Tag Archives: charlie-kirk

Tremors in Magaland

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Since the murder of Charlie Kirk, the Trump regime has made it clear that it intends to crush all dissent from the left. US Homeland Security Advisor, Stephen Miller, made the ridiculous allegation that the Democratic Party was a “domestic, extremist organization” before the shooting. After, he practically spat out venom when talking about using the full power of the state to “dismantle the left.” Those thinking these are idle threats haven’t been paying close attention.

But there may be one glimmer of hope. Maga is in disarray since the shooting. Prominent voices, including Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Meghan Kelly have been raising questions about Kirk’s allegiance to Israel, with some alleging he was about to shift. Even before Kirk’s murder, Republicans like Marjorie Taylor Green were beginning to stray from the pack.

Just a day before his death, Kirk did an interview with the infamously smug and endlessly irritating genocide apologist, Ben Shapiro. He asked uncomfortable questions about genocide and ethnic cleansing to a visibly shaken Shapiro. This, and other instances, have created a conspiracy theory spiral in Magaland with some indicating they believed Israel was either responsible for or involved in the assassination of Kirk.

Make no mistake, Charlie Kirk was an odious man. His racism, antisemitism, homophobia, misogyny and Islamophobia are on the record for anyone to see. But Israel has banked on unwavering allegiance from the American far right. Evangelical Christians, who make up a large portion of the Republican Party, have a cultlike devotion to the Zionist state, with many believing it is essential for the second coming of Christ. But for others in the far right sphere, particularly gen Z, this bond is beginning to fray.

“There’s rumors going around—maybe Mossad is a part of the Epstein files,” one young male student told Kirk at one of his university events. And he wasn’t the only one to raise these issues. Other students noted that the algorithms on their phones are different to that of their parents. Their feeds are an endless stream of horror and suffering in Gaza. And the fact that Netanyahu was the first political leader to post on social media asking for prayers for Kirk after the shooting has also raised eyebrows, with many of them asking why a foreign leader would be so invested in a far right, American podcaster. So much so, that he was aware of the shooting before even Trump knew.

Kirk knew that the “America first” crowd were tired of wars and foreign investments that cost too much. As its primary colonial asset, Israel gets the lion share of American foreign aid. And he felt the pressure from them, as well as the wealthy, pro-Israel donors who funded Kirk’s Turning Point USA. Even ultra-Zionist billionaire hedge fund manager, Bill Ackman, has been embroiled in this, with accusations of pressure and even blackmail attempts. Something Ackman has denied.

To be sure, it is unlikely Kirk would have changed direction on supporting the genocidal state in light of his political ambitions. But the fractures aren’t something to take lightly. As the American Empire declines and unravels, it becomes a churning mess of conspiracies, suspicion and paranoia.

All of these issues shouldn’t convince anyone that the Trump regime will change course. The killing of Charlie Kirk has provided it with its very own Reichstag fire, undoubtedly thinking it is a perfect distraction from the damning Epstein files and the genocide in Gaza that it wholeheartedly supports. It is feeling emboldened with small victories, like the recent sacking of popular, nighttime comedian, Jimmy Kimmel. But the regime is clearly shaken and fearful. It knows its fragile alliances are unstable and unreliable.

Whatever the regime does now, opposition to its cruelty and sadism must be paramount. Protests against ICE, deportations, concentration camps, attacks on vulnerable communities and the genocide in Gaza must not be thwarted by its threats. Fascist regimes create or capitalize on chaos in order to benefit from the confusion. Giving in to that confusion would be a fatal mistake no one could afford.

Kenn Orfanos, September 2025

Photo Credit: A billboard showing an image of US President Donald Trump (L) embracing Charlie Kirk on the side of a building in Tel Aviv, on September 13, 2025.© Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images

Ezra Klein, Gavin Newsom, and the Death of American Liberalism

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We live in an age of absurdity when a fascist like Charlie Kirk is hailed as a champion of free speech and open debate. Free speech advocates don’t create databases of people they disagree so that they can be harassed, get death threats and have their career’s ruined. This is what Kirk’s Turning Point USA’s did to professors across the United States by creating the “Professor Watchlist.”

Kirk hated free speech, as evidenced by the watchlist and by his own rancid record of punching down on college students who objected to his rhetoric. His “debates” were merely opportunities for public mockery and the platforming of fascist ideas. And these professors, who generally taught the real history of the United States, represented an existential threat to his supremacist ideology.

He didn’t deserve to be shot, but the posthumous honorifics and performative mourning following his murder are beyond absurd. And it isn’t just Magaland that is responsible for that. Vacuous liberals like Ezra Klein have contributed to this kabuki theatre of wailing ninnies.

Klein is a particularly odious example. He penned a nauseating eulogy for the New York Times immediately following Kirk’s demise, claiming Kirk “did politics right.” Would this correct way of doing politics include the professor watchlist? Or paying for busses to the January 6th attempted coup? Klein’s intellectual rot is indicative of the nature of American liberalism, which usually plays handmaiden to fascism by pretending to be a foil while never obstructing its rise in meaningful or material ways.

