It sounds like a heroic effort. I have great admiration for him as he steps up to this immense challenge.
With respect, I offer this example of the Peanuts teacher's voice:
February 10, 2023
"Mr. Fetterman suffers from auditory processing issues, forcing him to rely primarily on a tablet to transcribe what is being said to him."
"The hearing issues are inconsistent; they often get worse when he is in a stressful or unfamiliar situation. When it’s bad, Mr. Fetterman has described it as trying to make out the muffled voice of the teacher in the 'Peanuts' cartoon, whose words could never be deciphered. The stroke — after which he had a pacemaker and defibrillator implanted — also took a less apparent but very real psychological toll on Mr. Fetterman. It has been less than a year since the stroke transformed him from someone with a large stature that suggested machismo — a central part of his political identity — into a physically altered version of himself, and he is frustrated at times that he is not yet back to the man he once was. He has had to come to terms with the fact that he may have set himself back permanently by not taking the recommended amount of rest during the campaign. And he continues to push himself in ways that people close to him worry are detrimental...."
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He has always been unfit for the job.
His wife is already measuring the curtains in his office.
Which leads me to a huge issue for me, the idea of hereditary offices.
It should be against the law to be able to cede an elected seat to a family member...
His election speaks volumes about the people of his state.
I have great admiration for him as he steps up to this immense challenge.
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I don't. His disabilities deny the people of PA an effective advocate in the Senate, and by disregarding his health he is denying his wife and children the husband and father whom they should have.
"It sounds like a heroic effort. I have great admiration for him as he steps up to this immense challenge."
It's not 'heroic,' it's fucking selfish, unless all you care about is a reliable 'Yes' vote from a man who doesn't understand the issues being debated.
I'll put Feinstein in the same category. By all accounts she has had dementia for the past decade, and yet there she sits...
Ridiculous.
It should be against the law to be able to cede an elected seat to a family member...
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I doubt that his wife will get appointed if he steps down. More likely, Shapiro will appoint fmr gov Wolf to the post.
Personally, I think that it needs to be law that if a senator steps aside or dies, the runner up in the most recent election gets right of first refusal for the post.
Okay, his condition deserves sympathy, but at what point can you say aloud that someone with this amount of disability should not be a Senator. Feinstein too. Also RBG and Justice Douglas. Maybe Biden....I don't think a Republican with a similar amount of disability would be treated with this much sympathy. They wanted to impeach Trump because he had a fat ass.
"It should be against the law to be able to cede an elected seat to a family member..."
Hey, if you can do it with the Presidency, you can do it with anything.
Ms Althouse: Is this whole post a troll drag?
“And he continues to push himself in ways that people close to him worry are detrimental...."
EFFing Senator Zippy the Pinhead.
@Joe Smith
Ditto.
Talk about a poster child for the tribal voting behavior of the American electorate. Heroic or not, he is simply unfit to hold the position of US Senator.
This is like Strom Thurmond's last term, but he's starting out that way.
Strom's continual reelection was a bit of joke. How is this different?
It would be "heroic" in rehab. It's not heroic in the worlds greatest deliberative body, where the future of our country is being voted on. The movers and shakers behind his election should be shamed into oblivion. I know some of my family members voted for this guy.
"It sounds like a heroic effort. I have great admiration for him as he steps up to this immense challenge."
But:
"He has had to come to terms with the fact that he may have set himself back permanently by not taking the recommended amount of rest during the campaign. And he continues to push himself in ways that people close to him worry are detrimental..."
Heroic?
His challenge is overcoming his own poor choices and hubris.
Not unlike overcoming the challenge of heart disease by proceeding with gluttony and a carton of Marlboros.
Or overcoming the challenge of brittle bones by taking a lifetime supply of puberty blockers.
He is being used, and when he is used up he will be replaced. Cannon fodder.
I am Laslo.
Remember when Tsongas was bugged about whether his cancer was in remission, he lied, and then in fact he died during what might have been his first term? Fetterman should have stepped down as LG, and he shouldn't have run for the Senate.
