-mou-has-been-signed-electronically-by-both-sides
It’s worth noting that Donald Trump’s extension of a ceasefire with Iran[1] also enables him to avoid seeking permission from Congress to continue the war after 60 days.[2]
[1] France 24, “Trump extends Iran ceasefire indefinitely as peace talks stall,” April 22, 2026, https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20260422-trump-extends-iran-ceasefire-indefinitely-as-peace-talks-stall-war-usa
[2] Ana Faguy and James FitzGerald, “US lawmakers reject measure to block Trump from striking Iran,” British Broadcasting Corporation, April 18, 2026, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yve8dmvn5o
It’s possible there is more evidence to back Amir Azimi’s assessment of Iranian leadership.[1] If so, I’d like to see it. In the absence of that evidence, my reading is that the evidence supporting this assessment is much too thin.
[1] Amir Azimi, “Who is making decisions in Iran?” British Broadcasting Corporation, April 24, 2026, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm29m732vgno
You might be surprised by whom Stormy Daniels labels as hypocrites.[1]
[1] Stormy Daniels, “I’d rather be called a whore than a hypocrite,” I, July 24, 2026, https://inews.co.uk/news/world/stormy-daniels-rather-called-whore-hypocrite-4647420
CNN’s Reliable Sources newsletter yesterday (April 4) led with news that satellite imagery of Iran is being censored at the request of the U.S. government. All imagery providers, apparently, received the same “request.” The newsletter goes on to quote Josh Rogin saying, “We've had about four weeks of the administration telling us everything's fine, everything's going according to plan. And now everyone can see with their eyes that that's obviously not the case. So now we're back to square one. How do we get out of this?”[1]
It’s a pretty safe bet that if Donald Trump had good news about the Iran war, he’d be trumpeting it on Truth Social rather than inhibiting independent analysis. We can infer, then, that the news is not good. Which, at this point, is no surprise.
But we also won’t know just how bad the news really is. Which is rather strongly to suggest that the U.S. and Israel are getting their butts kicked.
[1] Brian Stelter to Reliable Sources list, “‘Information silence’ as US searches for missing F-15 crew member,” Cable News Network, April 4, 2026, https://www.cnn.com/newsletters/reliable-sources
It seems like Donald Trump has a choice between his unseemly affection for Vladimir Putin and his war on Iran: “‘We see how courageously and heroically the Iranian people are fighting for their independence and sovereignty,’ Putin told [Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas] Araghchi, saying he hoped they could get through a ‘difficult period’ and that peace would prevail.”[1]
[1] Al Jazeera, “Putin praises Iranian ‘courage’ as Tehran’s foreign minister visits Russia,” April 27, 2026, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/27/iran-foreign-minister-in-russia-for-putin-talks
