Ben Muse
@benmuse.bsky.social
Worked as an economist with Alaska and Federal fishery management agencies. Retired and living in Juneau now.
No, Republicans did this.
January 28, 2026 at 3:01 AM
No, Republicans did this.
Reposted by Ben Muse
New at Can We Still Govern: NIH scientist @markhisted.org reviews the damage done to American biomedical science in the last year and looks ahead:
"Scientists should not be political partisans, but they should be partisans for liberal democratic principles."🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/american-b...
"Scientists should not be political partisans, but they should be partisans for liberal democratic principles."🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/american-b...
American biomedical science in 2026
Where we are, how we got here, and what to do next
donmoynihan.substack.com
January 27, 2026 at 2:12 PM
New at Can We Still Govern: NIH scientist @markhisted.org reviews the damage done to American biomedical science in the last year and looks ahead:
"Scientists should not be political partisans, but they should be partisans for liberal democratic principles."🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/american-b...
"Scientists should not be political partisans, but they should be partisans for liberal democratic principles."🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/american-b...
Reposted by Ben Muse
Donald Trump must fire Kristi Noem immediately.
Or Democrats will initiate impeachment proceedings against her in the House.
We can do this the easy way or the hard way.
Or Democrats will initiate impeachment proceedings against her in the House.
We can do this the easy way or the hard way.
January 27, 2026 at 6:04 PM
Donald Trump must fire Kristi Noem immediately.
Or Democrats will initiate impeachment proceedings against her in the House.
We can do this the easy way or the hard way.
Or Democrats will initiate impeachment proceedings against her in the House.
We can do this the easy way or the hard way.
Reposted by Ben Muse
“There can be no talk of “winning” until ICE and Border Patrol have completely left the streets of Minnesota. That’s the rock-bottom condition. To tolerate anything less would be an insult to the people of Minnesota.”
www.thebulwark.com/p/this-photo...
www.thebulwark.com/p/this-photo...
This Photo Shows the Way Forward
Victory without accountability is dangerous.
www.thebulwark.com
January 27, 2026 at 6:22 PM
“There can be no talk of “winning” until ICE and Border Patrol have completely left the streets of Minnesota. That’s the rock-bottom condition. To tolerate anything less would be an insult to the people of Minnesota.”
www.thebulwark.com/p/this-photo...
www.thebulwark.com/p/this-photo...
Reposted by Ben Muse
Okay. Time to call your democratic senators and tell them that Bovino’s demotion and humiliation WILL NOT SUFFICE to fund DHS.
January 27, 2026 at 2:53 AM
Okay. Time to call your democratic senators and tell them that Bovino’s demotion and humiliation WILL NOT SUFFICE to fund DHS.
Reposted by Ben Muse
The good news is that he’s displeased Trump which means he can’t leave the cubicle he’ll be in at Border Control and become a Fox contributor. He’s on the outs.
Hope the Minnesota AG is teeing up the state criminal case.Throwing a tear gas canister at peaceful protesters? Yeah.
Hope the Minnesota AG is teeing up the state criminal case.Throwing a tear gas canister at peaceful protesters? Yeah.
BREAKING Greg Bovino has been removed as Border Patrol "commander at large" and will return to El Centro Calif, where he is expected to retire soon. A stunning turnaround after Pretti killing. Bovino's traveling blue city crackdown is over www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
Gregory Bovino Gets Demoted
The Border Patrol chief was the public face of a traveling immigration crackdown on cities governed by Democrats.
www.theatlantic.com
January 27, 2026 at 4:18 AM
The good news is that he’s displeased Trump which means he can’t leave the cubicle he’ll be in at Border Control and become a Fox contributor. He’s on the outs.
Hope the Minnesota AG is teeing up the state criminal case.Throwing a tear gas canister at peaceful protesters? Yeah.
Hope the Minnesota AG is teeing up the state criminal case.Throwing a tear gas canister at peaceful protesters? Yeah.