If he had the stroke while in office, any attempt to continue working might be seen as heroic. Running for office was just selfish, but apparently this is what the people of Pennsylvania want. I'm not going to waste my time trying to understand it. (Not that they had great choices in the election, but that's on them too.)
What Joe Smith said. He's just a rubber stamp for the totalitarian left.
Sad.
Pride goeth before the fall.
Owing to lies that came from the Fetterman camp after his initial stroke, I do not trust any healthcare update regarding his current condition.
Put aside his politics. Put aside his disability. Campaigning after his stroke may have diminished his recovery. And the continued stress (of being new in Congress, of learning how to function post-stroke) is dangerous for him. I hope he enjoys being a Senator for the time he has left or he restructures his priorities soon.
And if he succeeds in this heroic effort, on behalf of himself and possibly a couple other Pennsylvanians, why stop at the Capitol? The DNC has two donkeys on Pennsylvania Avenue they want to retire. What decent American could disapprove of remaking the White House for Fetterman's needs? You may ask about the constituents, but first and foremost, a disadvantaged human is involved! And the DNC's list of Oval Office replacements is small; oddly small, go figure. John may yet rise to the top of it.
Biden’s wife is abusing an old man whose rampant senility renders him an obvious danger to us all.
Fetterman’s wife is abusing a stroke victim whose broken-down incomprehension renders him no less obviously unfit for office.
What is it with these nasty women? Can’t they succeed on their own? Why must they exploit men to satisfy their lust for power?
since there is a democrat governor.. What do they need him for? Couldn't they replace at will?
On the Other hand.. He's a Complete cipher, and votes HOWEVER they tell him to; so Why replace?
Idiocracy. A movie ahead of its time.
I don't admire someone who rejects medical advice on as serious a matter as how best to recover from a stroke. He viewed grabbing power as more important than his health. As a result, he's having a harder time than he otherwise would. What's to admire?
It sounds like the guy has one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. He should have stepped out of the race and let someone else do it. He’s obviously a man who doesn’t take good care f his health. It’s cliche but without your health you have nothing. I hope Sen. Fetterman will slow down and let his body heal.
As long as he can warm the seat. How admirable…
I’m with Joe Smith above^^^. Doris Matsui represents my district. She’s been in the job she inherited for 18 years. Her husband Bob Matsui died after serving 26 years. The same couple has represented this N Cali district for 44 years. Enough already!
So when Dasha Burns reported that Fetterman had difficulty understanding questions, she was vilified by the mainstream media. Will those same reporters that trashed her now come forward and admit they were wrong to question her? I doubt it.
It should be against the law to be able to cede an elected seat to a family member...
They can't do that, it's the only way they are assured that the politician stays bought.
Hid out during early voting.
Reminds me of that other noble warm body for hire.
Biden/Fetty 2025!
Puppetry forever!
Getting on the ticket gains him access to Team Juice.
This Sunday, remember: "The Eagles are better than the Eagles!!!!"
It is quite an effort, though In not sure it makes sense to make those adjustments while serving in the Senate.
What did amuse me is that despite his obvious communicating difficulties during the campaign, Trump still managed to pick one of the few people who couldn't beat him. What a loser Trump chose and what a loser Trump is!
If somehow they offered me the job of shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies, I would politely decline.
For the simple reason that I can’t do the job.
Heroic effort or not.
It sounds like a heroic effort. I have great admiration for him as he steps up to this immense challenge.
When you don't understand how something works or how complicated the job of a senator actually is you can say things like this.
If the Federal Government actually confined itself to the things it was supposed to do we could have vanity projects for middle aged women like this so they could feel better about things.
Unfortunately for everyone our government is extremely intrusive and dominates a vast segment of our society. This type of power would require extremely competent individuals to effectively use this power.
Fettermen is an invalid.
My father just had a stroke. He is near 80. We aren't exclusively blaming the vaccine. Just partly.
He is almost fully recovered. Far more recovered than Fetterman. I would never support him taking on the responsibility of being a US senator.
