It seems like just a short time ago when Pennsylvania and all of America were told that Senate candidate John Fetterman was just fine, and anyone who questioned it was a bigoted “ableist.” (Don’t ask, we don’t know what that means, either.)
One week ago, a doctor who donated $1,330 to the candidate’s campaign swore that Fetterman was up to scratch and had absolutely “no work restrictions,” and that he was capable of working “full duty in public office.” Indeed, the doctor wrote that Fetterman “spoke intelligently without cognitive deficits. His speech was normal and he continues to exhibit symptoms of an auditory processing disorder which can come across as hearing difficulty [emphasis added].”
Reporters lied that Fetterman was doing just great for a guy who’d just had a stroke in May.
Then, after it was clear Fetterman was having, ah, issues on the campaign trail, came the stories about Fetterman’s heroism and complaints that anyone who noticed his cognitive inabilities was an “ableist.” One pollster admonished, “It doesn’t reveal a thing about a person’s character.” Hundreds of words were written to obscure the fact that the dude has issues.
Roll Call wrote a piece on Tuesday morning postulating, “John Fetterman had a stroke, but have voters ever cared about a candidate’s health?” Yet the same publication questioned President Trump’s mental acuity and wondered about his age, weight, and eating habits. That sure is an odd choice of stories to report, if voters don’t care about a candidate’s health.
And then came Tuesday night’s disastrous debate. Fetterman needed special transcriptions from a third-party prompter outfit to be able to understand what the reporter was saying. Then he couldn’t speak many coherent sentences. Later, he blamed the closed captioning company.
Also for our VIPs: The Fetterman Campaign Gambled on Oz Debate…and Lost
Leftist MSNBC ripped the bandaid off more than a week ago, with the reporter stating all the problems and accommodations they had to make before he could talk to her. But that was over by Wednesday of this week, when the polemicists over there claimed that it wasn’t Fetterman’s inability to run for office that was the problem; it was our bigotry against “disabled” people. “Disabled Americans have the right to be represented. And most importantly, to work — and that includes working for the U.S. government.”
Well, I don’t want to poop in your oatmeal or anything, but those reporters, MSNBC’s writers, and John Fetterman’s doctor don’t seem to be very observant. He can’t think and he can’t talk. This isn’t about disability quotas in the Senate — we’ve already caught our limit with Mazie Hirono and Jeff Merkley. This is about whether the guy can do the job. Furthermore, if Fetterman’s current physical and mental state is good enough to qualify him to be in the U.S. Senate, then we need to re-think what “full duty” means.
I’d say it means writing and tailoring legislation, engaging in thoughtful discourse, and being able to think on your feet — after all, things that affect millions of Americans are important.
I remember cringing when the brilliant Sen. Charles Grassley tried to engage tech executives during a Senate hearing a few years back. It was clear he was out of his depth. But unlike Fetterman cheerleaders, he was smart enough to know what he didn’t know.
If you’re having trouble trying to balance your sympathy for him while wondering if the guy can cut it, wonder no more. Ask yourself this question: Would you want John Fetterman driving your kid’s school bus?
There’s your answer.