I wasn't trying to make the case for deontology, no - just trying to clear up the worst of the misapprehensions about it. Which is that it's not just consequentialism in Kantian clothing, it's a whole other thing that you can't properly understand without getting rid of some consequentialist baggage.

There does not have to be a causal linkage between one's individual actions and those of the rest of the world. (Note: my ethics don't include a counterfactual component, so I'm representing a generalized picture of others' views here.) It's simply not about what your actions will cause! A counterfactual telling you that your action is un-universalizeable can be informative to a deontic evaluation of an act even if you perform the act in complete secrecy. It can be informative even if the world is about to end and your act will have no consequences at all beyond being the act it is. It can be informative even if you'd never have dreamed of performing the act were it a common act type (in fact, especially then!). The counterfactual is a place to stop. It is, if justificatory at all, inherently justificatory.