Olga Bourlin
olgabourlin.bsky.social
Olga Bourlin
@olgabourlin.bsky.social
Skeptic, progressive Democrat, anti-racist, anti-MAGA, anti-fascist, secular humanist, movie and opera buff. Board Member at The Freethought Society. Former Editor Kurtz Institute. Views expressed are mine. No DMs ex-Facebook #StandWithUkraine #BLM #LGBTQ
It's time for the Christmas Borg. Have you been assimilated? Is resistance futile?
The Tyranny of Christmas
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Come to Love My Quiet Noncompliance
open.substack.com
December 8, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Reposted by Olga Bourlin
The headline, the main takeaway from a European viewpoint is this:

The transatlantic relationship as we know it is over. Yes, we kinda knew this. But this is now official US White House policy. Not a sppech, not a statement. The West as it used to be no longer exists.
December 5, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Reposted by Olga Bourlin
The new National Security Strategy is a propaganda document, designed to be widely read. It is also a performative suicide. Hard to think of another great power ever abdicating its influence so quickly and so publicly. It will be worth following the reactions around the world, not just in Europe.
Trump's national security strategy is out and some of the Europe sections are shocking. "...the growing influence of patriotic European parties indeed
gives cause for great optimism."
www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
December 5, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Reposted by Olga Bourlin
Anyway, in my undergraduate studies of foreign affairs we talked about NSC 68; I suppose students of some future time might study this text as (*ahem*) NSC 88.
NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY DROPPED

There is a LOT here, but omg NATO allies are going to seethe at this paragraph

www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
December 5, 2025 at 5:18 AM
Reposted by Olga Bourlin
The Trump administration has quietly released its National Security Strategy — apparently late on Thursday. Usually there's a rollout and fanfare for these things: www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
www.whitehouse.gov
December 5, 2025 at 4:48 AM
Reposted by Olga Bourlin
Unsurprisingly, the 2022 Biden NSS is very clear about Russia as a threat to the US, its allies, and to international security. These are just a couple of its statements on Russia:
December 5, 2025 at 2:25 PM
December 4, 2025 at 5:11 AM
November 30, 2025 at 8:03 PM
November 29, 2025 at 4:26 PM
It's a big problem:
November 27, 2025 at 5:13 AM
November 26, 2025 at 12:54 AM
November 25, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Pay close attention to mainstream conversations about racial injustice and you may notice a curious pattern: clear racial animus gets relabeled as “stupidity,” systemic discrimination becomes mere “ignorance,” and white supremacist ideology is dismissed as people simply “not knowing any better.”
The R-Word: When 'Stupid' Becomes the Substitute
America's Two Fonzie Moments: What We Won't Say, and What We Shouldn't
open.substack.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:55 PM
A regular family reunion, but one that revealed a quiet act of moral courage.
Cabbages and Kings
Of Many Things: A Family Reunion
open.substack.com
November 17, 2025 at 5:41 PM
November 7, 2025 at 7:41 AM
My new Substack is essentially in praise of asking questions.
Flying Carpets and Blind Faith
The Strange Pride of Belief Without Evidence
open.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:11 AM
November 4, 2025 at 5:51 AM
November 4, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Great Gods! I mean that facetiously.

Here's my new Substack, which - as it turns out - will be a kind of prequel to the next one, which will be out soon.
Great Gods!
A History of Divine Obsolescence
open.substack.com
November 3, 2025 at 4:31 PM
November 1, 2025 at 9:01 PM
November 1, 2025 at 6:48 PM
October 30, 2025 at 11:32 PM
October 29, 2025 at 4:33 PM
When White America Despised Dr. King
When White America Despised Dr. King
Remembering Dr. King Behind the Sanitized Dream
open.substack.com
October 29, 2025 at 4:12 PM