If you want to be a troll that is fine. Be a troll. But do not think there is any kind of moral or courageous element to making a statement like this.
Everything about Fettermen being a senator is disgusting, ridiculous, exploitative and embarrassing to the people who sacrificed/died to give you people the freedom to turn it into a joke like this.
People who support this do not deserve to live in a free country.
Oh, right. It's a "hearing"/auditory problem only.
It's not a cognitive issue at all!! Swearsies!
I have great admiration for him as he steps up to this immense challenge.
Why? Why is he not despicable for taking on a role of great public importance that he is ill equipped to take? Why do you admire him for what is really extreme narcissism?
Admiration for continuing to live your life in the best way? Sure.
Admiration for hiding your true condition and refusing to confront the reality of your diminished state so that you can selfishly, selfishly have a title and "status?" Total bullshit. No way.
Had he decided to rehab and he was able to recover and accommodate his challenges so that he would not be diminished in his work representing the people of Pennsylvania--THAT I would have had great admiration for.
How much admiration is there to be a rubber stamp? Other than Simena and Machin, the Democrat senators vote in a bloc for anything important, so all he needs to do is do what he is told. The only complication here is ability to collect graft is compromised.
He's not there for his thoughtfulness and intellect. He's there to deliver a reliable Dem vote.
When I read this post, the first thing I thought of was Charlie McCarthy.
I didn't want to think that...I'm going to Hell, aren't I?
The Seventeenth Amendment should be repealed. It's ironic now that what was meant to protect the interests of the voters in each state (as opposed to the political bosses) has made each Senate seat a target for our current national political bosses. Sure, PA would have appointed a Democrat this time around, but at least Harrisburg wouldn't have been stuck after the primary with a candidate who was clearly impaired.
I hope Fetterman's condition improves, but I see very little that makes me think it will. I hope he steps down to give himself time and opportunity to rehab. And it makes me angry that he's being so poorly used, and that so many people have participated in that use.
@Laslo:
His challenge is overcoming his own poor choices and hubris.
Not unlike overcoming the challenge of heart disease by proceeding with gluttony and a carton of Marlboros ...
Epitome of pithy.
Fettermann ignored his atrial fib for years in spite of medical advice to get it treated or at least take anti-coagulants. Embolic strokes are common in neglected atrial fib. My brother in law had one although he did not know about the condition or the consequences. Fettermann did, or at least was told about them. My brother in law had the stroke on his non-dominant side so was intellectually intact. I don't know the anatomy of Fettermann's stroke but he is obviously not intellectually intact. The bullshit about "hearing loss" is just a cover up. I suspect his wife, like "Doctor Jill" was pushing him to run in spite of his handicap.
May I also please endorse the sentiments expressed by "Joe Smith" ?
Achilles calls it "disgusting, ridiculous, exploitative and embarrassing"
Hear, hear!
Caligula's horse redux.
Calling Fetterman "herioc" brings to mind this scene:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IJawKJkK8d4
It's natural and good that we feel empathy for someone who has suffered a stroke, a sadly debilitating fate.
I believe that his neurological deficits benefited him during the campaign because they took the spotlight away from his miserable performances as Mayor of Braddock, PA and as Lieutenant Governor of PA, and from his manifestly foolish positions on things such as criminal justice reform, the environment (he claimed that he had always both supported and opposed fracking), and the filibuster. All that he had going for him was that he is physically imposing, very liberal, and a child of wealth and privilege.
Fetterman also won because Donald Trump demonstrated yet again that he believes that the world revolves around Donald Trump.
I would admire his resignation more. He knows he shouldn’t be there and he doesn’t really want to be there anymore, given the challenges. You can see it in his face.
Santos is proposing a three strokes and your out law.
"I have great admiration for him"
I don't. He hid his true condition. He pursued a job he could not possibly perform well. He was and is a willing tool of prog interests. He degrades the very notion of serious representation in Congress. And he was a man of dubious character and work ethic to begin with.
What would he have to do to lose the "admiration" of nice women? Switch to the GOP?
