Tag Archives: trump-regime

Atrocity and Gaslighting in the Post Truth Era

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We live in a post truth era. A time of gargantuan gaslighting. Immediately following the murder of an unarmed woman in her car by an ICE agent in Minneapolis as she drove away, Kristi Noem began the process of sanitization. Despite clear evidence that this was an unprovoked murder, she reframed it as domestic terrorism.

Donald Trump chimed in not long after with his usual lies and swift scapegoating of the “radical left.”

And since then, a swarm of online trolls, who are mostly white men, have flooded their newsfeeds and the comment sections of anyone who will still keep them on their friend list with comments like “FAFO” or “this is what happens when you try to run over law enforcement.”

The last one is the most striking. Renee Nicole Good was killed in cold blood in front of cameras. We all saw it. So, how can anyone not connected to power still defend ICE?

It demonstrates two things. One, they did not watch the video. Two, they did, but they simply don’t care about facts. Either way, protecting the fragile edifice of American power and domination is more important than evidence, even when that evidence is incontrovertible. The only options available to them are to ignore it or redefine it to fit the only acceptable narrative.

For over two years, we have witnessed a literal genocide being carried out by Israel in Gaza. The evidence is overwhelming in this regard. Thousands of photos, videos, testimonies, eyewitness accounts, doctors, nurses, journalists, scholars all attest to this. Yet, as with the murder of Renee Nicole Good, we are being gaslit to deny our own critical thinking and accept the version of the powerful, no matter how absurd or ridiculous it may be.

When truth becomes an option rather than the primary foundation of a society, the result is brutality. It always ends in atrocity. Genocide is the very worst crime against humanity. The US was and continues to be the primary engine of that crime. It has used every power it possesses to crush the truth about it. And this is the result.

Those defending the treacherous and murderous actions of ICE today are no different than those who defended Israel or the United States as they carried out a genocide. Both require a monumental suspension of critical thinking skills and the complete bankruptcy of moral integrity. And, in this regard, America excels at both.

Kenn Maurice Orfanos, January 2026

Dear Americans, you live in an evil empire.

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Since the Trump regime’s recent assault on Venezuela, a lot of Americans have been talking more about the nature of their country. This is significant because most Americans have been conditioned to see their nation as both a democracy and a superpower. But the two cannot exist simultaneously. These concepts are polar opposites. Yet, this is the contradiction most Americans still hold on to.

Whether through media or Hollywood or branding or subtle messaging, Americans are inundated in the myth of its indispensable role in the world. This works so well because most Americans have never traveled abroad. It works because intellectual curiosity is stunted early. They are conditioned, from birth until death, to accept the concept of their exceptionalism.

And this is not a phenomenon which is limited to conservative sensibilities. Liberals, by and large, are almost as brainwashed as their far-right counterparts in the sense that they see their country as essentially good. This is demonstrated by their overall disinterest in egregious and brutal foreign policies carried out by Democratic administrations, the genocide in Gaza being the most recent and glaring example. While unpopular, how many liberals vigorously opposed it when it was being funded and fueled by the Biden administration? How many insisted on supporting Kamala Harris, despite the fact that she intended to continue supporting Israel as it carried out its campaign of annihilation?

Up until very recently, Americans never considered their nation to be a global empire. Even terms like “superpower” obscure the historic connotations of imperial violence. A superpower doesn’t colonize, rape natural resources, destabilize other nations or subvert democratic movements. It simply exists. As if it has always been there as a force of nature and not by ruthless intent and violence.

But one thing that the Trump regime has done which differs from its predecessors is dismantling this myth, bit by bit. The attack on Venezuela and kidnapping of its president and first lady while Trump openly boasts about running the country and taking its oil has been a wake up call. His fever dream of doing the same to Greenland, Columbia, Nigeria, Iran, Cuba and Canada have added to this.

Many who are coming to understand this now are falsely linking it to one man or to his regime. That this is just an aberration in the American project. That all will be returned to normal once he and his cohorts are removed from power. But this kind of toxic naivety is not only wrong, it is reckless.

The history of the United States is one steeped in violent conquest and expansion. But this is seldom addressed by Americans as it relates to its nature today. The annexation of Hawaii and the imprisonment of its Queen. The possession of Puerto Rico while restricting it from statehood. Or the military occupation of the Philippines. These things are rarely, if ever, discussed in the mainstream.

