Ben Alpers
@benalpers.bsky.social
Professor of US History. Author of HAPPY DAYS: IMAGES OF THE PRE-SIXTIES PAST IN SEVENTIES AMERICA (Rutgers University Press, 2024). Opinions are entirely my own. He/him.
Reposted by Ben Alpers
Treat the US government and ICE claims like you'd treat a Russian government claim after they've shot down an airliner or bombed a hospital. America 2026.
January 24, 2026 at 5:08 PM
Treat the US government and ICE claims like you'd treat a Russian government claim after they've shot down an airliner or bombed a hospital. America 2026.
The Best Years of Our Lives
January 25, 2026 at 4:12 AM
The Best Years of Our Lives
Reposted by Ben Alpers
sorry, but the Founding Fathers' original intent for the 2nd Amendment was always *just* to do school shootings
January 24, 2026 at 10:28 PM
sorry, but the Founding Fathers' original intent for the 2nd Amendment was always *just* to do school shootings
Reposted by Ben Alpers
I hope Democratic senators and congressmen understand, out of pure lizard-brain self-interest if moral decency happens to be unavailable, what is at stake for them if they don't handle this the right way. This is a true "If not now, when?" moment.
January 24, 2026 at 10:00 PM
I hope Democratic senators and congressmen understand, out of pure lizard-brain self-interest if moral decency happens to be unavailable, what is at stake for them if they don't handle this the right way. This is a true "If not now, when?" moment.
Reposted by Ben Alpers
Imagine how much they’d be lying about what happened without all the videos showing it from multiple angles.
January 24, 2026 at 10:24 PM
Imagine how much they’d be lying about what happened without all the videos showing it from multiple angles.
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I didn't make this, but it needs a reposting.
January 8, 2026 at 11:45 PM
I didn't make this, but it needs a reposting.
Reposted by Ben Alpers
Ultimately you're not supposed to believe it. It not mattering is the point. The bolder the lie, the greater the impunity. The ultimate victory for evil is not convincing you, it's the truth being irrelevant.
We’re supposed to believe this is a domestic terrorist attacking ICE with a gun
January 24, 2026 at 9:42 PM
Ultimately you're not supposed to believe it. It not mattering is the point. The bolder the lie, the greater the impunity. The ultimate victory for evil is not convincing you, it's the truth being irrelevant.
Reposted by Ben Alpers
The DHS funding bill is effectively dead in the Senate.
New: @cortezmasto.senate.gov is a no on the DHS funding bill.
January 24, 2026 at 9:35 PM
The DHS funding bill is effectively dead in the Senate.
Reposted by Ben Alpers
Pretti clearly did not brandish his gun. Which means the government is saying he was killed for legally exercising his right to carry.
It’s as clear-cut a violation of the Second Amendment as I can possibly imagine. And we’re about to see the bulk of the gun rights crowd defend his murder.
It’s as clear-cut a violation of the Second Amendment as I can possibly imagine. And we’re about to see the bulk of the gun rights crowd defend his murder.
January 24, 2026 at 8:55 PM
Pretti clearly did not brandish his gun. Which means the government is saying he was killed for legally exercising his right to carry.
It’s as clear-cut a violation of the Second Amendment as I can possibly imagine. And we’re about to see the bulk of the gun rights crowd defend his murder.
It’s as clear-cut a violation of the Second Amendment as I can possibly imagine. And we’re about to see the bulk of the gun rights crowd defend his murder.
Reposted by Ben Alpers
Rep. Jared Golden is not running for reelection. However, the other six traitors who voted with Republicans on the DHS
funding bill (220-207) have primary challengers.
I recommend that you review your options before returning the traitors to Congress.
funding bill (220-207) have primary challengers.
I recommend that you review your options before returning the traitors to Congress.
January 24, 2026 at 6:56 PM
Rep. Jared Golden is not running for reelection. However, the other six traitors who voted with Republicans on the DHS
funding bill (220-207) have primary challengers.
I recommend that you review your options before returning the traitors to Congress.
funding bill (220-207) have primary challengers.
I recommend that you review your options before returning the traitors to Congress.
Reposted by Ben Alpers
Mussolini was captured by Anti-Fascists, shot and his body was brought back to be hung from his feet in the public square.
January 24, 2026 at 7:28 PM
Mussolini was captured by Anti-Fascists, shot and his body was brought back to be hung from his feet in the public square.
I actually don't agree with this. If politicians and the legal system refuse to exert accountability, the people must do so.
When in the course of human events...
When in the course of human events...
What we are watching is a paramilitary force learning that they can kill with impunity, that the regime will smear the victim and defend them. Unless politicians and the legal system exerts accountability, it will not stop. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/past-the-b...
January 24, 2026 at 8:54 PM
I actually don't agree with this. If politicians and the legal system refuse to exert accountability, the people must do so.
When in the course of human events...
When in the course of human events...
Reposted by Ben Alpers
The people who'll tell you today's murder victim in Minnesota shouldn't have turned up to a protest carrying a gun are the same people who said Kyle Rittenhouse was perfectly entitled to do the same thing.
January 24, 2026 at 5:58 PM
The people who'll tell you today's murder victim in Minnesota shouldn't have turned up to a protest carrying a gun are the same people who said Kyle Rittenhouse was perfectly entitled to do the same thing.