"He has had to come to terms with the fact that he may have set himself back permanently by not taking the recommended amount of rest during the campaign. And he continues to push himself in ways that people close to him worry are detrimental..."
_____
Didn't he release a letter from his doctor during the campaign stating there was no limitation on his campaigning? So who exactly "recommended [an] amount of rest during the campaign"?
Accoring to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Fetterman was diagnosed with A-fib in 2017. He was prescribed medication, diet and exercise programs, and was scheduled for a follow-up doctors appointment within months. "Fetterman has said he undertook a weight-loss regimen afterward, shedding nearly 150 of his more than 400 pounds. But he did not take the medications and did not go to any doctor for 5 years..."
This is the genius Pennsylvania allegedly elected to a six-year term in the Senate.
"It sounds like a heroic effort. I have great admiration for him as he steps up to this immense challenge."
He and his campaign (and the media, of course) lied about his condition in order to acquire political power.
And you admire that?
And no, you can't separate Fetterman's malady from his mendacity -- if he'd been honest with voters he wouldn't be in this position.
"I have great admiration for him as he steps up to this immense challenge."
And presumably despite his hearing/cognitive dysfunction, you feel that he is qualified to serve as a US Senator.
But what if he were an airline pilot? Would you be willing to fly on a transatlantic 777 with him at the controls?
Or would you be comfortable with him commanding a US Navy Carrier Battle Group in the East China Sea right now?
Or a USAF SAC Strategic Nuclear Bomber Wing?
As unfair as it seems, certain jobs require superb health and unimpaired cognition for darn good reasons. IMHO being a US Senator is one of those jobs.
"Accoring to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Fetterman was diagnosed with A-fib in 2017. He was prescribed medication, diet and exercise programs, and was scheduled for a follow-up doctors appointment within months. "Fetterman has said he undertook a weight-loss regimen afterward, shedding nearly 150 of his more than 400 pounds. But he did not take the medications and did not go to any doctor for 5 years..."
This is the genius Pennsylvania allegedly elected to a six-year term in the Senate."
When I was in the hospital for this it scared the shit out of me. He might as well as shot himself in the head. Don't get me wrong I can still get a stroke, but with the medication, steady sleep habits and weight loss i increase my chances of not getting a stroke by a factor of 10.
I have great admiration for him as he steps up to this immense challenge.
Why? He has put himself in this very difficult position, and for what reason?
I'm not sure admiration is how I'd describe my feelings for this. I think pity is better. Or Hubris.
Joe Smith said...
He has always been unfit for the job.
His wife is already measuring the curtains in his office.
Which leads me to a huge issue for me, the idea of hereditary offices.
It should be against the law to be able to cede an elected seat to a family member..
*******************
The Dems have been doing this since.....forever.
Semi-paralyzed George Wallace, unable under Alabama's constitution to run for a consecutive term as governor, successfully engineered a plan to have his wife Lurleen succeed him, while he himself remained firmly in charge.
Then, of course, there's Woodrow Wilson, secretly disabled by a stroke, who let his wife run things.
Among Dems, it's not a bug----it's a feature!!
"(he claimed that he had always both supported and opposed fracking),"
To be fair, fracking sounds a lot like fracking.
Remember how we noted his obvious cognitive issues during his Senate campaign debate and the libtards all told us how awful we were for beating up on the disabled?
Good times.
I would prefer he stays in office. He will be a straight D vote, but so would the appointed replacement. But, he will not be a noisy spokesperson due to his communication issues, so I appreciate the quiet.
Except for advise and consent in judges and officelords, the Republican control of the House divides government enough to stop most of the insanity for the next two years, unless someone pulls a fast one.
I am Independent, and just don't want a lot of new BS passed now.
A Senator who is less able to communicate and understand is not the worst kind of Senator you can have, better than the ones who are ignorant and communicate it well. And if his wife tries to take over, like Wilson's wife, people really hate that and it will look bad to the voters.
Now they report it…..after the election. NYT is corrupt and unapologetic about being a Democrat organ.