America was founded upon land stolen from Indigenous nations. It was built by enslaved Africans and indentured servants. Its belligerent foreign policies not only echo that of the great European empires, it expanded on them. It has interfered with, toppled, and installed proxy governments which have done its bidding or, more accurately the bidding of its ruling class. And it has 800+ military bases all over the planet. This is the very definition of empire. Yet, there are few Americans who would ever use that term to describe their nation.

Outrage among liberal Americans over the Trump regime’s crude imperialistic rhetoric and actions is welcome. But if it stops there, it is useless. Americans need to face the painful truth that they are subjects of a deadly and brutal imperial power. One which is jostling with the other imperial houses of Russia and China for control over its “sphere of influence.” One which is now in a state of decline and decay, yet still powerful enough to destroy the biosphere and end all organized human civilization on earth. Trump did not create it, he has merely demolished the benevolent facade it has hidden behind for far too long.

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

The Weeks Where Decades Happen

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“There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen,” attributed to Vladimir Lenin

Since the regime in Washington’s barbaric assaults on Nigeria and Venezuela, Trump has been threatening Iran, Cuba, Mexico and Columbia. He has also ramped up imperialistic rhetoric regarding Greenland. And if you think Canada is immune to this Hitlerian posturing, think again.

The US is being led by the most openly fascist and criminally insane regime in its history. And that is saying a lot, since virtually every US presidential administration, Republican and Democrat alike, has committed horrendous war crimes and crimes against humanity. This includes the previous one which greenlighted and fueled the current genocide in Gaza.

But the current arrangement of power has not only continued and expanded upon these crimes, it is thoroughly disconnected from reality. It is a death cult. And its cult leader is like a trapped animal. A malignant narcissist whose crimes against children, rampant greed and corruption, and a life built upon lies are finally collapsing in on him. And that makes him even more dangerous and destructive than ever before.

The next few weeks may be the most harrowing ones in the 21st century. What the Trump regime does in this time could lead to an unimaginable catastrophe. Regardless of how histrionic this might sound, the choices made by this regime could decide the course of history for generations to come, perhaps even the fate of organized human life on earth.

The wars to come will solely be resource wars and they will echo imperialist wars of the past. As the American Empire struggles to maintain its waning soft hegemony, it will attempt to grab every single resource in its “sphere of influence” by force. And that latter term is important, because it is the contemporary parlance of empire in the 21st century.

If anyone thinks this sounds hysterical after everything that has happened thus far, their head is buried in sand far deeper than any ostrich could ever hope to plumb.

The attached photo is a post from Stephen Miller’s wife, Katie Miller.

Kenn Maurice Orfanos, January 2026

Candace Owens, Ben Shapiro and the Disintegration of MAGA

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It is hard not to notice the civil war unfolding within MAGA world. Some say it began with the murder of the notorious far-right bigot, Charlie Kirk. Others say it began long before this. But one thing is undeniable. The war is reaching epic proportions now.

On one side are the establishment hacks. The ones who have used their access to power in order to promote an ideology of authoritarianism. On the other are the monsters largely created by the establishment hacks. Those who use their skills with social media manipulation and grift to stoke old stereotypes and social hatreds. Neither are traditionally conservative. But both have captured the conservative mind.

This has reached its most visible example in the battle between social media grifters, Ben Shapiro and Candace Owens. Shapiro, who is Jewish, is known for his vile dehumanization of transgender people, Muslims and immigrants. Owens, who is Black, also participated in these bigotries. But since the murder of Kirk, she has taken it a step further in peddling odious antisemitic conspiracy theories and demonization.

Ben Shapiro has always supported the ethnostate of Israel. He has rationalized its apartheid, championed its most brutal policies and whitewashed its genocide of the Palestinians. Anyone who opposes Israel or Zionism is cast as antisemitic by the far right ideologue. But Owens, who was fired by Shapiro from the far right outlet The Daily Wire, has not only come out against Israel, she has used her platform with millions of followers to attack Jews as a whole, regurgitating ahistorical and debunked myths.