Reposted by Ben Muse
It’s not enough for Bovino to be removed, he must be PROSECUTED!!! #GregBovino
January 27, 2026 at 4:04 AM
It’s not enough for Bovino to be removed, he must be PROSECUTED!!! #GregBovino
Reposted by Ben Muse
This is why I'm not overly cheerful about the Bovino news. The administration is still carrying out its Dirty War
Everything they learned in Minnesota they’re applying in Maine from day one. They started off doing fast-moving snatch and grabs on the street, recording and using facial id on observers, and threatening observers directly. They’ll do it all where you live too.
Why is the msm outside of Maine not covering this? It seems like a huge and very troubling story to me. ICE coming to observers houses or calling them on the phone warning them to back off??!! www.pressherald.com/2026/01/23/i...
January 27, 2026 at 12:15 AM
This is why I'm not overly cheerful about the Bovino news. The administration is still carrying out its Dirty War
Reposted by Ben Muse
I say again, this does not even approach a scintilla of the accountability that is required. These are PR moves.
January 26, 2026 at 11:49 PM
I say again, this does not even approach a scintilla of the accountability that is required. These are PR moves.
Reposted by Ben Muse
It's quite the development to witness how Europe is starting to show its trump-cards (pun intended) to the US
European allies give the United States far more than is often acknowledged: bases, overflight rights, intelligence, and forward presence. Without Europe, America would be less a global power.
www.defenseone.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.defenseone.com/ideas/2026/0...
Trump’s Greenland threat has already hurt US security—but far worse may come
A hostile takeover would shatter America’s key alliance, limit its military’s global reach, and invite economic reprisal.
www.defenseone.com
January 26, 2026 at 5:05 PM
It's quite the development to witness how Europe is starting to show its trump-cards (pun intended) to the US
Reposted by Ben Muse
Here's how to fight corruption: Presidents should be required to divest their assets. Members of Congress must be prohibited from stock trading. Supreme Court justices should follow a binding ethics code. bit.ly/3YSLqyf
Fixes for America's Corruption Problem
Our new series offers proposals to heal American democracy.
www.brennancenter.org
January 26, 2026 at 3:04 PM
Here's how to fight corruption: Presidents should be required to divest their assets. Members of Congress must be prohibited from stock trading. Supreme Court justices should follow a binding ethics code. bit.ly/3YSLqyf
Kyiv and Minneapolis are under attack by an axis of fascists.
January 26, 2026 at 4:36 PM
Kyiv and Minneapolis are under attack by an axis of fascists.
Reposted by Ben Muse
“you seem to be getting radicalized by this”
you mean the government executing peaceful protesters and then lying about it and trying to destroy the evidence? yeah a bit
you mean the government executing peaceful protesters and then lying about it and trying to destroy the evidence? yeah a bit
January 25, 2026 at 5:19 PM
“you seem to be getting radicalized by this”
you mean the government executing peaceful protesters and then lying about it and trying to destroy the evidence? yeah a bit
you mean the government executing peaceful protesters and then lying about it and trying to destroy the evidence? yeah a bit
Reposted by Ben Muse
Congressional Republicans gave Trump a slush fund for ICE and CBP in the "Big Beautiful Bill." Tens of billions of dollars that is still usable even during a shutdown.
Democrats must make rescinding that money the price of any future govt funding, as Republicans did with IRS money from the IRA.
Democrats must make rescinding that money the price of any future govt funding, as Republicans did with IRS money from the IRA.
January 25, 2026 at 4:36 PM
Congressional Republicans gave Trump a slush fund for ICE and CBP in the "Big Beautiful Bill." Tens of billions of dollars that is still usable even during a shutdown.
Democrats must make rescinding that money the price of any future govt funding, as Republicans did with IRS money from the IRA.
Democrats must make rescinding that money the price of any future govt funding, as Republicans did with IRS money from the IRA.
Reposted by Ben Muse
What's happening in Minnesota is one reason the Reconstruction Amendments banned insurrectionists from holding office. Unfortunately, the originalists on the Supreme Court interpreted the plain language of the amendment to mean its opposite.
January 24, 2026 at 11:31 PM
What's happening in Minnesota is one reason the Reconstruction Amendments banned insurrectionists from holding office. Unfortunately, the originalists on the Supreme Court interpreted the plain language of the amendment to mean its opposite.
Juneau came out for Minneapolis this evening. Maybe 250 people under a light snowfall.