Reposted by Ben Alpers
Journalist @audiosand.bsky.social calls this “content terror,” the bald-faced lie that contests what you just saw not as persuasion but as a form of power and violence in itself.
It's always astounding how the creative story telling of DHS never matches the videos we see.
Almost as though they lie to validate their crimes, hate, and violence.
Almost as though they lie to validate their crimes, hate, and violence.
January 24, 2026 at 6:15 PM
Journalist @audiosand.bsky.social calls this “content terror,” the bald-faced lie that contests what you just saw not as persuasion but as a form of power and violence in itself.
Reposted by Ben Alpers
Super important story by @crampell.bsky.social at @thebulwark.com about the Trump administration's misuse of personal information:
Trump’s Chilling Weaponization of Confidential Government Records
Remind me—who else in history made lists of Jewish intellectuals and people with disabilities?
open.substack.com
January 23, 2026 at 9:08 PM
Super important story by @crampell.bsky.social at @thebulwark.com about the Trump administration's misuse of personal information:
Reposted by Ben Alpers
It’s really important to stress that this admin does not construct small or ambiguous lies. They do not try to spin the details. They engage in fabulist propaganda because that’s how you assert power.
January 24, 2026 at 6:21 PM
It’s really important to stress that this admin does not construct small or ambiguous lies. They do not try to spin the details. They engage in fabulist propaganda because that’s how you assert power.
Reposted by Ben Alpers
I don't understand the purpose of this statement. The White House clearly isn't going to do this unless they're forced.
Minnesota residents need Governor Walz to tell them 1) what HE is going to do and 2) what THEY should do.
Minnesota residents need Governor Walz to tell them 1) what HE is going to do and 2) what THEY should do.
I just spoke with the White House after another horrific shooting by federal agents this morning. Minnesota has had it. This is sickening.
The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now.
The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now.
January 24, 2026 at 5:12 PM
I don't understand the purpose of this statement. The White House clearly isn't going to do this unless they're forced.
Minnesota residents need Governor Walz to tell them 1) what HE is going to do and 2) what THEY should do.
Minnesota residents need Governor Walz to tell them 1) what HE is going to do and 2) what THEY should do.
Can you imagine approving this headline?
1) Using the passive voice to obscure who did it.
2) Relying on "officials" when there is video evidence of what happened and officials have consistently lied.
3) Suggesting that the shooting took place in a struggle when the man was pinned to the ground.
1) Using the passive voice to obscure who did it.
2) Relying on "officials" when there is video evidence of what happened and officials have consistently lied.
3) Suggesting that the shooting took place in a struggle when the man was pinned to the ground.
January 24, 2026 at 5:24 PM
Can you imagine approving this headline?
1) Using the passive voice to obscure who did it.
2) Relying on "officials" when there is video evidence of what happened and officials have consistently lied.
3) Suggesting that the shooting took place in a struggle when the man was pinned to the ground.
1) Using the passive voice to obscure who did it.
2) Relying on "officials" when there is video evidence of what happened and officials have consistently lied.
3) Suggesting that the shooting took place in a struggle when the man was pinned to the ground.
Reposted by Ben Alpers
Yesterday, Minneapolis gave us hope. That’s what they’re trying to kill: the will of a people who are willing to fight them.
January 24, 2026 at 4:20 PM
Yesterday, Minneapolis gave us hope. That’s what they’re trying to kill: the will of a people who are willing to fight them.
Reposted by Ben Alpers
"Just stay cool and don't make trouble until the midterms" is not going to cut it as an opposition response to a murderous regime whose masked thugs are killing people in the streets and then attempting to round up witnesses and destroy evidence.
January 24, 2026 at 5:10 PM
"Just stay cool and don't make trouble until the midterms" is not going to cut it as an opposition response to a murderous regime whose masked thugs are killing people in the streets and then attempting to round up witnesses and destroy evidence.
This is perhaps my single favorite example of the "When I voted for the Leopards Eating Faces Party, I didn't think the leopards would eat _my_ face" phenomenon.
FAFO, fascists.
FAFO, fascists.
Cubans in Florida Are Being Deported in Record Numbers - The New York Times www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/u...
To Their Shock, Cubans in Florida Are Being Deported in Record Numbers
www.nytimes.com
January 24, 2026 at 5:11 PM
This is perhaps my single favorite example of the "When I voted for the Leopards Eating Faces Party, I didn't think the leopards would eat _my_ face" phenomenon.
FAFO, fascists.
FAFO, fascists.
Reposted by Ben Alpers
The amount of personal economic pain I am willing to suffer in exchange for Canadian leadership publicy telling him to shut the fuck up is endless.
January 24, 2026 at 5:07 PM
The amount of personal economic pain I am willing to suffer in exchange for Canadian leadership publicy telling him to shut the fuck up is endless.
Reposted by Ben Alpers
If you’re not from here, I need to explain this execution was on Eat Street, a commercial corridor of restaurants and coffee shops that literally everyone goes to. Normies, queermos, weirdos, neighborhood folks. Whatever that place is in your city, imagine ICE executing someone in cold blood there.
January 24, 2026 at 4:45 PM
If you’re not from here, I need to explain this execution was on Eat Street, a commercial corridor of restaurants and coffee shops that literally everyone goes to. Normies, queermos, weirdos, neighborhood folks. Whatever that place is in your city, imagine ICE executing someone in cold blood there.