Tag Archives: trump

The Holocaust Taught Us That No Human Being is Illegal

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It is utterly loathsome to see this kind of dehumanization and Holocaust denial from anyone. But from a rabbi?

Anne Frank and millions of Jews, Roma and other ethnic or religious groups were rendered stateless for the very purpose of deporting them to death camps. Anne violated the law by hiding from authorities in a secret annex concealed in their father’s office building. She was not in the Netherlands legally because the Nazis changed the laws.

Laws do not equate morality. They do not equate ethics. They represent control and power. Sometimes they are good. Often they are reprehensible.

The Holocaust was perpetrated by a regime that stripped millions of their citizenship, even in the nations that it invaded and occupied. This regime created laws that reinforced this otherizing and demonization in order to seize their property and annihilate them. And without passports or other documents, these people were trapped, unable to flee to other countries.

This is no different than what the Trump regime is doing (and other administrations, both Democrat and Republican, have done). They are dehumanizing people based on their colour, or accent, or immigration status. They are rendering them stateless for easy internment in their concentration camps. For easy disposal.

But this is the moral bankruptcy at the heart of Zionism. A political ideology which relies on ahistorical myths and supremacy, and which cannot recognize these simple facts because doing so unravels their narrative. And thus, it makes the only choice it has left, which is to support fascism.

If the Holocaust taught us anything, it is that papers and passports are all temporary and arbitrary based on who holds power. It taught us that no human being is illegal. And no excuse made by a ruthless and brutal regime will change those immutable facts.

Kenn Maurice Orfanos, January 2026

Jared Kushner’s ‘New Gaza’ is in Keeping with Zionism’s Colonial Project

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One of the most striking features of the Trump-Kushner plan for Gaza is that it erases anything resembling Palestine. The ancient architecture, most of which has been reduced to rubble by Israel, is replaced by something more akin to Dubai. And this is no accident.

Like so many Americans, Kushner and Trump view the entire Middle-East region as a monolith. One people. One culture. No variations. No complexities. The clothing, language, food? All the same.

The only cities they are familiar with are from the Gulf monarchies. Gaza, whose history stretches back at least 5000 years, was filled with ancient souks, mosques, hammams, churches, Roman mosaics, alleyways and ports, is transformed into a glittering hyper-capitalist dystopia. One which could sit comfortably in any of the Gulf nations.

When one considers the notion that this city would be built over the mass graves of hundreds of thousands of people, it becomes obvious how odious it all is. But this is also the story of Israel.

The Zionists came into this region with the claim that it was a “land without a people, for a people without a land.” But this was always a lie. And they knew it.

This is why they destroyed so many villages and planted forests on top of the ruins with trees not indigenous to the Levant. The result has been wildfires every year, as these European pines ignite in the dry, hot climate.

The seaside Palestinian village of Tantura was referred by the ancient Greeks as Dor. During the Nakba, a Zionist death squad from the Haganah, which came under the command of one of Israel’s founding fathers David Ben-Gurion, murdered hundreds of the inhabitants and buried them in mass graves. A kibbutz was later erected on the site. Today, it is a popular beach for Israelis.

Kushner’s grotesque vision for Gaza is in keeping with the Zionist project, which never sat comfortably in the Levant. It attempted to import its European identity on to a land that already had a long and rich culture of its own.

Despite its glittering skyscrapers, casinos, hotels and 5-star restaurants, this “New Gaza” will forever be stained with the blood of thousands. Their bones will be in every foundational stone. Though they will try their hardest to whitewash its edifice, the genocide will never be forgotten, nor forgiven by the millions of people around the world who have witnessed its horror.

Kenn Maurice Orfanos, January 2026

A Glimmer of Hope in Very Dark Times: a Personal Reflection

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As someone who has dual citizenship, watching the unraveling of my country to the south has been incredibly saddening and horrifying.

