Ben Waller
@benwaller.bsky.social
The facts matter in heated, hasty reactions to events.
Just so we’re clear, the problem of violent extremism in the U.S. is one coming from the far right, not the far left. It’s just that the right is fed misinformation about it so they have it wrong in their heads once again.
(Charts are from WaPo from Feb 2023.)
(Charts are from WaPo from Feb 2023.)
September 12, 2025 at 5:13 PM
The facts matter in heated, hasty reactions to events.
My mother-in-law and I participated in the Farmington Hills, MI #nokings protest. Beautiful day, beautiful people, peaceful and inspiring! I'd guess somewhere between 1000 and 2000 there. #nokingsprotest
June 15, 2025 at 12:52 AM
My mother-in-law and I participated in the Farmington Hills, MI #nokings protest. Beautiful day, beautiful people, peaceful and inspiring! I'd guess somewhere between 1000 and 2000 there. #nokingsprotest
Impeach Kennedy.
BREAKING: RFK Jr. removes every member of scientific committee that advises the CDC on vaccine use, pledging to replace them with his own picks.
RFK Jr. ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory committee
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has removed every member of a scientific committee that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how to use vaccines.
bit.ly
June 9, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Impeach Kennedy.
Reposted by Ben Waller
what i see is a white house whose ambitions outstrip its resources, who did not count on facing mass resistance, and which is scrambling to escalate the situation in hopes that a display of force will make people shut up
June 9, 2025 at 9:02 PM
what i see is a white house whose ambitions outstrip its resources, who did not count on facing mass resistance, and which is scrambling to escalate the situation in hopes that a display of force will make people shut up
Reposted by Ben Waller
Will have a great deal to say about this little Tolkien article tomorrow on the #AmericanId Substack. #LotR #RoP
Why Silicon Valley’s Most Powerful People Are So Obsessed With Hobbits
www.nytimes.com
May 29, 2025 at 3:02 AM
Will have a great deal to say about this little Tolkien article tomorrow on the #AmericanId Substack. #LotR #RoP
Reposted by Ben Waller
My thoughts on that NYT article about Tolkien & Silicon Valley.
Why so Weird about Tolkien?
The Founder Fantasies of Silicon Valley
americanid.substack.com
May 30, 2025 at 4:18 AM
My thoughts on that NYT article about Tolkien & Silicon Valley.
No vaccines and now no insulin. They want us dead.
Trump FDA commissioner complains about 'throwing insulin" to diabetics www.rawstory.com/trump-throwi...
Trump FDA commissioner complains about 'throwing insulin" to diabetics www.rawstory.com/trump-throwi...
Trump FDA commissioner complains about 'throwing insulin" to diabetics
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary argued that insulin should be withheld from people with diabetes and replaced with "cooking classes."
During a Sunday interview on Fox Ne...
www.rawstory.com
May 29, 2025 at 1:15 PM
No vaccines and now no insulin. They want us dead.
Trump FDA commissioner complains about 'throwing insulin" to diabetics www.rawstory.com/trump-throwi...
Trump FDA commissioner complains about 'throwing insulin" to diabetics www.rawstory.com/trump-throwi...
Reposted by Ben Waller
A huge step from HHS that is at odds with science showing significant risks for young children and pregnant women — and that directly contradicts *the FDA's own publication* from last week listing pregnancy as a high-risk condition that would qualify people for this fall's Covid vaccine
May 27, 2025 at 3:18 PM
A huge step from HHS that is at odds with science showing significant risks for young children and pregnant women — and that directly contradicts *the FDA's own publication* from last week listing pregnancy as a high-risk condition that would qualify people for this fall's Covid vaccine
Reposted by Ben Waller
Today RFK and co. removed the COVID vaccine from the CDC's recommended immunization schedule for children and pregnant people.
This is junk science. COVID puts children and pregnant people at higher risk for ER visits and hospitalizations, and Long COVID can cause chronic health issues for anyone.
This is junk science. COVID puts children and pregnant people at higher risk for ER visits and hospitalizations, and Long COVID can cause chronic health issues for anyone.
May 27, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Today RFK and co. removed the COVID vaccine from the CDC's recommended immunization schedule for children and pregnant people.
