An Example of Othering
In case the fascism of it all isn't obvious.
Unfortunately, I noticed this on Twitter. It is from right-wing commentator Matt Walsh, whose Twitter bio describes him as a “Theocratic fascist.” I suspect he thinks he is being ironic because people call him that. Although to me it is just truth in advertising.
Regardless, over time, I have noted that fascism requires the “othering” of our fellow humans. It is a way of justifying their abuse, if not their murder, and a way to make fascists feel superior to those they demean.
Here’s Walsh on Renee Good.
So, we have here the need to attack her sexuality and link her to immigrants, and so encapsulates homophobia, xenophobia, and racism in one tweet. And as a sweetener, there is the description of her as an “agitator,” which is what authoritarians often describe anyone who protests in an attempt to delegitimize push-back against the regime.
On one level, this is just some minor bloviation from a professional bloviator. On another, he is someone with a large audience, including four million Twitter followers. This bilge is flowing through a substantial subset of our society.
BTW, here is Jesse Watters doing something similar. He calls out her sexuality and calls her a “disruptor.”
********************@
Then they came for the lesbian agitators.
This slow death of our society – my country – has me so despondent. I find myself wondering if this is what it felt like to be one of the proverbial “good Germans” during the rise of Nazism. This taking sides on a summary execution has me feeling more hopeless and helpless than I have felt in my lifetime. How does one stand up against such wide spread indecency and evil?
I am not a violent person, but this cisgender white male Boomer wants so badly to find Matt Walsh someplace alone so I could “agitate” him good and hard.
Some Americans love racism and nativism. Others respect racism and nativism, and want to meet them halfway at all costs. Both sides have self-destructed in the last year. Nothing they say in public rises above AI slop.
Regardless, I can easily see ICE showing up in 2028 at voting stations to drag people away (because 2026 will be as fake as the officer wounded by the domestic traffic is true). Some people will be cheering it on, and others will be like this is what you get for not respecting racism enough, and I have no idea how to stop this from happening. The country seems to be spiraling into a place where the dumbest and most evil 35% can hold onto power at any costs.
Ah, Matt Walsh, who keeps answering his own question of “Am I a racist?”.
A lot of ICE defenders say that there’s a certain video from the correct angle that shows the officer was under severe threat.. anyone seen what video they’re referring to? Have they just sped up an existing video to make it seem more dangerous?
@Assad K: That video is in the same place as the video showing Michelle Obama using the word “whitey” in a speech.
Everyone knows that.
@Assad K: A
There is no video where the officer was under severe threat because he simply wasn’t. IF such a video existed Trump would of rewhatevered it already and all the good little right wingers would be blasting it everywhere. Doesn’t mean they won’t AI or edit one into existence that kind of looks like the shooter was under threat.
It’s copium for the Ice defenders.
@Matt: I think it’s worth cautioning that we haven’t seen any body cam footage, and events often look different from the perspective of the persons involved.
I doubt that it would show anything that exonerates the officer, given the views that we have seen.
If anything, the lack of body cam footage seems incriminating.
Matt Walsh, professional bigot, wrote:
I know that this is very, very low in long list of offenses, but all available evidence is that Good was bisexual rather than a lesbian. Bi-erasure is real.
Representation matters, and I would like all the young bisexual kids out there to know that they too can be agitators. (Or just drop their kids off at school)
@Assad K: Clearly, in their world, if you’re in front of a vehicle and it starts moving a bit, it’s totally fine to pull your weapon and kill the driver. Just in case.
@Matt:
Sadly, it has proven unnecessary for the Trump administration create false evidence. They are getting away with simply asserting their own reality while the MAGAts eat it all up. Daniel Moynihan’s truism, “You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts” hasn’t been valid since Trump came down the escalator.
@reid: Yeah, this.
There’s going to be endless parsing of “life in danger” and “moving vehicle” and “clear and present threat”. That’s the legal system.
The thing is, though, this clearly served no LE purpose. There were dozens of other pathways through that encounter, which didn’t result in anybody getting hurt.
Ross was engaged in “heightening contradictions”. He was escalating when he should be deesclating. Why else would he stand in front of the car? Because he decided he didn’t like her and he could and it might result in a situation where he could shoot someone. Dude is a psychopath, and in a sane world, he would be fired immediately, regardless of any legal determination of guilt or innocence.
Needless to say, I don’t think there’s any video that would show Ross was justified but I was curious about what the defenders were referring to and what trickery had been used on it.
There is body cam footage that Tim Miller reviews at the Bulwark. The best case I can make for Ross out of that is that it got hectic for the last second. But Good was the very opposite of threatening.
@Joe: it’s a subtle distinction, but I think what you’re referring to is the recording he made on his phone. The fact that it was in his hand helps explain shaking.
It’s sad how many social media posts I’ve seen that are variations on “he feared for his life” or “just do what you’re told”. Screw these people and their excuses.
I’ve also been waiting in a waiting room for three hours and am extra cranky.
My god, the guy was on his phone watching what was happening, and they’re releasing that as if it exonerates him. Sure, you can see her turning the wheel right but he was too busy filming to notice anything until the car went by and then he started shooting. Case closed–excellent police work.
@Gustopher: A totally fair edit.
It also occurs to me that bringing up her sexuality is a means to dilute her whiteness because it means she isn’t sufficiently pure.
It is all awful.
A human life is a helluva price to pay an economy creating 50,000 jobs a month.
@Gustopher:
A minor point, to be sure, but if you’re a Somali with an I.Q.of 68, do you have the brains to design a successful scam?
As far back as the killings of Trayvon Martin and Tamir Rice, American right-wingers had perfected the strategy of painting the victims of right-wing violence as such terrible people their killers deserved a medal. We saw it on full display during the investigation into the Rittenhouse grub; the MAGA jackals made out the two men he killed were subhumans whom any decent person should be glad to see eliminated.
They are doing it again with Renee Good:
Renee Nicole Good’s 6-year-old son attends ‘social justice’ school that teaches about George Floyd, warned staffers to report ICE
https://nypost.com/2026/01/09/us-news/renee-goods-kindergarten-son-attends-social-justice-school-that-teaches-about-george-floyd-warned-staffers-to-report-ice/
And as if that wasn’t bad enough:
Anti-ICE ‘warrior’ Renee Nicole Good was there to join protest when she was shot, wife says as she breaks silence
https://nypost.com/2026/01/09/us-news/anti-ice-warrior-renee-nicole-good-was-there-to-join-protest-when-she-shot/
Anti-ICE WARRIOR!