Losing My Perspicacity, January 8, 2026

(This newsletter is coming out a few hours early tonight, rather than Thursday morning.)

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming

We're finally on our own

This summer, I hear the drumming

Four dead in Ohio

Gotta get down to it, soldiers are cutting us down

Should have been gone long ago

What if you knew her and found her dead on the ground

How can you run when you know?

Those are the words Neil Young wrote (in an hour, no less) on May 4, 1970, after seeing four students taking part in an anti-war protest at Kent State shot down by National Guard troops. It was the song that was playing on repeat in my head yesterday as I watched what unfolded in Minneapolis, a city near and dear to my heart. The song practically updates itself for our times:

Tin soldiers and Trump are coming

We’re finally on our own

This year, I heard the drumming

More dead and Bovino

By now, I assume we’ve all seen the video of the murder of 37-year old Minneapolis mother and poet Renne Nicole Good, who was shot and killed by ICE agents while in her van today. Good leaves behind a six-year old son, whose father died in 2023, and a partner in the Twin Cities.

You can watch the video as many times as you need to, but it’s clear to anyone with eyeballs that, despite Kristi Noem’s attempt to gaslight America, 1) Good was not attempting to “ram” ICE agents; 2) the agent in question put himself in front of Good’s car and only shot once she moved past him — into the driver’s side window; and 3) the shooter was not injured in any serious way.

This is the agent Noem claimed “had been treated at a local hospital” and was “with his family,” before asking Americans to pray for him.

He doesn’t look all that injured to me, but hey, it helps with the bullshit narrative, right? By the way, if you’re wondering about the hand gesture, that’s the same stupid thing CBP’s Greg Bovino does to mean “let’s roll out.” Like I keep saying, these are a bunch of poorly trained, not very bright men cosplaying soldiers.

Make no mistake, the claim by DHS and Noem that the agent fired “defensive” shots to save his life and those of his colleagues is gaslighting of the highest order. We’re really at a “who do you believe, me or your lying eyes?” moment. That the federal government of the United States is willing to look the American people in the eye and make sure an obviously false claim should insult every single one of us. Then again, these are the same people who love to scream about “justice” for Ashli Babbitt.

At the end of the day, the value of your life to the President of the United States and his party depends on which side of the political aisle you identify with. If you’re a MAGA stan (or a fetus), your life is invaluable to Trump and his cronies. Everyone else’s lives, from Venezuelans to immigrants to the trans community to Democrats, mean nothing. ICE could open fire on 30 grandmothers in a knitting circle, and they’d find a way to say it was justified.

Governor Tim Walz said he’s issued a “warning” order to the National Guard, preparing them for a possible deployment to protect protestors from federal law enforcement. And he reminded Donald Trump who the Minnesota National Guard answers to.

This is not the first time ICE/CBP has used the “the car tried to ram us!” excuse for harming civilians. In the Brighton Park community in Chicago, ICE and CBP claimed that Marimar Martinez used her car to “ram” federal agents as part of an effort to monitor and protest Operation Midway Blitz in October. Martinez was shot seven times, but the case against Martinez was later dismissed when it came to light that the shooter bragged about the incident to fellow officers.

In the memorandum opinion that accompanied her preliminary injunction against ICE and CBP, federal Judge Sara Ellis had this to say about the credibility of ICE and CBP officers in the Martinez incident.

In September, ICE killed Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez, after making very similar claims to those in both the shootings of Martinez and Good.

Villegas-Gonzalez was a 38-year-old father of two who worked as a cook.

Interestingly enough, this is a tactic that CBP was criticized for all the way back in 2014.

I’m not going to suggest you watch the video again, because self-care is part of surviving this wretched administration; however, you can see that, while one ICE agent gestures to Good to move ahead, the agent who shot her jumped in front of the hood of her car. This squares with witnesses, who reported that Good was given conflicting instructions by ICE agents.

Despite what you may see on social media, both Gov. Walz and Mayor Frey stated clearly that Minneapolis has not handed over the investigation to the FBI. Rather, various Minnesota state agencies, including the Minnesota Department of Public Safety and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, are conducting an investigation parallel to federal agencies. Remember, Minnesota has done this before. The state charged Derek Chauvin and three other officers with the murder of George Floyd long before they were charged with federal crimes.

In an age where extra-judicial killings and summary executions by law enforcement take place on the street (or in the Caribbean) on a daily basis, it’s paramount to remember that nothing Good did on video constitutes a crime. And even if it did, the penalty for disobeying law enforcement is not death. The penalty for running from the cops is not death. The penalty for resisting arrest is not death. The penalty for ramming ICE with your car is not death. Conservatives love to say, “Obey law enforcement, and you won’t get shot.” Renne Nicole Good didn’t even get a chance to obey.

In some good news, Congresswoman Robin Kelly (D-IL) announced tonight that she’s introducing articles of impeachment against Kristi Noem. Thank God someone in Congress finally found a spine.

If you are feeling as helpless as I am, one thing you can do right this second is call your congressional reps and demand they support Rep. Kelly in whatever way necessary.

Some days, there is nothing to do but sit in the sadness and wallow in how broken our country is. God knows I don’t have any words of wisdom or even advice. My worldview boils down to “we are all here to save each other” — I don’t know what other reason there is for our existence. Tonight, thousands of people took to the streets in Minneapolis, one of the truly great American cities that has seen more than its share of tragedy over the last several years, to show up for Renee Nicole Good. If we hold on to one thing, let it be that. We have to show up for each other; no one else is coming to save us. It’s on us to save each other.

The High Note

Each Day, I do my best to leave you with a smile on your face, a song in your heart, and the will to fight another day.

This song has been a rallying cry for my soul since I was 14, frantically writing letters for Amnesty International. I hope it brings you some peace today.

Hey, survive and advance out there today, kids. Don’t let the bastards get you down.

Follow Julie on Bluesky and Instagram so she can get another book contract.