Tag Archives: Democratic Party

The Democrats Will Not Defeat Fascism

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ICE has harassed and arrested random people on the street because they were Black, Brown or had an accent. They have sexually assaulted people in their custody. They choked a man to death in one of their concentration camps. They have dragged children from cars, homes, schools and workplaces. They have abducted and interred members of the Oglala Sioux nation. They have beaten, gassed and disappeared protestors. They shot a woman in the face who presented no danger to them whatsoever.

But Cory Booker doesn’t want them abolished. And he isn’t alone. In fact, Democrats have voted to continue funding ICE. Of course, with some strings attached, such as more training and body cameras. One wonders if this “training” will be by the IDF in Israel, as it has in the past.

Booker and establishment Democrats aren’t interested in opposing fascism. They are interested in managing it. In curating its image. In polishing its rough edges so that they can pretend that they are doing something constructive.

This isn’t realpolitik. It isn’t a pragmatic approach. It is cowardice.

The Trump regime isn’t conducting the American Empire like it has been conducted in the past. They have no interest appearing measured in their brutality. To this regime, sadism is policy.

But Democrats like Booker, who refused to correctly call what Israel is doing a genocide, hasn’t caught up with this historic moment. He is living in a comfortable past where American dominance was administered with empty platitudes about “accountability” or “the rule of law.” Where the veneer of respectability mattered more than actions.

Not once in the history of fascist regimes has this worked. That Booker and the other Democrats who agree with him think it will, only underscores the blindness that comes with proximity to power.

Kenn Maurice Orfanos, January 2026

Civil War or General Strike? Americans must choose wisely.

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If there are still Americans that think they can wait for the midterm elections in November or 2029, they are deluding themselves. You cannot vote your way out of an authoritarian state.

The Trump regime is actively building a police state and ICE’s reign of terror in Minneapolis is a portent for what is coming. They are kicking in doors without a warrant. Abducting kids from school or their workplace. Disappearing people, mostly Black and Brown people, off the street in broad daylight.

The regime is sending a clear message that they will not tolerate opposition. In fact, all opposition will eventually be viewed as being “radical left” domestic terrorism. That slogan on Kristi Noem’s podium which read “One of Ours, All of Yours” wasn’t just a threat. It was policy.

And the Democratic Party will not offer any meaningful dissent as they capitulate and appease the fascist regime. Indeed, liberal intellectuals like Ezra Klein are encouraging the party to go even more toward the right than they already are.

Does anyone really think “we stand with Israel” Chuck Schumer will stand up against the brutality of the American state when he won’t even say if he would abolish ICE or reduce its funding, even after it committed murder in plain site? Or Hakeem Jeffries who supported a genocidal state? Or liberal darling, Gavin Newsom, who is opposing a tax on billionaires in his own state?

This is the nascent stage of open fascism. It isn’t even full blown yet, since most Americans are still able to express their frustrations online. But that, too, will eventually be suppressed.

I once encouraged Americans to get out if they could, especially if they are Black, Brown, an immigrant or queer. Or to move to blue states. But even those states will be under siege, as we see in Minnesota.

Right now, more and more Americans are posting their frustration and rage online. More Americans than ever before are saying that civil war is inevitable. And they are preparing. Whether or not they are right, we should all be shocked that so many are saying these things out loud in a country awash in guns. And because words are often the precursor to action.

The only things that will stop this is for white Americans to look to Black, Brown and Indigenous movements. To learn from their oppression by the racist American state and their struggle against it, which goes back centuries. To learn how to build movements, community and sustained resistance. To understand that the powerful are not omnipotent, and a people united are the biggest foil to a brutal ruling class and regime.

Another is to strike. Not a small strike. A nationwide, general strike. The only thing that will force change is to hit the regime economically. Grind its financial machine to a halt. Make its parasitic billionaire class squirm. This is not without tremendous risk. We all know how violent the regime is. But there are limits to every power. And money is their god and their drug.

Will Americans do this? Right now, many are. Every day, thousands of ordinary people are getting out on the street to oppose ICE in Minneapolis. They are organizing and assisting those targeted. They are putting their bodies on the line, even after they murdered Renee Nicole Good in cold blood.

As the cost of living continues to rise exponentially and more Americans are crushed by state violence, more and more will look for solutions. Channeling this rage into non-violent, collective action can turn things around. But the window for that is closing rapidly. And once it is shut, it could take years or decades to pry it open again.

