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Stu Smith

@thestustustudio

Jun 9

🧵 DSA says its Red Rabbits initiative is about “security.” But according to its own authorizing resolution, the project is preparing for a “national uprising against federal agents and police brutality.”

A recent panel showed what that means in practice.

“Takedowns on intersections,” training where participants practiced being pepper-sprayed, firearm-safety training, protest marshalling, umbrellas and signs to block “fascists,” and direct-action support for Palestine and immigrant-justice groups.

The legal-risk issue was obvious enough that even the panelists kept circling it. They talked about compliance, liability, tax purposes, and how far DSA could push this without putting the organization at risk.

One organizer even described keeping a project DSA-sponsored but not fully DSA-run, so the fallout would not “come back to the DSA.”

My latest for @CityJournal!

This is my second look at the Red Rabbits as the project continues to evolve.

I genuinely think this is one of the most important aspects of the DSA to understand, especially as it keeps racking up wins nationwide and pushing more candidates into office.
city-journal.org/article/democr…

https://x.com/thestustustudio/status/2026722732428111878

The first time I looked at Red Rabbits was after the DSA’s National Political Committee voted against removing a self-described “Maoist” from the commission despite his history of praising revolutionary violence.

https://x.com/thestustustudio/status/2026722732428111878

Read 5 tweets

Stu Smith

@thestustustudio

Jun 7

🚨 Why Is Sanctioned Iranian State Media Filming in Washington, D.C.?

Not to be a stickler for the rules, but Press TV has been sanctioned since September 2023, so I find it pretty remarkable to see a PressTV branded microphone operating in Washington, D.C. while interviewing American far-left activists.

Mind you, this does not automatically prove a sanctions violation. Protected speech is still protected. But things get much murkier if any U.S. person is providing services that help Press TV create content after its designation.

And one of the people being interviewed here is Ermiya Fanaeian, a National Network on Cuba co-chair who has also been involved with Freedom Road Socialist Organization and Armed Queers SLC. Armed Queers SLC later drew scrutiny in connection with the investigation into Tyler Robinson, the alleged Charlie Kirk assassin.

At minimum, this raises some serious questions worth asking. Who is operating Press TV-branded interviews inside Washington, D.C., and is anyone in the United States helping a sanctioned Iranian state media outlet create content?

https://x.com/thestustustudio/status/2023579788561027242

Everything you need to know about Fanaeian is in this clip, bragging about how these Cuba delegations leveled up “her” organizing game.

Actually, scratch that. I’ve got an even spicier clip for you.

https://x.com/thestustustudio/status/2023579788561027242

https://x.com/thestustustudio/status/2043135220187074634

Here is Fanaeian teaching Arm The Dollz how to say “Death to America” in Farsi. The video is partially censored, but Fanaeian posted enough photos on Instagram that matching the outfit was not exactly difficult.

https://x.com/thestustustudio/status/2043135220187074634

Read 4 tweets

Stu Smith

@thestustustudio

Jun 5

🧵 Two graphics from the new @ncri_io report on Medea Benjamin and her $48 million foundation have been stuck in my head.

The report, Following the Benjamins, maps an alleged Iran-aligned influence network operating outside state oversight in Florida, including the money flows, organizational ties, and documented Press TV contact with U.S.-based activists.

One graphic shows the broader financial and activist network. The other shows how many documented calls various American activists received from Iranian state media.

https://x.com/thestustustudio/status/1999601912166121710

@ncri_io Here is John Parker, who reportedly fielded 57 calls from PressTV, speaking with Maduro.

Parker keeps running for office on California’s Peace and Freedom Party ballot, and on Tuesday he lost yet another race, this time in the primary for District 37.

https://x.com/thestustustudio/status/1999601912166121710

https://x.com/thestustustudio/status/2037595617384345607

@ncri_io Here is Cheryl LaBash, who reportedly fielded 52 calls from PressTV, discussing the pre-trip legal training Cuban delegations get before heading to the island, including how to handle questioning when they return to the U.S.

https://x.com/thestustustudio/status/2037595617384345607

Read 5 tweets

Stu Smith

@thestustustudio

Jun 2

🧵 Cox Media heir Fergie Chambers says his job is to move his family’s wealth into revolutionary organizing.

That made him a target for Neville Roy Singham’s network, which tried to bring him into its orbit with plans for what Chambers described as a “second People’s Forum.”

But the relationship blew up over differing views on the necessity of direct action, leading Fergie to start spilling secrets about what he says sits at the center of the entire Singham network, the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

If you want the juicy details of what it’s like to be courted by the Singham network, and why Fergie may have just shown Congress where to investigate next, go read my latest at @CityJournal!

