I think Max Blumenthal is just a really weird guy, who can do good journalism and work with really interesting people, but also prone to falling for extremely stupid nonsense and of course having a huge ego. I know people like him and they are too volatile for me to ever work with professionally, and so i completely understand why Ben broke with him, but at the same time, if you filter out the crazy he can be a valuable resource for anti-imperialists. Treat him like radioactive material: very useful for certain purposes but has to be handled with lead gloves and you may need a decontamination shower afterward.