Numbers and Perception

From TPM Reader MM

When J&J-vaccine-related blood clots first were suspected/observed in Europe, I wrote to you about the statistical insignificance of the number of observed cases, about how and why scientists tended not to make good politicians, and about the obvious need to monitor the evolving situation closely. Not long after, I wrote again to applaud the EU leadership for having listened to their “scientists and technocrats”, who presumably told them more or less the same thing in much more detail. No doubt you’ve followed developments since then more closely than I have, despite the virtual tsunami of other, more purely-political news inviting or demanding your analysis and commentary.

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Worried About 2022, Democrats Are Looking Backwards. Here’s What They Found

Democratically-aligned groups are doing autopsies on what went wrong in 2020 — or, perhaps more accurately, what didn’t go right enough — as they face the looming 2022 election cycle.

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Feds Share Surveillance Still They Say Shows Oath Keeper Retrieving Stashed Weapons

Prosecutors on Monday revealed what they said was a suspected effort by Oath Keepers to stash weapons in Virginia ahead of the Jan. 6 attack on Congress. 

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GOP Senators Take Their Performative Feud With The MLB To A New, Legislative Level

Batter up!

Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Lee (R-UT) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) are taking another swing at Major League Baseball for its decision to move its All-Star game out of Georgia in response to the state’s restrictive voting law. Continue reading “GOP Senators Take Their Performative Feud With The MLB To A New, Legislative Level”

Nikki Haley’s About Face: I ‘Would Not Run’ If Trump Launches 2024 Prez Bid

Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley signaled on Monday that she would back former President Donald Trump, if he decides to run for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination again in 2024.

The remark is a flip-flop. Earlier this year Haley said Trump had “fallen so far” that she couldn’t imagine him in the political picture going forward.

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WH COVID Response Coordinator: J&J Pause Won’t Have ‘Significant Impact’ On Vaccine Rollout

White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said on Tuesday that federal health agencies’ recommendation to pause Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine would not cause a major disruption to the Biden administration’s vaccine rollout program.

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Trump Claims He Did Not Reject A Meeting With Gaetz

Former President Trump issued a defensive statement late Monday denying CNN’s report that he recently rejected Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-FL) request to meet with him at Mar-a-Lago amid the Florida congressman’s blossoming scandal.  Continue reading “Trump Claims He Did Not Reject A Meeting With Gaetz”

Biden Admin Moves To Restore Obama-Era Housing Discrimination Rules That Trump Trashed

Housing Secretary Marcia Fudge on Tuesday moved to restore fair housing rules that were strengthened during the Obama administration only to be later gutted by President Donald Trump.

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Did the FDA/CDC Make the Right Call?

There is a huge amount of criticism of the CDC and FDA bubbling up on social media about the decision to pause administration of the J&J Janssen vaccine. As I noted earlier, based on these preliminary and unconfirmed rates of risk it is virtually certain that discontinuing use of this vaccine would lead to many more deaths from COVID than any saved from the rare clotting disorder. But before you think the regulators are idiots who are down a rabbit hole of untethered risk aversion, a few points are worth mentioning.

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