"Truth crushed to the ground will rise again."

April 11, 2023

          The Nashville City Council voted to re-appoint Justin Jones to the Tennessee legislature after Republicans expelled Jones and Justin Pearson for demonstrating in the well of the assembly. The victory is a small but significant sign that MAGA extremism has crested because of its self-limiting flaw: A political philosophy based on hate, exclusion, and vilification of "others" will drive away people of goodwill who seek to live in peace, security, and safety—the vast majority of Americans. Although we cannot relent in our resistance to MAGA extremism, we can take hope from the fact that the disease is following the natural course of all infections. It is diminishing, slowly and incrementally, but diminishing, nonetheless.  

          Although Tennessee Republicans could have refused to seat Justin Jones when he walked triumphantly into the Tennessee assembly on Monday afternoon, they dared not compound their earlier mistake. They were chastened and defeated, embarrassed (silently) that their condescension and hateful words lecturing two Black leaders were seen across the world. Legislators who were recognizable only in small parts of Tennessee before last week are now recognized by hundreds of millions across the globe as the face of the old South—and the ugliness it stands for. Justin Jones was triumphant. The people were triumphant. Democracy was triumphant.

          We should savor the joy of Jones's victory, but we cannot deceive ourselves about the path ahead. Tennessee Republicans have learned a lesson—they cannot be explicit in exercising racial animus to achieve anti-democratic means. They will return to the shadows of backrooms and private clubs, but it is too late. They have been exposed, and the eyes of the world are upon them.

          When Justin Jones returned to the Tennessee assembly floor, he delivered an uplifting speech in which he thanked Republicans in the chamber for reminding his generation of fundamental truths:

I want to thank you all for awakening the people of this state . . . particularly the young people. For reminding us that truth crushed to the ground will rise again. That what you intend for evil can be used for good. That the abuse of this body will not happen in the comfort of silence. That the struggle for justice is fought and won in every generation.

          A national leader has emerged from a failed attack on democracy in Tennessee. Jones's speech upon his re-admittance to the assembly is here (Justin Jones 4/10/23 speech starting at the 45 second mark). Jones's speech is well worth watching in its entirety and will bolster your confidence about the future of our democracy—if it is in the hands of young leaders like Justin Jones.

Tampa Bay Times publishes a damning report saying that Florida omitted important data from report on the risk of myocarditis.

          What I am about to relate is an important story that deserves far more attention than it is getting in the popular press. The story requires moderate attention to detail—which I hope you will give it. In the end, it shows that Ron DeSantis issued reckless advice to young men to avoid taking the mRNA vaccine because of an alleged heightened risk of a heart infection (myocarditis). It turns out that the report issued by DeSantis's hand-picked Surgeon General failed to include data and findings that flatly contradicted the guidance issued by DeSantis. Now that the report has been discredited, DeSantis has done nothing to reverse his prior erroneous guidance.

          DeSantis appointed Joseph Ladapo as Florida Surgeon General. It was a curious choice during a pandemic because Ladapo was an anti-masker who wouldn't say in his confirmation hearings if he had received a Covid vaccine. Months after his confirmation, Ladapo produced a non-peer-reviewed report that listed no authors that came to the startling conclusion that the mRNA vaccine caused a significant increase in the risk of myocarditis in young men. DeSantis brandished the report as vindication for his evolving anti-vaccine stance and urged young men not to get vaccinated.

          The report was widely criticized at the time it was published because it did not provide critical information about the details of the study. In the absence of those details, it was impossible for other scientists to evaluate the validity of the report's conclusions. Although it took a while, the Tampa Bay Times obtained the underlying information and drafts of the report before its final publication.

          In short, the Tampa Bay Times discovered that the report omitted significant data that completely contradicted the finding of the study as represented by Ladapo. See Tampa Bay Times, Florida health officials removed key data from COVID vaccine report.

          The Tampa Bay Times described the significance of the omitted data as follows:

[T]he data on the risk of infection omitted from the published report shows that catching COVID presents a far greater risk for that same age group.

For Floridians ages 18 to 24, the incidence of cardiac-related deaths from infection was more than ten times higher than from the vaccine and more than five times higher for ages 25 to 39. That data was not broken down by sex.

The state epidemiologists who worked on the report also arrived at a different conclusion than Ladapo, the drafts suggest.

"The risk associated with COVID-19 infection clearly outweighs any potential risks associated with mRNA vaccination," one version states.

"The small risk associated with mRNA vaccination should be balanced against the much larger risk associated with COVID-19 infection," another version says.