This regime, which is undeniably fascist, is headed by some of the most overtly sadistic people in its history. One which tells lies so often that it has become its only consistent policy

The United States was founded on Indigenous genocide and 400 years of the enslaved labour of Africans. Black, Brown, Asian, Indigenous, immigrant communities, women and queer people have always been the target of the brutality of the state. And the US has always been vicious in its imperialistic wars and covert actions throughout the Global South. But now, as the empire declines, the violence is widening. All of the pretenses and platitudes have been shattered.

In truth, this happened long before Trump. If a government can support, fund and defend a genocide, the very worst crime against humanity, it can justify anything. Gaza was screaming out to us, and so many Americans turned their heads.

But I cannot view this only from the lens of analysis. This was my country. One I had always criticized. One that I opposed for its wars and violence abroad. One whose social hatreds, racism and obsession with money I have always been appalled by.

It is also the cradle of most of my childhood memories. Where I first felt a sense of awe as a little boy when looking out at the Statue of Liberty or over the Grand Canyon. Where I marched with friends and comrades with the hope of change. Where I worked with dying and grieving people for over 20 years. Where my Canadian mother came to when she was just 18 years old. Where my Greek immigrant grandparents are buried. Where my father is buried. Where I attended elementary and high school and university. Where I first fell in love. Where I was married. Where so many family and friends still live.

So, to watch what is unfolding dispassionately while living in my other beloved country is an impossibility.

I would be lying if I said I had optimism for the United States right now. I don’t. I have fear. As a sociologist and student of history, particularly fascist movements, I know this is only going to get far worse before there is any light at the end of the tunnel.

But I am also encouraged to see the people of Minneapolis right now. The ones defending and protecting and assisting their neighbours. The ones showing up in the freezing cold to film and oppose the ICE death squads. The ones providing food and shelter and warmth. The ones who risk being murdered by the state for merely being out on their street and who will then be called “domestic terrorists” by a regime whose entire raison d’etre is terror.

What you are up against is no different than every other murderous tyranny in every other place on earth. But your unwavering humanity is what gives me a glimmer of light to focus on in these very dark times.

Kenn Maurice Orfanos, January 2026

The End of Pax Americana

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Trump: “Colombia’s very sick too, run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States. And he’s not going to be doing it very long. Let me tell you…He’s got cocaine mills and cocaine factories.”

Reporter: “So there will be an operation by the U.S. in Colombia?”

Trump: “It sounds good to me.”

The Trump regime is not finished. Not by a long shot. Its imperialistic rampage is targeting Columbia, Cuba, Mexico and Greenland. And if you think he will stop there, you haven’t been paying attention to his Hitlerian rants and the support he has received from his sniveling sycophants and even Democrat dolts like Debbie Wasserman Schultz and John Fetterman. Canada, I am looking at you.

Of course, what Trump is doing isn’t very different than any other project of the American Empire. Republican or Democratic, both arms of the empire do their part at the behest of its ruling class and their capital investments.

But Trump has ripped the veil off of the “Pax Americana” brand and showed it for what it really is. He has legitimized its gangsterism. And he is ramping it up to grab whatever is left for him and his wealthy friends on a planet that is on the brink of ecological devastation and climate chaos.

The American corporate media doesn’t know what to do with any of this, other than wring their hands about “legality” or worry about how it sounds rather than what it is. They are more concerned with preserving the old narrative of a benevolent and ethical, if not flawed, America, even though it is a complete lie.

And political leaders in Europe have demonstrated their complete subservience to American hegemony by couching their language in cautious “observatory” terminology. Except for Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who warned Trump to stop threatening the takeover of Greenland, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

The latter is significant for several reasons, since Denmark is a member of NATO. Any attack on Greenland would be an attack on it, on NATO, and on Europe itself.

Trump’s actions are in keeping with American imperialistic aggression. The difference now is that under Trump its scope has expanded beyond the Global South to include white, Western nations as well. It is a clear signal that the old order of relations and allies is over.