Even with a brain blown by a near fatal stroke, Fetterneck is smarter and more lucid than Biden.
"I have great admiration for him as he steps up to this immense challenge."
LOL! Biden is as dumb as dog shit and was a Senator for 36 years. It isn't like being a Senator is a mental challenge. It is certainly intellectually easier than being a plumber.
Remember back in 2012 when Hilary had stroke? Remember how careful her minions were to make sure that it was called a "cerebral venous thrombosis"? ("commonly called a stroke" if you look up the definition on the CDC.gov site)
Remember also how all the news articles said that the stroke (always careful to call it a thrombosis) did not cause a stroke? Of course it didn't. Just the same way that falling down doesn't make you fall down, it is semantic nonsense.
I got thrown off the journa.host journalism Mastodon for pointing this out, with links. As well as pointing out that Joe Biden had the top of his head completely removed, twice, and he has never been the same since. I included the YouTube where he said this.
In the bit Ann highlighted, it says
Mr. Fetterman suffers from auditory processing issues...
If he was just deaf, they would say so. "Auditory processing issues" is not deafness, he is picking up the sounds just fine (or could be). The problem is that when the signal gets to the brain, the brain can't process or understand them because he is cognitively impaired. They just don't want to tell us that.
They are lying to us. Again. Or still.
John Henry
Hey, GOP! If you really want the Senate next time, don't nominate snake-oil salesmen or football players.
Reap what you sow.
You voted for the guy... tough nuts.
I admire his effort to recover from a stroke. I don't admire him for continuing his run for the Senate. That was a totally self-absorbed narcissistic act that cheats his constituents of a Senator who can truly represent them.
Last year much was made of the huge lump Fetterman had on the right side of his neck.
Whatever happened to that? Was that disinformation? I don't remember ever hearing any explanation of what it was or why it was not abnormal. I had been sort of looking for pictures of him in the Senate to see if it was still visible. I did not see any photos where it would have showed so don't know if it is still there.
Has Lumpy lost his lump? Or is it still there? Has there ever been any explanation of what it is/was?
John Henry
"But his adjustment to serving in the Senate has been made vastly more difficult by the strains of his recovery, which left him with a physical impairment and serious mental health challenges that have rendered the transition extraordinarily challenging — even with the accommodations that have been made to help him adapt." Serious mental health challenges. The NYT is teeing up a Fetterman resignation.
Meanwhile, when others point to Fetterman's "challenges," those are "attacks": "The attacks during the campaign — Fox News’ Tucker Carlson called him 'unapologetically brain damaged' and Republicans accused him of lying about his health — also are never far out of mind." But don't consider the Times article as an attack on Fetterman. It's done out of lovingkindness for his welfare, you see.
A final quote from the article: "For now, that means living alone in a Washington apartment during the week, and driving four hours home to Braddock, Pa., most weekends to see his wife and three children." One can only hope he's not driving home but being driven.
There were times in my life where on important business trips, I got this ear infection that really cut down my ability to hear, sometimes to almost inaudible. For whatever reason, fear I suppose, I played it off like I could hear just fine. Sometimes my hearing resembled the sound from Peanuts from the video. It was not easy to work this way but I managed to pull through. But I wouldn’t want to go through that again and I’m thankful my hearing is back to normal.
George Wallace case is very different from Fetterman's. Wallace was physically disabled but there was never, AFAIK, any question about his cognitive ability.
Or at least no difference between before and after. The people who thought he was crazy before the shooting still thought he was crazy after and vice versa.
John Henry
Althouse: I have great respect for him because even in a vegetable state, he can march in lockstep with Dems to protect abortion and as much gayness as can be codified in law. Plus ... he's a dreamboat!
Blogger Patrick said...
"What did amuse me is that despite his obvious communicating difficulties during the campaign, Trump still managed to pick one of the few people who couldn't beat him. What a loser Trump chose and what a loser Trump is!"
--------------------------------------
It always comes back to Trump or somehow related to Trump. Some people can't get the man out of their heads and it's humorous to witness. At some point Trump will be dead and gone for 25 years and yet he will continue to have residual effects. Amazing.