Kenn Maurice Orfanos, January 2026

Mamdani Wins NYC!

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Last night, I sat in front of my computer with tears in my eyes. They were tears of joy. I was born in New York. I lived the first 20+ years of my life there. So, even though I no longer live there or in the United States anymore, to see this city that I love do the right thing in these very dark times was deeply moving to say the least.

NYC voted for a man who stands outside the Democratic Party elite. A man who espouses values that align with most ordinary people. That living on this planet should not bankrupt a person. That healthcare and housing and education are human rights. That the wealthy should pay their fair share. That genocide is wrong and the criminals who commit these crimes should be arrested and tried.

Despite endless and baseless smears and racist taunts, much of which came from notorious misogynist and senior citizen-killer, Andrew Cuomo, Mamdani prevailed. Despite the efforts of celebrities like Debra Messing who spread horrendous Islamophobic lies, Mamdani prevailed (one wonders if she is okay today, or if she has fled to Tel Aviv on the first El Al flight out of Kennedy). Despite millions of dollars being spent by parasitic billionaires like Michael Bloomberg, Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton, and hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman, Mamdani prevailed. Despite threats from the fascist, wannabe king in the White House, Mamdani prevailed.

Will Mamdani be able to implement all of the policies he would like to? Probably not. NYC is still deeply capitalist. Its 1% are entrenched, have enormous influence and own much of the media. But despite their empty threats, they aren’t leaving New York after this historic victory. And this win sends a clear message to them that the people of this city are fed up with the soul crushing, life destroying status quo.

Mamdani quoted the late Eugene Debs in his victory speech. Debs, who was born in 1855 and died in 1926, was an American socialist, trade unionist and one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World. He ran five times for President under the Socialist Party of America. That Mamdani chose him is extraordinary for these times. His words go far beyond the sickening bromides and empty platitudes of most politicians.

Mamdani said:

”The sun may have set over our city this evening, but as Eugene Debs once said, “I can see the dawn of a better day for humanity.”

For as long as we can remember, the working people of New York have been told by the wealthy and the well-connected that power does not belong in their hands. Fingers bruised from lifting boxes on the warehouse floor, palms calloused from delivery bike handlebars, knuckles scarred with kitchen burns. These are not hands that have been allowed to hold power. And yet, over the last 12 months, you have dared to reach for something greater.

Tonight, against all odds, we have grasped it. The future is in our hands. My friends, we have toppled a political dynasty.

I wish Andrew Cuomo only the best in private life, but let tonight be the final time I utter his name as we turn the page on a politics that abandons the many and answers only to the few.

Now I know that many have heard our message only through the prism of misinformation. Tens of millions of dollars have been spent to redefine reality and to convince our neighbors that this new age is something that should frighten them. As has so often occurred, the billionaire class has sought to convince those making $30 an hour that their enemies are those earning $20 an hour. They want the people to fight amongst ourselves so that we remain distracted from the work of remaking a long-broken system. We refuse to let them dictate the rules of the game anymore. They can play by the same rules as the rest of us.

In this new age we make for ourselves, we will refuse to allow those who traffic in division and hate to pit us against one another. In this moment of political darkness, New York will be the light. Here we believe in standing up for those we love, whether you are an immigrant, a member of the trans community, one of the many Black women that Donald Trump has fired from a federal job, a single mom still waiting for the cost of groceries to go down, or anyone else with their back against the wall—your struggle is ours too.

Together, we will usher in a generation of change. And if we embrace this brave new course, rather than fleeing from it, we can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears, not the appeasement it craves. After all, if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him. And if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power.

And we must chart a new path as bold as the one we have already traveled. After all, the conventional wisdom would tell you that I am far from the perfect candidate. I am young, despite my best efforts to grow older. I am Muslim. I am a democratic socialist. And most damning of all, I refuse to apologize for any of this.

Mamdani’s victory will undoubtedly be met with more threats or even actions by the fascist Trump regime. And the corporate beholden, Democratic Party elite will likely try to thwart any meaningful gains of this moment. But Mamdani’s win should be celebrated by every ordinary person today. Because even though we are in dark times, some light has managed to find its way through the cracks.

Be happy about that today, because we all deserve it.

Kenn Orfanos, November 2025