Whether it is the supposed notion that Jews were responsible for the Atlantic Slave Trade or that they believe all non-Jews are inferior to them, the story is an old one which has its roots in the antisemitic Protocols of Zion. This was a collection of fabricated conversations supposedly between Jewish elders in Russia. One which characterizes Jews as the cunning creators of a secret cabal whose aim was global domination.

The Protocols of Zion is not just an innocuous fiction. It was used by the Nazis and contributed to the persecution of Jewish communities in Germany and throughout Europe and to the Holocaust which claimed millions of Jewish lives and millions of other marginalized groups, including Roma, communists and queer people.

It may be mildly entertaining to watch this mostly online war between two grifters on the far right. But there is far more at stake. Both figures have captured a huge following in their own right. Shapiro’s camp is not only okay with US support for Israel as it commits genocide, it is cheering it on. They revel in the demonization of Palestinians and their supporters, including anti-Zionist Jews, tarring all as antisemitic for opposing the political ideology of Zionism and the apartheid and genocide it has fostered.

Owen’s may speak about genocide being wrong in any instance, but she has no real solidarity with the Palestinian people. Her new found hatred of Israel is not rooted in a principled approach to equality or collective liberation either. It comes from a deep hatred of Jews as a people and a pernicious delusion about them being some menacing, all powerful monolith.

Both Shapiro and Owens represent the darkest underbelly of far right politics in the United States. A toxic brew of white grievance and paranoid social hatred. That Owens is Black does not take away from this reality. In fact, she is the perfect token for peddling it to a population that has been conditioned to feel like they are under attack. They easily jettison facts for fantasy. Her irrational and incongruent conspiracy theories, whether it be that the moon landing was fake or that Brigitte Macron is actually a man, play to an audience which has been largely denuded of critical thinking skills.

Shapiro, who now has the devotion of professional widow Erika Kirk, is using his platform to whip Christian Zionists into a frenzy. Their support of Israel and his do not come from the same place. Evangelicals are not so concerned about Jews as they are in the fulfillment of an unhinged, eschatological opera. But both go hand in hand with American Empire and its goals.

And Shapiro helped create the culture of moral decay we see amongst US conservatives. One that easily dehumanizes and scapegoats minorities and champions the most sadistic policies of the Trump regime. They may all have different motivations, but the result is the same fascist dystopia.

Ben Shapiro and Candace Owens are visual aid to where MAGA was always destined. The deceitful and hateful rhetoric routinely employed by Donald Trump has fed into a miasma of confusion and paranoia. His disdain for intellectual discourse, informed dissent and moral curiosity created a cesspit of vicious hatefulness that has fostered racism, misogyny, transphobia, antisemitism and Islamophobia. It is a poisonous brew that led to the rise of some of the most odious figures of this century, which include Shapiro and Owens.

Perhaps this civil war signals the end of MAGA as a movement. But it is best understood as a death cult. And cults rarely, if ever, dissipate peacefully. It remains to be seen whether this one will fade quickly, or cast a long, dark shadow on the American psyche for generations to come.

Kenn Orfanos, December 2025

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

Trump is a Liar, but he is the Embodiment of the Ruling Class

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While speaking before the brutal King of Saudi Arabia, US president Trump said:

“But we also wanna thank all the people living in Gaza, the residents of Gaza. They, as you know, have begun to move back to their homes. A lot more safety, they say, than they ever had before.”

Gaza has been reduced to rubble from 2+ years of Israeli carpet bombing and demolition. Most of it is uninhabitable. A mass grave with thousands of bodies still under the ruins of their homes. Most are living in tents now, and much of Gaza has faced flooding. And the genocide hasn’t stopped. Israel is still carrying out bombings and mass starvation, with assistance from the US and other Western allies, despite the so-called ceasefire.

But Trump’s lies are always grandiose and fatuous. Designed to overwhelm norms of decency in human interactions. And to undermine the importance of truth telling for social cohesion. This is classic narcissist behaviour, and it is eroding the bonds that keep a society together and functional.

The lies he has told about his relationship to Jeffrey Epstein are an example of this pathology. To the narcissist, it doesn’t matter if lies are exposed. All that matters is if he or she can weave another web of dishonesty and distraction in time to escape the consequences of the previous ones.