This was an insanely fun piece to write, but it had to be written for readers who may not know every name in the Singham orbit. Click through the links, because Fergie’s tweets are the real treasure map here. Enjoy!
city-journal.org/article/jim-fe…

Fergie Chambers says the rural “second People’s Forum” was supposed to offer two-week retreats, political schools, and united-front education work. But the project started to look very different once he got closer to it.

He says they realized “they’re all just PSL staff, they’re all funded by the same people,” and that the proposed curriculum was “all PSL cadre classes.” When he suggested bringing people from other organizations onto the board, he says they told him no.

This experience gets to the question at the center of all Singham network discourse. Is this a loose coalition of allied left-wing groups, or a coordinated infrastructure project built around one party?

Fergie seems to think he got his answer.

Read 7 tweets

Stu Smith

@thestustustudio

May 31

🚨 Hasan’s Marxist Agitprop Masterclass

Everything about this superclip is mandatory viewing if you want to understand DSA and Hasan’s alliance with the organization.

First, DSA is not framed as some slightly more progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Hasan describes it as “directionally on the diametrical opposite side of the political spectrum” from the “liberal capitalist Democratic Party.”

Second, Hasan zeroes in on what he sees as the problem with Americans. They “do not have class consciousness” and “do not have political education.” And without those things, “you can’t have organizing on the basis of class.”

So what is the solution for Hasan?

“To foment class consciousness and to engage in agitative propaganda, as is the Marxist tradition.”

He then says elections are “one of the most viable routes to reach the masses.”

In other words, when DSA candidates go on Hasan’s stream, this is not a standard interview. He sees it as part of the Marxist tradition of agitprop, using his platform to create political action, build class consciousness, and bring people into DSA.

Third, he is completely right about the DSA growth model. He says that whenever you get “an AOC style figure or Zahra Mamdani,” DSA’s ranks “explode” with new paying members.

And fourth, the caucus part is hilarious. Hasan explains that DSA is “a massive institution with many different caucuses,” all “constantly fighting one another.” But when asked to choose between them, he says it is like “picking favorite children.”

I don’t think Hasan is alone in giving a blanket answer like that, but if DSA were principled, it would have to grapple with the fact that the organization has some genuinely insane caucuses, including ones that have put out statements in support of Elias Rodriguez.

https://x.com/thestustustudio/status/1953990440006345107

I would say Liberation Caucus is probably the craziest caucus inside DSA.

And here is Hasan with DSA Emerge, another DSA caucus that “just likes a little bit of Mao.”

https://x.com/thestustustudio/status/1953990440006345107

https://x.com/thestustustudio/status/2026722732428111878

But seriously, DSA’s Liberation Caucus is out here talking about executing people after the revolution, and it still has a seat inside DSA’s Red Rabbits Security Commission, which trains the broader organization on “security culture.”

https://x.com/thestustustudio/status/2026722732428111878

Read 6 tweets

Stu Smith

@thestustustudio

May 28

🧵 One of DSA’s top national figures, National Political Committee co-chair Ashik Siddique, sat down with Brazil’s Perseu Abramo Foundation and laid out a pretty clear vision for where DSA sees itself right now.

DSA is an organization waiting to become a political party in all but name, building local political machines across the country while using elected office and street movements to create conflict with Democrats, Republicans, corporations, and billionaires.

DSA candidates should “stand up with movements on the streets,” members should remain “agitational,” and the organization should be willing to antagonize Democratic officials like New York Governor Kathy Hochul.

Understandably, DSA sees the election of Zohran Mamdani in New York City as a huge victory. But Siddique really hammers that NYC DSA is also the model to replicate in all 50 states because it did not even exist nine years ago.

The future Siddique painted is one where DSA forces its way into power by playing foil to both Democrats and Republicans, while slowly building the infrastructure and elected bloc of a national political party.

What Siddique is describing here is DSA’s inside/outside strategy.

On the outside, you have the movement: the activists, the street pressure, the screaming protesters, and the DSA machine keeping the demands alive.

On the inside, you have Zohran smiling, negotiating, and asking nicely.

It is basically political good cop, bad cop.

Mamdani can maintain the polite public relationship with Gov. Kathy Hochul, while DSA keeps “agitating” and being “very antagonistic” toward her from the outside.

Democrats winning is not enough for DSA or Siddique.

DSA’s role is to act as the foil, pushing the Overton window of the Democratic Party leftward while building its own elected bloc.

Siddique says Democrats need to offer a “clear alternative.” But for DSA, that “clear alternative” is obviously socialism/communism.

Some in DSA still think they can take over the Democratic Party. Others want a clean break.

Either way, this strategy lets them pursue both at once. DSA keeps electing socialists inside the system, more often than not on the Democratic ballot line, while pressuring Democrats from the outside and forcing the party to move toward them whether it wants to or not.