While I do not think Max Blumenthal is a Libertarian, I absolutely do think that he is way less politicized than people give him credit for, that his politics are hyper confused and without a solid root other than reflexive anti-americanism (and I say that because to be anti-imperialist one must also theoretically understand imperialism, which necessitates a solid political base in materialist and marxist thinking).

This ideological confusion of his allows his thought to be riddled with contradictions, and a MAJOR one is a certain commitment to “freedom”, in the ways in which it is pushed hegemonically in the west in general. Call it latent system pushed individualism, ig. The extreme of that is capitalist libertarianism, so I understand why one would jump the shark and call him a libertarian. This is too hasty, but it is not cooompletely incorrect.

And this is what imo, tied to more “base” interests (such as financial, his switch to anti-vax is bringing a lot of cash and vastly expanded the grayzone’s audience), is what explains the shift.

Ben Norton always was a bit more politically coherent, and he turned towards clearly marxist and ML movements early on, and a certain humility so to speak to listen (really listen) to analysis done by marxists leninists and anti-imperialists. This is also why Ben Norton actively listened to the analysis of the communist party of canada about the ill called “trucker” convoy up here, and why Blumenthal did not. Norton correctly saw the CPC canada as accurate, that the movement was a petit-bourgeois one, with a leadership with deep ties to fascist elements, and one that is to the direct opposite of proletarian interests. Blumenthal on the other hand, saw it as a potentially progressive movement to be worked with, and he entered head first in the culture war thinking he was bashing back against it, engaging in nonsensical conspiratorial crap, and actively attacking organized working class elements such as fucking unions and communist parties in Canada.

Tl;DR Blumenthal is what happens when a mf has no dialectical materialist analysis. Sorry for long comment.