This is junk science. COVID puts children and pregnant people at higher risk for ER visits and hospitalizations, and Long COVID can cause chronic health issues for anyone.
This is junk science. COVID puts children and pregnant people at higher risk for ER visits and hospitalizations, and Long COVID can cause chronic health issues for anyone.
Reposted by Ben Waller
This is violence. This is horrific. I don’t know how I’m supposed to survive in a world that is actively out to kill me.
BREAKING: FDA says covid boosters now only for those over 65 or with preconditions. www.statnews.com/2025/05/20/f...
FDA will limit Covid vaccines to people over 65 or at high risk of serious illness, leaders say
The FDA announced it will limit access to Covid-19 vaccines going forward to people 65 and older and others at high risk of serious illness
www.statnews.com
May 20, 2025 at 6:35 PM
This is violence. This is horrific. I don’t know how I’m supposed to survive in a world that is actively out to kill me.
Reposted by Ben Waller
You can literally just tell the pharmacist you’re fat and/or depressed and you can qualify for a Covid booster.
Keeping in mind that the BMI number for obesity is incredibly low so a LOT of folks qualify and don’t realize it.
(BMI is a bullshit metric based on racism and ableism.)
Keeping in mind that the BMI number for obesity is incredibly low so a LOT of folks qualify and don’t realize it.
(BMI is a bullshit metric based on racism and ableism.)
Hopefully this helps people know what to say to their doctor or pharmacist to get the vaccine. I do worry abt going on record w a “pre-existing condition” (PEC) bc they will eventually repeal those ACA protections, but fuck it: they will consider everything a PEC when time comes to reject coverage.
May 20, 2025 at 7:15 PM
You can literally just tell the pharmacist you’re fat and/or depressed and you can qualify for a Covid booster.
Keeping in mind that the BMI number for obesity is incredibly low so a LOT of folks qualify and don’t realize it.
(BMI is a bullshit metric based on racism and ableism.)
Keeping in mind that the BMI number for obesity is incredibly low so a LOT of folks qualify and don’t realize it.
(BMI is a bullshit metric based on racism and ableism.)
Reposted by Ben Waller
🚨 ACTION ITEMS to stop the FDA from limiting Covid vaccine access:
1. Submit a public comment to the FDA www.regulations.gov/commenton/FD...
2. Contact your elected officials
www.usa.gov/elected-offi...
1. Submit a public comment to the FDA www.regulations.gov/commenton/FD...
2. Contact your elected officials
www.usa.gov/elected-offi...
May 20, 2025 at 6:57 PM
🚨 ACTION ITEMS to stop the FDA from limiting Covid vaccine access:
1. Submit a public comment to the FDA www.regulations.gov/commenton/FD...
2. Contact your elected officials
www.usa.gov/elected-offi...
1. Submit a public comment to the FDA www.regulations.gov/commenton/FD...
2. Contact your elected officials
www.usa.gov/elected-offi...
Reposted by Ben Waller
I made this, if anyone needs talking points about this right wing Saltine.
May 12, 2025 at 9:49 PM
I made this, if anyone needs talking points about this right wing Saltine.
Reposted by Ben Waller
"The Whigs collapsed in the face of authoritarian extremists who took over their national politics, and they serve as a warning for today’s Democratic party."
A "Pocket History" by Dani Holtz.
A "Pocket History" by Dani Holtz.
The Compromised Party
A Cautionary Tale for the Democrats
americanid.substack.com
May 9, 2025 at 2:08 AM
"The Whigs collapsed in the face of authoritarian extremists who took over their national politics, and they serve as a warning for today’s Democratic party."
A "Pocket History" by Dani Holtz.
A "Pocket History" by Dani Holtz.
Larry David: My Dinner With Adolf www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/o...
Opinion | Larry David: My Dinner With Adolf
When a private meeting goes unexpectedly.
www.nytimes.com
April 22, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Larry David: My Dinner With Adolf www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/o...
