Ben Watson
benwatson.bsky.social
Ben Watson
@benwatson.bsky.social
senior multimedia editor at Defense One // watson.ben@protonmail.com + Signal: watson.90
Reposted by Ben Watson
the story correctly notes that crime is down in chicago, violent crime is down in chicago, and u.s. citizens, not immigrants, commit most of those crimes

yet these guys are kitted out like they're raiding osama bin laden's compound
September 29, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Reposted by Ben Watson
The struggle over democracy is not just one among many issues. It’s an overarching concern that transcends and permeates all areas of public policy. It sets the conditions for how we determine who belongs, whose sensibilities and rights count, how we deal with all the collective action challenges.
January 31, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Source: "Is This Democracy" podcast, episode 37 // Jan 24, 2025
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/3...
podcasts.apple.com
January 29, 2025 at 4:24 PM
“That’s not like the be all end all explanation for everything that’s going on," @thomaszimmer.bsky.social, Georgetown University historian, replied. "But I think that’s a good—if you put that at the center of your interpretation of what’s going on, I think you’re on the right track,” he said.
January 29, 2025 at 4:24 PM
We noted these and other related points in our newsletter today, which you can check out or subscribe to here: www.defenseone.com/threats/2024...
The D Brief: Seoul’s six-hour self-coup; Trump’s SecArmy pick; Palantir’s 18 theses; Lockheed braces; And a bit more.
www.defenseone.com
December 4, 2024 at 5:38 PM
But if Ron DeSantis (the man responsible for the Martha's Vineyard stunt) winds up as Trump's pick to run the Pentagon, we can expect more misrepresentations like this when it comes to immigration policy—especially since the Martha's Vineyard allegation was spread by DeSantis himself.
December 4, 2024 at 5:38 PM
Time will tell how far Trump can take his campaign promise to launch the “largest deportation operation in American history." After all, he campaigned on building a border wall in 2016 and that was never completed. But Team Trump, of course, has more experience and guidance this time around.
December 4, 2024 at 5:38 PM
Why bring it up: Team Trump 2.0 is reportedly preparing for two main objectives in the year ahead.
• changes to border security/immigration policy
• and a return of Trump 1.0 tax cuts

www.semafor.com/article/12/0...
December 4, 2024 at 5:38 PM
The claim purports to reveal hypocrisy—a powerful allegation, in this case seeking permission by precedent—when (to me) it seems closer to whataboutism and a kind of projection, if not the classic political deception/lies.
December 4, 2024 at 5:38 PM
It's fairly easy to check into this and discover the claim is not true.

See here, e.g.
www.politifact.com/factchecks/2...
www.politifact.com/factchecks/2...
www.npr.org/2022/09/16/1...
DeSantis wrong: Migrants not deported on Martha's Vineyard
As he moves toward a potential bid for president, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has highlighted his efforts to crack down on
www.politifact.com
December 4, 2024 at 5:38 PM