Barbara O'Brien
@mahabarbara.bsky.social
Zen student and history/politics nerd. Author of The Circle of the Way: A Concise History of Zen from the Buddha to the Modern World (Shambhala, 2019). My personal blog is The Mahablog (mahablog.com), and I write for Patheos as The Religious History Nerd.
You're doing great on MSNOW.
November 25, 2025 at 9:16 PM
You're doing great on MSNOW.
And I would add that the whole nation has moved way far Right since FDR. Anything like New Deal Liberalism is "crazy libtard Left" by current standards.
November 6, 2025 at 3:59 PM
And I would add that the whole nation has moved way far Right since FDR. Anything like New Deal Liberalism is "crazy libtard Left" by current standards.
In The Vital Center (1949), Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. argued that FDR's New Deal liberalism was the "vital center" between communism and fascism that kept the U.S. from falling into either extreme. Arguably FDR "coopted" both the Right and the Left.
November 6, 2025 at 3:57 PM
In The Vital Center (1949), Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. argued that FDR's New Deal liberalism was the "vital center" between communism and fascism that kept the U.S. from falling into either extreme. Arguably FDR "coopted" both the Right and the Left.
If you are from some nowhere town that's reasonably close to a big city, and you are having a casual conversation with people you will not likely meet again, it's a lot easier to say you're from Big City than from someplace no one has ever heard of who doesn't live there. Saves time, anyway.
November 1, 2025 at 8:50 PM
If you are from some nowhere town that's reasonably close to a big city, and you are having a casual conversation with people you will not likely meet again, it's a lot easier to say you're from Big City than from someplace no one has ever heard of who doesn't live there. Saves time, anyway.
Bravo. I agree with this entirely.
October 29, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Bravo. I agree with this entirely.
He should tell Pam to indict the storm.
October 28, 2025 at 11:33 AM
He should tell Pam to indict the storm.
I'm wondering if all the corporations that pledged donations were told the East Wing would be demolished (I'm guessing not) and if they're having second thoughts now.
October 23, 2025 at 2:52 PM
I'm wondering if all the corporations that pledged donations were told the East Wing would be demolished (I'm guessing not) and if they're having second thoughts now.
Speaking as someone who was in lower Manhattan on 9/11, I so hope Mamdani wins in a landslide and is a successful mayor.
October 23, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Speaking as someone who was in lower Manhattan on 9/11, I so hope Mamdani wins in a landslide and is a successful mayor.
Someone might have told him that floods can kill White men, too.
October 19, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Someone might have told him that floods can kill White men, too.
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.
October 19, 2025 at 1:08 AM
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.