Excellent breakdown of the massive security/competence problem with the administration:
When OPSEC is just a word
The Atlantic shows how Trump’s national security team blurred strategy with spectacle.
contrarian.substack.com
March 26, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Excellent breakdown of the massive security/competence problem with the administration:
Reposted by Ben Waller
It's critical for everyone to remember what an Executive Order is. It is the President communicating orders to members of the executive branch. Policies to pursue, actions to take, etc. They are not laws. They are not close to being laws. They are formalized memos to employees. That's all.
March 25, 2025 at 11:53 PM
It's critical for everyone to remember what an Executive Order is. It is the President communicating orders to members of the executive branch. Policies to pursue, actions to take, etc. They are not laws. They are not close to being laws. They are formalized memos to employees. That's all.
This is the big one. They know their actions are deeply damaging and deeply unpopular (increasingly so as the effects are felt more and more over time). They know the only way they can stay in power is to cheat. So they are coming for our elections. We must oppose loudly.
🚨BREAKING: President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday commanding wide-ranging changes to how U.S. elections are administered, a move that will be swiftly challenged by voting rights organizations across the country.
www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
Trump Signs Order in Attempt to Vastly Reshape U.S. Elections
Read more here.
www.democracydocket.com
March 25, 2025 at 11:46 PM
This is the big one. They know their actions are deeply damaging and deeply unpopular (increasingly so as the effects are felt more and more over time). They know the only way they can stay in power is to cheat. So they are coming for our elections. We must oppose loudly.
Very clear-eyed, encouraging, and useful approach to opposition.
1) JVL’s Law: Any institution not explicitly anti-Trump will eventually become useful to Trump.
2) Stop viewing political life through the lens of American politics as we have known it, and adopt the viewpoint of dissident movements in autocratic states. www.thebulwark.com/p/how-to-thi...
2) Stop viewing political life through the lens of American politics as we have known it, and adopt the viewpoint of dissident movements in autocratic states. www.thebulwark.com/p/how-to-thi...
How to Think (and Act) Like a Dissident Movement
AOC, solidarity, and people power.
www.thebulwark.com
March 25, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Very clear-eyed, encouraging, and useful approach to opposition.
Reposted by Ben Waller
No.
Russia is the one with the #Dictator who invades neighbors & threatens world war. It's Putin who's a nuke-happy #Fascist with a racial-supremacy doctrine derived from Nazism. The other guy is a Jewish TV comedian. (To reverse the moral polarity is to fall for a "big lie" akin to Hitler's.) 1/
Russia is the one with the #Dictator who invades neighbors & threatens world war. It's Putin who's a nuke-happy #Fascist with a racial-supremacy doctrine derived from Nazism. The other guy is a Jewish TV comedian. (To reverse the moral polarity is to fall for a "big lie" akin to Hitler's.) 1/
March 1, 2025 at 11:16 PM
World War II alternate history simulations can be interesting thought experiments, but do we really have to try one with two Hitlers and no USA?
February 28, 2025 at 7:41 PM
World War II alternate history simulations can be interesting thought experiments, but do we really have to try one with two Hitlers and no USA?
Reposted by Ben Waller
phenomenal piece:
open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
We rejected kingly power once. We must do so again.
Constitutional principles are so deeply wedded to the American experience that they transcend presidential administrations.
open.substack.com
February 10, 2025 at 8:01 PM
phenomenal piece:
open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
Fascism is your Friend Fact: For the low, low price of $1M for Trump’s next inauguration, a few imaginary coins, a slight name change, and minor alterations to your editorial content, you too can enjoy a life free from FBI investigations and Justice Department charges!
Call your reps.
Call your reps.
February 10, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Fascism is your Friend Fact: For the low, low price of $1M for Trump’s next inauguration, a few imaginary coins, a slight name change, and minor alterations to your editorial content, you too can enjoy a life free from FBI investigations and Justice Department charges!
Call your reps.
Call your reps.
Friendly Fascism Fact: The Justice Department threatening any company (not to mention school) for having any DEI policies is a method to reverse civil rights and institutionalize oppression.
Call your reps.
Call your reps.
February 6, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Friendly Fascism Fact: The Justice Department threatening any company (not to mention school) for having any DEI policies is a method to reverse civil rights and institutionalize oppression.
Call your reps.
Call your reps.