Gavin Newsom is another problematic character in this regard. His gushing of grief for Kirk seems almost endless. Apparently, the two shared a warm moment on his show in their shared hatred of transgender athletes that Newsom still cherishes. And yet, we are told that he is the only viable opposition to Trumpian fascism. To many older, white liberals, Newsom charms with his use of memes to “own Trump.” It is a classic case of spectacle over substance.

If nothing else, Charlie Kirk’s death signals the death of American liberalism. An ideology that has always acted as a fortress to protect and save capitalism from itself. Presented as the only rational alternative to leftism, liberalism borrowed the left’s most palatable and inoffensive values and made them central to its ethos, all but ignoring the material concerns of the working class.

Championing equality and human rights ring hollow in a society where the working poor continue to see their status decline. And this is also how liberalism has provided cover for every brutal excess of American imperialism, from war, coups, up to and including the genocide of Palestinians by Israel, the empire’s most important colonial asset. Like so many Americans, white liberals are largely apathetic when it comes to foreign policy.

The result has inevitably been the rise of fascism. Like a ravenous vulture unobstructed from liberalism’s ashes, it ascends while liberals bask in self absorbed revelry, trample on the left for even modest demands, and pander to the very worst elements in society. What is tragically ironic is that figures like Klein and Newsom are busy throwing wood on its funeral pyre.

Kenn Orfanos, September 2025

Liberals: Stop Tone Policing Normal Responses to the Death of a Terrible Person

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I was a hospice social worker for over 20 years, so I am quite familiar with death and human reactions to it. That said, I wanted to address some garbage pop psychology going around the internet the last couple days.

First, it is totally normal to feel relieved or to even feel glad when a terrible person dies. This does not mean you support the killing of that person. For example, I had a client whose father was incredibly abusive. He never made amends or apologized. In fact, he continued to be emotionally abusive. When he died, she went out to dinner with friends to celebrate. There was nothing wrong with her response to this. For her, it was cathartic.

Second, it is totally normal to feel joy about the demise of a horrible person. When the news of Hitler’s death reached people in concentration camps, they were jubilant. This was the man responsible for their enslavement and torture. He had murdered millions of people. So, celebrating the end of his reign of terror was to be expected. In fact, it would have been strange if people did not feel this.

Third, it is totally normal to laugh when an evil person dies. When Kissinger finally died, the internet exploded with humorous memes. This was because he was an evil man who was responsible for the deaths of countless people in the Global South and misery that lasts to this day. Laughing about the death of this odious person wasn’t pathological. It was an emotional release.

None of this means that a person approves of or is reveling in murder or violence because they feel this way. It simply means that they recognize that the person who is gone did horrible things to other human beings and now that they are gone, they will not be missed. And they are glad about it because their cruelty has ended.

So, enough with the shaming. Human emotions are complicated and messy. But tone policing them is not only annoying and counterproductive, it is often far more damaging in the long run.

Kenn Orfanos, September 2025

Regarding Grief over the Death of a Fascist

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I just saw a video of a Palestinian child who was shot in the side by an Israeli drone. His intestines were coming out of the wound as he clung to his father. He could not have been more than 12 years old, probably younger. This is all made possible by the US and other Western governments.

So, let’s be clear about something. Those of you who are attempting to shame people who are not grieving the death of a fascist really need to stop. It isn’t working, it’s just incredibly annoying. This is especially true for those of you who haven’t said a damn word about Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Your virtue signaling rings hollow. And it is preachy and tedious when not sealed in the vacuum you have created.

Anyone who peddles in hateful values and has the ear of one of the most powerful people on the planet isn’t just “a guy with a different opinion.” He is a powerful voice that can influence a society toward fascism. This. Was. Charlie. Kirk.

Charlie Kirk was a rotten human being who called George Floyd a “scumbag,” said that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 a “mistake” and had only nasty remarks about the late Martin Luther King, Jr.. He pushed blatantly racist conspiracies like the “Great Replacement theory.” He said God’s word was clear in Leviticus when talking about executing queer people. He mocked the victims of gun violence, going so far as to say some deaths were necessary to protect his “God given rights.” He ridiculed Palestinian suffering while they are enduring a genocide.

These aren’t just “personal opinions.” Trump, Netanyahu and other fascists and war criminals are hailing Kirk as a martyr. His words have not only influenced many young conservative Americans, but they have contributed to an infrastructure of unspeakable misery for millions of people. Kirk was a champion and master debater for sadistic and murderous policies. If you don’t understand this, maybe it is because you live in a bubble of comfortable privilege.

If you want to grieve a fascist, have at it. But don’t expect me to show up at the wake. I grieve for the victims of Kirk’s rhetoric. I grieve for the political violence and that culture he celebrated. I grieve for anyone who had the misfortune of being in his orbit of cruelty.

But I’ll be damned if I shed one tear for a fascist.

Get your priorities straight before attempting to shame people who aren’t interested in sentimental rubbish for a person who did not care one bit about other human beings and made a living off of punching down.

Kenn Orfanos, September 2025