But the Trump regime isn’t saving American Empire. On the contrary, he is stealing as much of the resources he can on behalf of its ruling class who know all too well that the party is almost over.

Even if Fox News flunkies believe that climate change is a hoax, they do not. Why else would they spend billions of dollars to suppress the science and silence the scientists? They know. They just care more about their wealth than they do about a livable biosphere. Because in some daft way, they think their wealth will insulate them.

And if the genocide in Gaza has taught us anything, it is that this class is thoroughly capable, without reservation, to annihilate anyone who might hamper their investments. Israel is, after all, one of the most important colonial assets of the American Empire. It has invested billions into what amounts to the biggest US military base in the world. They have shown us what they are more than willing to do or to justify. Only the willfully blind and toxically naive would not see that now.

We are entering a new phase of the resource wars. The old imperial houses and gangster capitalists are preparing to scrape up the last bits of fortune at our expense, even if that means burning it all to ash. Trump is merely accelerating that inferno.

Kenn Maurice Orfanos, January 2026

American Imperialism and the Mad Fantasies of Donald Trump

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Trump has said that he intends to “run Venezuela.” That should come as a surprise to the thousands of Venezuelans who have taken to the streets to denounce the American assault on its capital. Regardless of Trump’s fantasies, he can barely run the US, except by driving it further into the abyss.

No matter how US media or American politicians try to spin this, the American Empire is in steep decline. Its tourism industry is collapsing as more people choose not to spend their holiday in a fascist police state. It lost any moral standing it may have once had after enabling the genocide in Gaza. And it no longer possesses the soft power it once had to influence countries to do its bidding. As BRICS rises, the US only has threats, bluster, sentimental patriotism and fire power. But there are limits to this, as every empire throughout history has found out.

As millions of Americans struggle to pay for basic necessities and continue to lack things other industrialized countries take for granted, such as universal healthcare, labour protections and quality education, its ruling elite are living in a bubble of privilege that is ready to burst at any moment. America’s infrastructure is in shambles. And its unhoused population continues to grow exponentially. So, to think that this husk of empire is any way able to rule Venezuela when it can barely rule itself is rather absurd.

This doesn’t mean that the Trump regime cannot cause significant pain. It has, it can, and it will. And it isn’t just him and his cadre of ghouls. We have entered into a new phase of imperial conquest as the planet becomes more unstable due to climate change. And Gaza should be an example of how the powerful are fully capable of doing the most heinous things imaginable to human beings in order to maintain their power. The old imperial houses will continue to carve up the world, rape its resources, and assert control over their “spheres of influence” even as it crumbles under the weight of ecological devastation.

It just points to its glaring incompetence. The Trump regime will not be successful with “running” any territory they conquer with military force. They are incompetent idiots. And they will likely cause enormous chaos and untold misery for millions of people despite this. But having a malignant narcissist as leader is a dangerous gamble for any empire. What happens when that narcissist is losing his mind? When the long shadows of his past transgressions indelibly stain any prestige he thought he had? When his ratings continue to tank and daily life for millions of Americans becomes a struggle for survival?

The attack on Venezuela and other threats of aggression will never translate into tangible benefits for ordinary Americans. They aren’t meant to. This is a resource grab for the ultra rich. For the corporations and war profiteers. And this isn’t a new phenomenon. Every military foray the US has entered into against the Global South has been at the behest of its ruling class and to fill their coffers. But each one has cost the empire more than it has profited it.

What we are seeing isn’t merely about Trump, although I am sure he would like everyone to believe that it is. What this is about is the last chapters of American Empire. That is why the rhetoric is no longer full of flowery platitudes. It has nothing real to offer ordinary people. It can only cling to the image of its imperial power. Of its domination of others through violence or the threat of it. It has also demonstrated that the old order of international law, which really only applied to white, Western nations, is finished for everyone. It is rule by gangsterism, imperial jostling and sheer brutality by any means and without any meaningful opposition from established leaders.

