There are moments in history that serve as milestones. Points in the timeline of human experience that help to identify when events shifted so much so that the course of everything after was forever altered. These points cannot be predicted, but they can be anticipated when other factors come together in a manner that echo other times or are considered reliable indicators of the consequence of actions.

Such is the case of the murder of Charlie Kirk. It will undoubtedly serve as a milestone in the timeline of American fascism. A point in history that indicated the final demolition of societal norms and the ascendancy of fascism accelerated. This isn’t necessarily about that moment when Kirk was shot. But it is about every moment that has followed.

The recent memorial service for the fascist ideologue was one of those moments. For all intents and purposes, it was a rally. An unprecedented opportunity to see exactly what the Trump regime and its cultish fanbase Maga, think of the majority of Americans. And a chance to catch a glimpse of its roadmap for humanity.

Trump’s eulogy wasn’t a surprise in regard to its rambling, tangential nonsense and thinly veiled threats. In this speech, Kirk’s vile life was but a footnote to Trump’s epic narcissism. In fact, Trump’s only ideological principle is narcissistic self-aggrandizement. In many ways, it was humorous because it appears like the Vaudeville act of a cartoon villain, only lacking a mustache to be twirled.

But Stephen Miller’s tirade, although drenched in melodramatic buffoonery, was far more chilling. Echoing Joseph Goebbels from a speech the Nazi propagandist gave in 1932 for the murder of a Nazi militant, Miller lashed out at the so-called “enemies” of America: “Our lineage and our legacy hails back to Athens, to Rome, to Philadelphia, to Monticello… Our ancestors built the cities… the art and architecture… the industry.”

“To the enemy, I say this: You are nothing. You can build nothing. You can create nothing.”

His use of lineage is telling. He ignored every other civilization, choosing to elevate European history alone. The Maya, the Assyrians, the Persians, the Chinese, the Indus, the Australian Aboriginals. None of them matter or even exist in Miller’s timeline.

This is the lynchpin of all supremacist ideologies. The invocation of mythic beginnings in some imagined grandeur that is above all others. The descendants of this lineage are not only the creators of civilization. They are civilization itself.

In addition to this, Miller dehumanizes his opponents and anyone who does not fit into his white nationalist narrative of revisionist history as “nothing.” To him, descendants of the enslaved, the indentured, the immigrant, especially if they are Black, Brown or Asian, have no birthright to the nation, despite being the ones who actually built the infrastructure of the American Empire.

“The day that Charlie died, the angels wept, but those tears had been turned into fire in our hearts, and that fire burns with a righteous fury that our enemies cannot comprehend or understand,” Miller threatened. His use of spiritual imagery was no accident. Fascists view the world in black and white. There is no nuance, no grey areas, no room for questioning. It is a world full of angels and demons. One where an invisible war rages between the forces of darkness and light. Miller seized on this framing in order to tap into the ever-present angst present in the Maga base. An uneasiness that is pervasive within all fascist movements.

Miller told the crowd of nearly 100,000 cheering mourners that they are “on the side of God.” And this is something most of them fervently believe. It is what enables them to shut down rationality and reason when it comes to a failing economy and a reduction of their civil liberties. It is what allows them to ignore human suffering, even that of children, in their support and defense of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Being on “God’s side” gives Maga the unfettered right to attack, oppress or annihilate anyone who differs from them, because “they” are the “enemy” of God.

Without a doubt, Miller knows exactly what he is doing. He is a student of history. And he has meticulously curated this persona and image of himself. In truth, he appears to be relishing in the fact that so many are comparing him to the infamous Goebbels. But anyone who takes history seriously should not take any of this lightly. Miller is the architect of the Trump regime’s mass deportations and ICE thuggery.

Miller declared: “We are the storm.” In 1932, Goebbels proclaimed “Der Sturm bricht los” which means, “The storm breaks loose.” And we know what followed. A storm of fascist fear, brutality, terror, murder and destruction was unleashed in Germany that would end with the near total devastation of Europe and the annihilation of millions of people. That Miller chose to echo this man knowing the horrendous years that followed that speech is bone-chilling. And if this is not reason for alarm, I don’t know what is.

Kenn Orfanos, September 2025