Have you ever noticed that they all fall back on the same two ad hominems every time? There’s a reason for that.

I’ve written before that ad hominem is a stupid fallacy, because sometimes it really is the best argument. But in many cases, like here and like most grievance politics, it’s not the best--just the only one they have left.

Rogan’s rant began after a rare moment of clarity from Steve-O, and while it started with bathroom bans, it soon veered wildly into school shootings. You see, he argued, trans women are (mostly--gotta throw in the “mostly” to seem reasonable) autogynephiliacs and murderers. Sure maybe *some* aren't, but 99% of them are.

Those two claims crop up constantly in the anti-trans crusade. They’re demonstrably false and absolutely stupid (*that’s* a valid ad hominem): autogynephilia isn’t even widely accepted as a real disorder by psychologists, and if you ask the right or the TERFs to name five trans school shooters off the top of their head, they won’t be able to. Like DPS and ICE, they apply the label instantly every single time there’s a shooting, before any investigation. And even once it’s been disproven, they repeat it ad nauseum until people *believe* it’s true. Doesn’t matter that the scaremonger knows it isn't.

It’s a similar cycle for bathroom bans. In every single state and every single city that's instituted them, it’s been found that, not only do they fail to protect anyone, but in fact they actually make harassment *much worse* than it would’ve been otherwise. Every single time, cis women who don’t look feminine enough are “accused” of being trans by fanatical witchhunters. Meanwhile, trans women are harassed and assaulted by men in men’s restrooms. It’s a clear and obvious pattern.

But rather than face that reality and be forced to critically reexamine their preconceiveds, the right and the TERFs find themselves casting about desperately for an argument to prop up their crumbling house--one they don’t have to prove (since they can’t), and one that will still sound scary enough to win them support. They find a buzzword, they find a conspiracy, and they cling to it.

It happens in every theater on the right. If it’s not trans women with “autogynephilia” than it’s “criminal illegals.” If it’s not “false flag gun attacks” than it’s “election fraud.” If it’s not “woke politicians” than it's “climate hysteria.” You can unravel any one of these claims with about two seconds’ thought, but that’s not what’s important.

It’s the fear that matters. It’s the anger. That’s what the far right thrives on, and that’s how they squeeze their deluded policies through the halls of power. Once they do that, they’ve won. It doesn’t matter how it happened. In fact, if the TERFs weren’t hurting so many people, I’d feel bad them. They’re going to find out (if they haven’t already) that the moment the far right gets what it wants, the lions really will eat their faces.