The Baffler , May 24, 2017

Daily Bafflements

What fresh hell is this? Nothing excites the working class like the international arms trade! / MONUSCO / Abel Kavanagh
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? The ?Washington Post?provides?a deep dive into how the myth regarding Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich became a favorite among far-right conspiracy nuts. You can thank Kim Dotcom—the New Zealand-based?crackpot internet entrepreneur that brought you such goodies as Megaupload—for pushing the theory?that Rich was murdered for providing DNC documents to WikiLeaks. The “work” done by Dotcom and other conspiracy lovers fits neatly into the definition of conspiracy theorists that Corey Pein set out in 2016: these guys?are, without a doubt, “shitty detectives.”

? Over at?The Atlantic,?Andrew Exum has a take hot enough to make your eyes bleed: progressives should?welcomeinternational arms deals! Considering?that—as Tim Shorrock?noted in Issue no. 33—Exum was?instrumental to the “liberal charm offensive” that sold counterinsurgency doctrine to the Obama-era White House, this stance could come as no surprise. In fact, it seems to be a savvy effort to rebrand?what has become known as “the Blob.”

? “The i-word may fire up the party’s already frothing base, which is clamoring for action and taking to the streets and social media to demand that Trump be confronted as aggressively as possible.?. . . But the task for Democrats is to persuade enough Republicans to switch sides, while keeping their base activated and involved.”

? Democracy dies in . . . oh fuck, what fresh hell?is this?