You just know it's the grasper of a wife of his who's behind the pushing him beyond his limits.
She's eagerly expecting that Senate appointment after he checks out. Turns out it wasn't Paul Ryan pushing oldtimers off the cliff in their wheelchairs, it's Mrs. Fetterman pushing her Soon-to-be-Ex-Senator husband.
RMc: "Hey, GOP! If you really want the Senate next time, don't nominate snake-oil salesmen or football players."
Hey RMc, it doesnt matter who is nominated on the republican side when the Republican majority leader is cutting deals with the dems on which republicans to abandon abd sabotaging a handful of others based on which of those candidates will suck up to McConnell personally and sell their vote to the globalist agenda.
No doubt about it, the McConnell-ites have a significant % of republican voters trained very well indeed.
"It's not 'heroic,' it's fucking selfish, unless all you care about is a reliable 'Yes' vote from a man who doesn't understand the issues being debated."
Umm, you're new around here then, are you?
I have a bit of advice for Sen. Fetterman: blort waxub 'nlibtomfoom.
Patrick: "What did amuse me is that despite his obvious communicating difficulties during the campaign, Trump still managed to pick one of the few people who couldn't beat him. What a loser Trump chose and what a loser Trump is!"
R C Belaire: "It always comes back to Trump or somehow related to Trump. Some people can't get the man out of their heads and it's humorous to witness. At some point Trump will be dead and gone for 25 years and yet he will continue to have residual effects. Amazing."
Indeed. In fact, the level of republican candidate sabotage executed by the republican leadership, which despises the republican base voters and only answers to the globalist and democratical agenda, is unprecedented for any political party that has existed in the western world.
Never before has a party leadership hated its own base voters and worked against them to this degree.
And they get away with it because they are able to hypnotize the "Patricks" and HBTPFH's of the world with whatever shiny object they choose to use.
To be fair, Trump sticks himself out there with endorsements acting like a kingmaker. If he's not hip to the machinations of GOPe, that's on him. Hanging around with Lindsey, rubbing up on McCarthy and wobbling on Ronna just recent examples of less than firebrand behavior. Easy to see him thinking Oz was a shoe-in because he's famous.
Folks close to him in his admin have long since distanced themselves from the destructive jabs while Trump foolishly clings to them.
But hey, that DeSantis is a groomer.
Strom Thurman's continual elections were based on his office staff. Their responsiveness to constituent requests was remarkable. If you wrote to him, you never got a form letter or ignored--always a rapid personal substantive response. Re-electing him kept them there. Plus he was a character. I was at a gathering in Myrtle Beach where someone asked his advice about living to an old age. He said that you should drink something hot in the morning to keep your bowels open. Wisdom of the aged!
Voters knew this was going to be a problem. Hope he can handle it.
As Tucker Carlson quite comprehensively documented, this guy was a clown before he had a stroke.
It sounds like a heroic effort. I have great admiration for him as he steps up to this immense challenge.
It sounds like a contemptible and self-destructive lust for power. (And no, he's not the only one.)
His disabilities deny the people of PA an effective advocate in the Senate
Let's be real, people. His not being Chuck Schumer denies the people of PA an effective advocate in the Senate. Only one Dem gets a vote. Every other Dem senator votes however he or she is told.
Wasn't it Biden who said that Fetterman's wife would make a great senator. they all knew what they were doing when they hid and obfuscated.
Oh, please. Having a stroke didn't ennoble him. He was a dirty player before he had a medical condition. You're insulting decent handicapped people who don't lie about their disabilities.
He's a politician. His constitutents were lied to, but it was their choice to ignore the lies. So, they chose a button-pusher. That's entirely OK in electoral politics. Of course he can do his job so long as he can press the right button. That's what they voted for. If enough of them are insulted by being lied to, there are mechanisms to recall him. This is politics, not some job where you actually need to be able to be honest or productive.
But don't sugar-coat it, and certainly don't pretend any Republican would be treated the same by the media, which is the only real issue here.
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