Rome is burning and those who have benefitted the most from its years of glory are now trying to scrape every last coin out of its downfall.

Kenn Maurice Orfanos, January 2026

In Targeting Venezuela, the Trump Regime has Ripped the Mask Off American Imperialism

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If there is one thing that the Trump regime has succeeded at, it is in ripping off the mask of American imperialism and smashing it into a million pieces on the ground. The era of lofty platitudes about the “rule of law” or “liberating” the people of (insert name of nation to be plundered) is over.

Trump’s racism allows no space for Venezuelans to have agency over their own lives. Indeed, as he talks about taking their oil, he demonizes those Venezuelans who seek a better life in the US. This is a regime that has murdered scores of civilians, many of them fishermen, in the Caribbean on the basis of a lie. Now it is using the term “terrorism” to justify any act of military violence. So, it is abundantly clear what this is all about to all but those still brainwashed by the cult of MAGA and American exceptionalism.

In this post and others, Trump is open about the American doctrine of ownership over all the resources in its “sphere of influence.” He uses the grammar of a mob boss, but none of it is a departure from official American foreign policy. There is no attempt to veil this. No flowery words about democracy or human rights. No bromides or vagaries to cloud intent. It is the naked theft of another sovereign country’s land and natural resources said in no uncertain terms.

Venezuela poses no threat to the United States. It does not produce fentanyl. It has not attacked the US or any of its strategic interests. Like Cuba, its crime is its rejection of US hegemony. Its sin is choosing a government which is at odds with the power and interests of the wealthy elite and American capital investment.

We cannot expect establishment Democrats to offer any meaningful opposition to the regime’s aggression. They have played handmaiden to American imperialism and more often champion its projects of expansion and aggression. And the corporate-owned US media will likely whitewash this as well.

This is an industry which has been complicit in every other war of conquest launched by every other administration throughout US history. Its role will be merely to sugarcoat the regime’s most belligerent talking points while stoking American nationalism. It relies on a public which has been conditioned to reject critical thinking. A public that is struggling to pay mounting debt, rent, food expenses, healthcare and costs of daily living under the worst predations of late capitalist exploitation.

The United States has been the primary engine of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The colonial-settler ethnostate being its most important colonial asset. One which the US has invested billions of dollars in, year after year. But it is also one that gives it constant grief, especially in the last 2+ years. And with little payout. Venezuela offers a new opportunity for capital investment and enormous gain. And, without a doubt, the Trump regime is aggressively steering the entire hemisphere toward an all out war to obtain it for its wealthy shareholders.

Kenn Orfanos, December 2025

The Trump Regime’s White Supremacist Plan to Reinvigorate American Empire

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The Trump regime has just released its “2025 National Security Strategy of the United States of America.” And it not only targets Europe and Canada, it lays out its specific ideology of white supremacy that has domestic and foreign implications in regard to budgets, policing, borders, trade and surveillance. This time, they are responding to the real rise of China and BRICS on the global economic and political stage and to the declining and crumbling American Empire.

The document is a hard turn back to the Monroe Doctrine, which demarcates all of the North and South American hemisphere as being under the hegemonic control of the American Empire. Defining it as “supply chains,” all of its resources belong solely to them. It is American imperialism redux unapologetically on steroids.

The language of this document is undeniably white supremacist in that it characterizes the supposed decline of Europe as a problem of cultural dissolution. In other words, immigrants from the Global South are diluting the Aryan blood and soil of the West, with the racist dog whistle “civilizational erasure” as a recurring theme.

This threat is a last ditch effort to essentially strongarm the West into continuing to prop up their hegemonic control through outright threats of devastation and violence. Thanks to Trump’s idiotic and destructive tariffs, other nations are beginning to build economic ties with China. And the regime cannot cope with it.

The Trump regime is codifying their white supremacist ideology into actionable state policy. Immigrants, racialized communities, queer people, women, Indigenous, all of them are being cast as “threats to civilization.” This is a rhetoric that allows for atrocity. It is the language of both erasure and annihilation. And anyone on the margins of American Empire should find it absolutely bone chilling.

