West Coast Stat Views (on Observational Epidemiology and more): Deferred Thursday Tweets -- TBH, I have trouble arguing against "unvaccinated sperm is the next Bitcoin"

I know this isn't new information, but take a minute and let the following sink in:

1. While many in the mainstream press (particularly the NYT) have been visibly pleased at the thought of Ron DeSantis taking the nomination from Trump, the one issues that genuinely divides the two men is the former president's role in developing (and continued desire to take credit for) covid vaccines. DeSantis has also tacked to the right by being even more trans and homophobic than Trump, but it is with the anti-vaxxers that he has truly set himself apart;

2. Though it's difficult to define our terms exactly, a large part, possibly a majority, of the GOP are to some degree anti-vaxxers. Many, particularly in the MAGA base, also believe that the covid vaccines is a leading cause of death among the otherwise healthy. There is also a widespread belief that one can literally catch the vaccine and suffer serious effects (including death) by coming into contact with the vaccinated.

3. By the standards of today's Republican Party, none of this qualifies as fringe. You can find these beliefs alluded to and sometimes openly espoused by members of congress, scholars at think tanks, public health officials, powerful journalists, and influencers with massive followings.

Should be an interesting Republican primary. pic.twitter.com/ACiXuPeZ06
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) January 19, 2023

If you want to know how far anti-vaxxers have pushed into the GOP mainstream, this is the head of the Heritage Foundation: pic.twitter.com/kZ1dsjpc4d
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) January 27, 2023

The entire online conservative moment is up in arms over "parents" who decided to LET THEIR CHILD DIE rather then undergo a simple procedure.

The child wasn't even required to get vaccinated! It was because the blood transfusion MIGHT involve some vaccinated blood!!! pic.twitter.com/brXVRfcqBj
— Lucas 🧡🧦 (@PunishedLink) December 11, 2022

The demand to remain "pure" reaches beyond blood to social media posts soliciting sperm from unvaccinated men - conspiracy theorists speculate online that the precious commodity will be the "next Bitcoin" - as well as breast milk from unvaccinated mothers.https://t.co/QyPJgEvagO
— Anuj Chopra (@AnujChopra) January 25, 2023

So now after railing against the vaccine every day for almost 3 years, Silk is suggesting Diamond died from the vaccine. When exactly did she supposedly take something that she was screaming to her audience was a bio weapon from globalists? pic.twitter.com/LceIzmk5J5
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) January 22, 2023

Going back and watching it again, Silk is clearly going with the “shedding” conspiracy. She is saying that Diamond was “poisoned” by coming into contact with vaccinated people, with Donald Trump sitting right next to her. pic.twitter.com/gNwroPQSJ9
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) January 22, 2023

Antivaxxers are convinced Damar Hamlin is being hidden away by Pfizer, and most believe recent public appearances by him are actually a body double.

They're demanding he personally reassure them with a video that he's not being played by an actor.

I'm serious, by the way. pic.twitter.com/QnNxgzPGjw
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) January 25, 2023

This was always the main concern with deep fakes — not so much that a bunch of fake videos would be widely believed and passed off as real, but that the existence of the technology would allow people to cast doubt on the legitimacy of *real* videos.
— Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D (@RVAwonk) January 29, 2023

It's bad enough that Massie does this just to rile up the base, but that he is educated and intelligent enough to do do it knowing full well that his implication is wrong -and that his target audience won't know the difference.
No one has less respect for GOP voters than the GOP. https://t.co/qPMJJvlolw
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 28, 2023

And the funniest exchange.

Though it is easy to have a laugh at the crazies, this remains a frightening story, not only because of the damage these people can do, but because, while there are notable exceptions, I honestly don't believe that sane people have come to terms with this level of craziness and its implications. (For my thoughts on this, you might start with our feral disinformation posts.)

Now on with the tweets.

Margaret Sullivan says in the coverage of the Biden classified documents, she detected "a certain gleefulness on the part of the mainstream media that finally there was something they could jump on, to create some equivalence" between Biden and Trump https://t.co/cIs1ji0ugQ
— CJR (@CJR) January 18, 2023

No analyst came out of 2022 looking better than Tom Bonier

This is an incredibly thorough retelling of how skewed red wave polls may have cost Dems the House and an extra seat in the Senate, by creating a hostile message environment and diverting resources to the wrong places. https://t.co/oyUleADsjx
— Tom Bonier (@tbonier) December 31, 2022

Finally, ⁦@SimonWDC⁩ and ⁦@tbonier⁩ get proper credit for being the only top Democratic strategists who got it right in 2022. The smartest thing I did all year was listen to them and publish their accurate takes on https://t.co/ucYw5JFE9H
https://t.co/qO1XAN4z2q
— Jonathan Alter (@jonathanalter) December 31, 2022

West Coast Stat Views (on Observational Epidemiology and more)

Monday, January 30, 2023

Deferred Thursday Tweets -- TBH, I have trouble arguing against "unvaccinated sperm is the next Bitcoin"

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