          If the information in the Tampa Bay Times is correct, it suggests potential scientific fraud that would alarm any normal governor who urged his constituents not be vaccinated against a deadly disease. But DeSantis hasn't addressed the issue and won't unless he is pressed by reporters. If it is true that Florida purposefully omitted critical information that contradicted DeSantis's political narrative and medical guidance to Floridians, someone should be conducting a criminal investigation. Tell a friend.

The mass shooting in Louisville, Kentucky.         

          A mass killer assaulted and killed former co-workers in Louisville, Kentucky on Monday. Four employees were killed and eight were injured (including one Louisville police officer). See WaPo, Louisville bank shooting leaves 5 dead, 8 wounded. Like the recent shooting in Nashville, the state's governor was close friends with one of those killed in the shooting. Governor Andy Beshear held back tears as he described the death of a life-long mentor and confidant. In Tennessee, Governor Bill Lee's wife was scheduled to have dinner with a teacher on the day she was killed in the Nashville mass shooting.

          There are more than 400 million firearms in America, and they are being freed of regulation at a rapid pace. Although I am not a statistician, it seems inevitable that more guns plus less regulation will result in more gun crime and more gun deaths. And, statistically, those gun deaths will touch the lives of political leaders who spend most of their time engaged in policy debates about gun policy. But losing a friend, mentor, confidant, or child is not about policy. It is personal.

          It seems incontestable that there is some level of death in a mass killing that would coalesce the competing parties to set aside their policy differences and act to protect Americans. Let's hope that we do not need to wait for an event so horrific that overwhelms the deaths of innocents we witness on a regular basis. Republican Governor Bill Lee and Democratic Governor Andy Beshear now share an uncommon bond: they have lost close friends in mass killings. Perhaps they can find a way to start a conversation around their shared grief.

Drug companies enter the debate on mifepristone.   

          The ruling of Judge Kacsmaryk repealing FDA approval of mifepristone was a legal first. A single judge overruled the scientific conclusions of the FDA regarding the safety and effectiveness of an FDA-approved drug. The record before Judge Kacsmaryk consisted of junk science peddled by religious zealots and provided no valid basis for second-guessing the FDA's conclusions. But Kacsmaryk didn't care; he just needed a record, no matter how sloppy or outlandish or falsified upon which to base his order banning mifepristone. He is betting that it will take years to unwind his ruling and cull through the scientific garbage on which it stands.

          The ability of the single federal judge to overrule the FDA's conclusions regarding the safety and efficacy of an approved drug grabbed the attention of the pharmaceutical manufacturers. They invest billions in research, development, and marketing, all predicated on the assumption that FDA approval will mark the end of the drug approval process—not mark the start a campaign of religiously motivated litigation before a captive judge in Texas.

More than 400 representatives of drug manufacturers have signed a letter protesting Judge Kacsmayrk’s decision. The remarkable letter is here: In support of FDA's authority to regulate drugs. It deserves to be read in full, although it says in part:

On Friday, April 7, a judge with no scientific training fundamentally undermined the bipartisan authority granted by Congress to the Food & Drug Administration to approve and regulate safe, effective medicines for all Americans.

If courts can overturn drug approvals without regard for science or evidence, or for the complexity required to fully vet the safety and efficacy of new drugs, any medicine is at risk for the same outcome as mifepristone.

          Kacsmaryk's ruling is equally atrocious on questions of law. On that front, I again recommend the analysis of Mark Joseph Stern in Slate, The Lawless Ruling Against the Abortion Pill Has Already Prompted a Constitutional Crisis. More on that topic in future editions of the newsletter.

Unanswered emails, unreviewed Comments.

          The good news is that I have turned the corner on my virus; the bad news is that I did so at the expense of not reading or responding to hundreds of Comments and emails I have received in the last 48 hours. If you wrote to me or posted a Comment that I ignored, please take no offense. I was following the orders of my Managing Editor, who has spent countless hours tending to me despite her own illness. If you wrote to me about something that needs a reply, can you please resend the email on Tuesday? Thanks for your understanding.

Concluding Thoughts.

          There are moments that you know you will remember all your life. Kennedy. Challenger. 9/11. January 6^th. Many of the events that stand out are tragedies, but not all: "We choose to go to the moon not because it's easy, but because it's hard." "I have a dream." "The Eagle has landed." "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down his wall!"

          I watched on live T.V. as Justin Jones was re-appointed to his seat in the Tennessee legislature, as he was sworn into office, and as he marched back to the legislature that had expelled him only four days earlier. And then he stood to give an impromptu speech that rivaled or surpassed every previous speech delivered in the Tennessee legislature in its century-and-a-half existence. Those events are destined to become icons in the continuing struggle for equal justice for all. It was a rare privilege to be a witness to history in the making.

          Talk to you tomorrow!