This kind of mendacity is staggering to most people because it flies in the face of everything we understand to be normal in human interactions. But the narcissist doesn’t live in this world. They live in a universe where manipulation, grift and deception are legitimate tools for increasing their social control, wealth accumulation and power. Attention, whether negative or positive, is paramount.

Modern American society was fueled by the lies of such narcissists and their sycophants. Primarily by white men who constructed and curated a Machiavellian playbook for obtaining and maintaining power and wealth. They successfully convinced a huge swath of the population that wealth accumulation, hoarding and ostentatious displays are virtuous. This is a class that enjoys extraordinary impunity for their crimes. Few of them ever see a jail cell for such things as theft of wages, labour abuses, sexual exploitation, discrimination or environmental destruction.

Trump is the most glaring example of this. He became president despite a litany of crimes, from fraud to rape. He has enriched himself by peddling valueless coins and pandering to anyone who will give him a lavish gift or shiny award. He is not an aberration. Although he is crass, unsophisticated and vulgar, he is also the grotesque embodiment of the ruling elite in America stripped of all of its pretension.

And he will likely avoid any meaningful consequences for this current scandal. Do not be surprised if names are redacted and swaths of documents are censored because of “national security.” Pam Bondi and her legal team are probably burning the midnight oil to come up with any excuse available to them.

It would be naive and foolish to think that US will do the right thing in regard to the Epstein scandal. The arrangement of power that exists today, and that includes both sides of the political aisle, is incapable of tackling the malfeasance within its own ranks. As I have said before, a nation that has funded and assisted a genocide for two years, the very worst crime against humanity, can easily ignore or whitewash crimes against the most vulnerable among us. Especially when those crimes were mostly committed by wealthy white men.

So, what do we do? Aside from feeling a natural sense of despair, there are some things we can do that are vitally important as human beings. We can and should bear witness. To speak boldly. Speak out against horrendous crimes like genocide. To not buy into the pervasive lie that wealth equates virtue or superiority. To reject any conspiracy theory or idea that demonize, scapegoat or punch down on the marginalized or most vulnerable in society, whether they be immigrants, the transgender community or the unhoused. To support political leaders who espouse our values, without being naive as to their limitations, flaws and the deep rot of the system. Be persuaded by good policies, not charismatic personalities. But, most importantly, to connect with one another in community and learn how to address our own needs by building mutual aid and networks of cooperation.

No one is coming to save us, least of all the wealthy and powerful who run the show. We are the ones we have been waiting for.

Kenn Orfanos, November 2025

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

Trump’s Great Gatsby Redux is a Portent

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To say we live in an age of absurdity would be an understatement. But absurdity often accompanies sadism. Case in point: Trump throwing a “Great Gatsby” themed gala on the eve of 40+ million Americans losing their access to food. This is “Let them eat cake” on steroids.

To be sure, Trump has likely never read a book through cover to cover, with the possible exception of Mein Kampf translated into English and his own “The Art of the Deal.” So, the irony of holding a Great Gatsby themed party while millions of his citizens struggle or languish in near intolerable conditions will always be lost on him.

Gatsby, the main character, was a conman who was obsessed with the aristocracy. His nouveau riche credentials didn’t get him the status he craved in their circles, but he threw lavish parties in a mansion he built to display his ostentatious wealth to anyone he could dazzle.

That Trump cannot see such glaring irony is staggering, but not surprising. While he is a narcissist, he is also a proud illiterate and affirmed ignoramus. His dearth of curiosity is legendary. He is only attracted to glitter, gold and gilded mirrors. And he delights in the praise of the vapid courtiers who surround him.

As the nation teeters on economic ruin, Trump has ensconced himself in the illusion of prestige. He lacks the capacity for insight and grows ever more delusional by the day. This does not make him any less dangerous. On the contrary, as he grows even more unhinged by the day he becomes more erratic and paranoid. This is the real reason for the golden ballroom and the renovated bunker that will be rebuilt below.

Narcissism is a poison to its bearer. It promises satisfaction, but only guarantees loneliness and longing. It creates hungry ghosts, never able to sate the empty void within. Trump has cultivated his own narcissism for a lifetime. But no one can avoid the humbling veil of mortality.

Gatsby’s ignominious fate was met while he was floating in his pool. Trump appears to be aimlessly floating for disaster as well. The only problem is that he is taking the entire nation with him.

Kenn Orfanos, November 2025

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