This is the playbook that the regime is going to follow going forward (see below).

Take note of the one that mentions the supposed “threats against our (US) supply chains that risk US access to critical resources, including minerals and rare earth elements.” This one is aimed directly at Canada, because the American Empire views everyone else as their “supply chains.” Also, propaganda and “cultural subversion” is referring to the regimes plans to curtail and censor free expression and dissent both within and beyond its borders.

Kenn Orfanos, December 2025

Trump is a Vicious Cult Leader

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For the past couple weeks, Donald Trump has been stirring up hatred for the Somali community with lies and fearmongering. And the result has been a surge in white supremacism.

This is what fascist regimes do best. While they are totally unequipped to govern, they use the rhetoric of scapegoating and demonization to distract from their complete ineptitude. It becomes the only policymaking that they are capable of.

As the American economy continues to decline and the US becomes more isolated, Trump and his regime are becoming more and more unhinged in their cruelty toward the most vulnerable and marginalized. And since fascism demands cultlike devotion, this cruelty runs through the entire society like a rancid effluence, poisoning everything in its path.

The American project was built upon racism, one which justified genocide, slavery and apartheid. And it has never reckoned with this in any meaningful way. So, the obvious outcome has been the current president.

Trump isn’t an anomaly, he is a prime example of America with its mask of civility finally ripped off. A narcissist who is convinced of his greatness, much like the many Americans who have been bamboozled into thinking they live in the greatest country on earth. An arrogant ignorance impervious to the reality of having no universal healthcare, few worker protections, crushing debt, poor education, crumbling infrastructure, rampant gun violence and rapidly rising economic inequality.

So, what can we expect in the coming months or even years? Trump is a vicious cult leader who is oblivious to the stench of his own rot. Even as his health (both physical and mental) declines, he cannot see through the elaborate web of lies he has woven around him. And the sycophants in his court will never tell the emperor he is has no clothes.

Cults rarely dissipate peacefully. In almost every case, they end up devolving into paranoia, conspiracy theories, delusion and violence as their blind obeisance to power backfires and the shoddy worldview they invested everything in breaks down under the weight of its own incompetence and madness.

Sometimes cults merely self destruct. But more often than not, they lash out on anyone within their orbit, with the most vulnerable being the first victims. Either way, what comes next will not be easy to endure, especially for communities like the Somali.

Kenn Orfanos, December 2025

Performative Protests Are Not Enough Against Fascism

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Trump’s crude response to the “No Kings” protest shouldn’t come as a surprise. Fascist regimes don’t care about protests. Every instance of dissent to their depravity is an opportunity for more mockery and cruelty. Never for introspection or reflection.

As with all fascist regimes, the Trump regime will not be persuaded by civility or appeals to their humanity. Simply put, they have neither. While yesterday’s event was impressive, admirable and perhaps helped some make lasting connections with other like minded people, they will have no real or tangible impact on policy.

These events essentially serve as valves to let off steam or for funneling public rage into managed and watered down safe spaces, such as the Democratic Party, which offers no real resistance to the current arrangement of power.

Fascist regimes aren’t voted out. History has shown that the only way they end is through a coordinated mass movement that disrupts and grinds society and the very machinery of power to a halt, a war or military coup, or the death of the fascist leader, which can take decades.

This is not to crush the hopes of those who participated. On the contrary, those ordinary people who rallied did so because they understand something is terribly wrong and that they needed to do something. For many, this was their first time protesting. And that is commendable. But false hope is as dangerous as despair because it can often lead to complacency.

White, heterosexual American liberals have never had to face the terror of state violence before. This is new terrain. But they can learn from Black Americans who led the way with bus boycotts and bridge shutdowns. Or Queer Americans who shutdown entire cities with riots against police brutality. Or the movement against the Vietnam War. Or, more recently, the anti-genocide encampments on university campuses.

