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Reposted by Barbara O'Brien

Walter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 4h

Cato put out this brief statement from me critical of U.S. military strikes on suspected drug running boats, strikes that kill those aboard "without trial, legal process, or public accountability." These extrajudicial killings would be unlawful, I observe, even if all the smuggling claims were true.

Cato Legal Fellow Available to Discuss Unlawful U.S. Strikes at Sea

A senior legal scholar at the Cato Institute is raising concerns about U.S. military strikes on boats suspected of smuggling — strikes that kill those aboard without trial, legal process, or public ac...

www.cato.org

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Reposted by Barbara O'Brien

Paul Waldman @paulwaldman.bsky.social · 1d

No Kings couldn't have gone better - massive turnout, no violence, and it drove Trump so crazy his response was "Kings are good and I poop on everyone." Best of all was the effect on the millions of participants and everyone watching.

My latest at Public Notice: www.publicnotice.co/p/no-kings-p...

No Kings was a huge success. Just look at Trump's response.

Turnout was enormous. There was no violence. And the wannabe king is triggered.

www.publicnotice.co

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Barbara O'Brien @mahabarbara.bsky.social · 2d

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. I've been saying this for years. the problem isn't (always) that Dems have a bad message. the problem is that most voters don't hear it. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/o...

Opinion | Chris Hayes: The Democrats’ Main Problem Isn’t Their Message

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Barbara O'Brien

Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 4d

Trump’s EPA canceled a $20M flood protection grant for the area in May, calling it “wasteful DEI spending.”

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Barbara O'Brien @mahabarbara.bsky.social · 2d

Someone might have told him that floods can kill White men, too.

Barbara O'Brien @mahabarbara.bsky.social · 2d

Speaking as an old (74) White protester, a lot of us are veterans of the Vietnam anti-war movement. And a lot of other protest movements. I suspect the presence of all the grandparents may be helping to keep things calm.

Barbara O'Brien @mahabarbara.bsky.social · 2d

My view of the No Kings rally in Ossining, NY. Organizers expected 400 and got at least twice that. Lovely afternoon. Much flag-waving and cheering for America. Much booing of Mike Lawler.

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Reposted by Barbara O'Brien

Sarah Posner @sarahposner.bsky.social · 4d

I never again want to hear House Republicans disparage people they claim are too lazy to work

Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 4d

It's official: Speaker Johnson just cancelled all votes in the House next week.

The next scheduled voting day is 10/27; the last time the House was in session was 9/19.

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Barbara O'Brien @mahabarbara.bsky.social · 4d

So this just happened. 7th Circuit: ‘The Administration Remains Barred From Deploying the National Guard of the United States Within Illinois’ talkingpointsmemo.com/news/7th-cir...

7th Circuit: ‘The Administration Remains Barred From Deploying the National Guard of the United States Within Illinois’

A 7th Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled unanimously Thursday to maintain...

talkingpointsmemo.com

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Barbara O'Brien @mahabarbara.bsky.social · 5d

An example of great minds thinking alike? Um, maybe not.

Barbara O'Brien @mahabarbara.bsky.social · 5d

Good job tipping off Venezuela about the "covert" operations, genius. www.cbsnews.com/video/trump-...

Trump says he authorized CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela

President Trump announced he has authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela. The move comes after a series of U.S. military strikes on boats that U.S. officials say were from Venezue...

www.cbsnews.com

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Barbara O'Brien @mahabarbara.bsky.social · 5d

I'm attending No Kings's event, “NO KINGS Ossining” - sign up now to join me! (If you live in Westchester) www.mobilize.us/nokings/even...

NO KINGS Ossining · No Kings

President Trump thinks his rule is absolute. But in America, we don’t have kings, and we don’t have to accept chaos, corruption, and cruelty from our government. Trump and his MAGA minions want us to...

www.mobilize.us

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Barbara O'Brien @mahabarbara.bsky.social · 7d

However, here in Real World Land any policy relating to Israel and Gaza has to be rooted in current geopolitical reality, not folktales and biases. And I think it's a mistake to assume that all of the factions and their interests are being driven by old scriptures. Some are; many are not.

Barbara O'Brien @mahabarbara.bsky.social · 7d

When did I say anything was "our fault"? As for learning how to operate in the modern world, the U.S. is currently getting a master class in how an extreme minority authoritarian faction can take over and smash modernity and democracy to shreds. I wouldn't be pointing fingers at the Palestinians.

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Barbara O'Brien @mahabarbara.bsky.social · 7d

Yes, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are related religions. That's why they are called "the Abrahamic religions." That doesn't make them identical. There are significant distinctions in both practice and doctrine among them.

Barbara O'Brien @mahabarbara.bsky.social · 7d

And Hitler is known to have gotten the "one drop" rule from U.S. Jim Crow laws. I'm not sure what you think this "proves."

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Barbara O'Brien @mahabarbara.bsky.social · 7d

Hitler also believed the "Aryans" were Nordic. They weren't. Strictly speaking, they weren't even an ethnic group. www.patheos.com/blogs/therel...

Who Were The Aryans?

Who were the Aryans? The Aryans were an ancient people who spoke Sanskrit and gave us what are believed to be the world's oldest living scriptures, the

www.patheos.com

Barbara O'Brien @mahabarbara.bsky.social · 7d

Oh, and thanks for proving my point about the simplistic understanding.

Barbara O'Brien @mahabarbara.bsky.social · 7d

Yes, and I also have a wealth of experience with deeply religious people who respect other religions and don't consider any one to have a copyright on Truth. As Joseph Campbell used to say, "All religions are true. They just aren't literal."

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Barbara O'Brien @mahabarbara.bsky.social · 7d

Ok. The last election in Gaza was in January 2006. No faction won a majority, but Hamas won over Fatah by 3 percent of the vote. Bye bye, elections. And we in the U.S. are currently getting a master class in how a minority faction of extremists can take over and end democracy.

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Barbara O'Brien @mahabarbara.bsky.social · 7d

I suspect she has a simplistic understanding of "religion" along with a simplistic understanding of history. Religions and their histories are my "beat," so to speak, and I see this a lot. People who are most contemptuous of religion tend to have an infantile understanding of religion.

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Barbara O'Brien @mahabarbara.bsky.social · 7d

Also, if you are looking for the historical reasons for why the Middle East region is so unstable, look at what European imperialism did to the region from about the 1870s to the end of World War I. And then establishing Israel was another disruption, although I'm not saying that was wrong.

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Barbara O'Brien @mahabarbara.bsky.social · 7d

"Sovereignty comes from within and Palestinians don't have it." I feel compelled to remind you that Victorian-era Britain used to say stuff like that about the Irish.

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Barbara O'Brien @mahabarbara.bsky.social · 7d

I'm not saying Israel doesn't belong. Israel was established as a nation in 1948, and I'm fine with that. I'm saying that the stuff about ancient history and DNA or whatever is irrelevant to that. And the Palestinians need their own nation.

Barbara O'Brien @mahabarbara.bsky.social · 7d

If you're doing "Muhammad was a Jew' again. Islam did borrow a lot from Judaism, just as Judaism borrowed a lot from the ancient religions of Mesopotamia. But Islam is not warmed-over Judaism, any more than Judaism is warmed-over Babylonian Marduk-worship. Get over it.

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