January 26, 2026 at 2:11 AM
Juneau came out for Minneapolis this evening. Maybe 250 people under a light snowfall.
Reposted by Ben Muse
Long read but I learned something new in almost every paragraph. Spread this far and wide
Curious why ICE and CBP agents are so brutal? Here's a useful explainer I wrote last week, before Saturday's outrageous murder, about how uniquely unsuited ICE and CBP are for this moment—and why they were so corruptible into Trump's own fascist secret police: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/ice-101-ho...
"ICE 101" — How Trump changed ICE and CBP into a fascist secret police
ICE and CBP are fatally flawed products of the post-9/11 War on Terror — now Trump has weaponized those very flaws to occupy America.
www.doomsdayscenario.co
January 25, 2026 at 5:02 PM
Long read but I learned something new in almost every paragraph. Spread this far and wide
Reposted by Ben Muse
Christi Noem should testify under oath in Congress and explain why she lied about the facts around the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
January 25, 2026 at 6:48 PM
Christi Noem should testify under oath in Congress and explain why she lied about the facts around the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
How Democrats should approach this Homeland Security appropriations bill with ICE in mind:
Senate Dems needn’t come to agreement on everything right now. That’s a path to the lowest common denominator. They simply have to agree to filibuster DHS approps. As to which of a host of anti-brutality and anti-authoritarian proposals to advance, let a thousand flowers bloom.
January 25, 2026 at 6:06 PM
How Democrats should approach this Homeland Security appropriations bill with ICE in mind:
Reposted by Ben Muse
So my understanding is that if Dems in the senate block the funding bill as Schumer has promised, it will block SIX packages:
1. Defense
2. Labor-HHS-Ed
3. T-HUD
4. SFOPs
5. FSGG
6. DHS
1/
1. Defense
2. Labor-HHS-Ed
3. T-HUD
4. SFOPs
5. FSGG
6. DHS
1/
January 25, 2026 at 1:31 AM
So my understanding is that if Dems in the senate block the funding bill as Schumer has promised, it will block SIX packages:
1. Defense
2. Labor-HHS-Ed
3. T-HUD
4. SFOPs
5. FSGG
6. DHS
1/
1. Defense
2. Labor-HHS-Ed
3. T-HUD
4. SFOPs
5. FSGG
6. DHS
1/
Reposted by Ben Muse
Both of Nevada's senators--Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen--have officially come out against the DHS funding bill following the execution of Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minneapolis this morning. This effectively ends the DHS funding bill in the Senate.
January 24, 2026 at 9:39 PM
Both of Nevada's senators--Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen--have officially come out against the DHS funding bill following the execution of Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minneapolis this morning. This effectively ends the DHS funding bill in the Senate.
Reposted by Ben Muse
Calling members of Congress to say "Please don't fund this government agency that is killing people in the street" feels profoundly absurd.
But it's where we've been for a while, and it's where we are in even more heightened ways today. And so we make the calls and keep organizing.
But it's where we've been for a while, and it's where we are in even more heightened ways today. And so we make the calls and keep organizing.
January 24, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Calling members of Congress to say "Please don't fund this government agency that is killing people in the street" feels profoundly absurd.
But it's where we've been for a while, and it's where we are in even more heightened ways today. And so we make the calls and keep organizing.
But it's where we've been for a while, and it's where we are in even more heightened ways today. And so we make the calls and keep organizing.
Reposted by Ben Muse
this is exactly correct. and it is, historically, extraordinarily effective.
It is a horrible thing but one of the *points* of non-violence is that state violence in response causes outrage to spread.
January 24, 2026 at 8:45 PM
this is exactly correct. and it is, historically, extraordinarily effective.
Carrying while liberal.
It’s remarkable how quickly the “everyone shall be armed” Second Amendment Republicans use the fact that a beaten, defenseless man lying on the ground was (maybe) armed as justification for federal agents to execute him.
January 24, 2026 at 8:21 PM
Carrying while liberal.
Another person shot and killed by ICE in Minneapolis this morning. Let’s just review Alaska Senator Murkowski’s role in getting us to this place.
January 24, 2026 at 8:16 PM
Another person shot and killed by ICE in Minneapolis this morning. Let’s just review Alaska Senator Murkowski’s role in getting us to this place.