Hope lies in the copious examples of courage from marginalized and oppressed groups. Begin there.

Kenn Orfanos, October 2025

*The attached photo is Trump’s response to the protests, which is self explanatory.

There is no greater threat to democracy or human decency than fascism.

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Following an unprecedented mandatory meeting of US military commanders, the Trump regime’s attack on Chicago was another test. Sending 300 ICE agents to abduct immigrants, including children, by rappelling from Blackhawk helicopters onto an apartment building in the middle of the night was a clear message of state terror.

Borrowing from other fascist regimes throughout history, Trump and his minions are seeking absolute control over the republic through intimidation, threats and ruthless domination. And they continue to demonstrate that they can do this with virtually no opposition from any established political entity.

The Democratic Party has proven ineffective and unwilling to meet this moment with the resolve needed to thwart a complete takeover and dismantling of what is left of American democracy. And the judiciary, lacking any enforcement, appears unable to keep up with this rapid descent into fascist dystopia.

The American mainstream media, tasked with the role of watchdog, has been all but silent on the war the Trump regime is waging. Preferring to comply in advance and self-censor, instead of risking costly lawsuits by challenging the regime. This should not come as a surprise since these outlets have traded their journalistic integrity and credibility for ratings and profits long ago.

The regime now has its own army. ICE has a budget that dwarfs the US Marines. Its masked thugs seem to enjoy impunity, attacking civilians without provocation, firing rubber bullets into crowds, and shooting at the media. Its campaign of terror is only just beginning.

And speaking of terror, the regime is quickly acting on its threat of labeling anyone who disagrees or dissents from their policies or actions as domestic terrorists. This is the kind of thought policing that all fascist regimes resort to when challenged by a public that is not adequately complying with its dictates.

The regime will try to cast a wide net, ruthlessly persecuting and prosecuting all individuals, organizations and agencies they deem to be “radical leftists.” And that net will include anyone who is not Maga. Anyone who protests US support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Anyone who supports gay and transgender youth. Anyone who teaches science, talks about climate change or opposes the destruction of the environment. Anyone who challenges racist or misogynistic policies. Anyone who advocates for the unhoused or the rights of the mentally ill. Anyone who is not a white, heteronormative, evangelical or fundamentalist Christian. And this will include going after the liberals who have long attacked the left and progressives themselves.

At a time when most Americans are struggling with crushing debt and rising costs, the regime will not address the needs of the people. Instead, it will attempt to silence critics, criminalize the poor and use marginalized communities as scapegoats for all the suffering that is yet to come. This is not a prophetic declaration. It is a prediction based on mountains of evidence from every other fascist regime in history.

There is no greater threat to democracy or human decency than fascism. It is a poison to any society. And once administered, it is breathtakingly difficult to extract. For years, this brew of nationalism, oligarchic tyranny, racism and social animus has been allowed to simmer. And with the fascists now in power, it is reaching a rapid boil.

None of this is to discourage complacency or defeatism. In fact, the stakes have never been higher. Americans still have some freedoms left to them. And challenging this nightmare is paramount to reducing its cruelty and harm. But for many, especially those who are not white, Christian or who do not conform to the regime’s accepted optics, escaping is the only viable option.

Americans have long ignored the warning signs. They have long swallowed the bromide that “it can’t happen here.” But it has happened there. Over and over and over again. To Black and Brown people. To women. To immigrants. To Indigenous people. To queer communities. To the poor. And to the Global South that American imperialism has ruthlessly targeted for nearly 250 years. The difference now is that maw of brutality is much, much wider.

But at every moment of fascism’s rise, there has been resistance. It is not invincible, although fascists would like us to think so. The most powerful tool we have is our shared humanity. And this is why they want to rob us of that. Never forget that behind the bravado of every fascist is a cowardly bully, trembling in fear at the power of solidarity.

Kenn Orfanos, October 2025