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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFetterman "confused"
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5801767-john-fetterman-republican-popularity/?tbref=hpHe does not understand why he is popular among Republicans, yet not popular with Democrats. He struggles through a few sentences and then explains that he is in favor of war with Iran and a supporter of Israel's actions in Gaza. Thus, he underlines his confusion.
I submit that Fetterman's confusion is the flip side to Susan Collins' frequently bouts of "concerns"
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Justice
(7,259 posts)TDS!
lame54
(39,725 posts)There is potential there. Fetterman and Collins, recovering from their electoral loses choose to open a Bed and Breakfast in rural Oregon. Delighted audiences will enjoy how this mismatched pair of pols navigate the challenges of finances and friendship all the while maintaining deeply problematic opinions on foreign intervention.
With guest star Kristen Synema as the crazy niece and Joe Manchin as the owner of the general store.
I could even envision a crossover with Madison Cawthorn on a very special episode about Nazis with cognitive dissonance.
And studio audiences are encouraged to bring
rotten tomatoes.
mr715
(3,523 posts)Jeanine Pirro can have a visit where she struggles with alcoholism.
Pete Hegseth hosts an all male boot camp for troubled youth.
Lauren Boebert gets lost.
Maybe one of their guest rooms is haunted by the ghost of Charlie Kirk?
markodochartaigh
(5,534 posts)Maddie Cawthorn rear ends a police car and within a couple of months is made an honorary sheriff the next county over.
https://www.miaminewtimes.com/uncategorized/ex-congressman-madison-cawthorn-named-honorary-deputy-despite-crash-20234236/
oasis
(53,654 posts)
gab13by13
(32,238 posts)I gave him money and voted for him and his abrupt turn around has me confused.
Was it his stroke that took away his common sense and turned him into a Magat?
His wife has to be an American citizen, right?
mr715
(3,523 posts)I think it was the stroke that scrambled his circuits. I think his wife is a citizen, but she is naturalized. Maybe from Brazil? I hope furious with her husband.
Yeah, it was the stroke. It was a big, left hemisphere one. He isn't the same dude he was.
ShazzieB
(22,563 posts)I don't follow him closely, being from a different part of the country and all, but I remember the wave of enthusiasm I saw here at DU when he threw his hat in the ring for the Dem senatorial nomination. What people were saying about him then doesn't match up with how he's behaved since the stroke AT ALL. I know brain damage can change someone's personality, and that points to the stroke being the culprit.
While I HATE the way he's been voting in the Senate, as well as other things he's been saying and doing, I can't help but feel sorry for him. Before anyone comes at me, let me explain further. I think he is genuinely confused. I believe the stroke really did scramble his brain, in ways he's not fully aware of, and I don't think he realizes how drastically his behavior has changed. I think he knows something is wrong and that his constituents and other Democrats are upset with him, but he can't work out what the problem is. The man is non compos mentis.
Of course, I can't prove any of this, but that's what I think, and IF I'm right about what he's experiencing, it sounds like a nightmare to me. That's what I mean when I say I feel sorry for him. I also think he needs to resign from the Senate and give Pennsylvania a chance to elect a Democrat who's fully functional to fill that seat, but I don't know what it's going to take to get him to realize that, or if it's even possible.
littlemissmartypants
(33,413 posts)Why are we beating up on him? He's only one person in the mix.
What does calling attention to his disability and amplifying our discontent do toward the creation of solutions to our problems?
It seems cruel, crude, and unproductive. YMMV
mr715
(3,523 posts)On the broader point, if he is unfit, he should resign.
Presumably no one is forcing him to go on news and put his face out there if he is utterly broken behind the scenes.
He is one person, and that 1 person was sufficient to get Sec. Mullin. Had he voted differently in committee, that would not happen.
I think his position on Iran and Israel are cruel - much more so than the mild criticism of people on this board - and he should be held accountable for them no matter what demons he is facing. He does not have to serve. He could step down at any time.
littlemissmartypants
(33,413 posts)And I don't trust what anyone says these days without documentation. I appreciate you sharing the information with me.
However, one stroke almost always leads to others, and the information that I shared about R hemisphere strokes is accurate.
If he's just being an assh*le then fuck him. Send him to the dustbin of history with DJ and the rest of the psychopaths and that's that.
Flicked off like a bug. The End.
Thanks for your reply mr715. Enjoy your day. ❤️
1. Aggressive, callous, and cunning
2. Complete absence of conscience and empathy
3. Very adept at manipulating others
4. Willingness to engage in immoral, criminal conduct
5. Willingness to take what they want and do as they please, regardless of who is hurt or wronged
6. Deceptive ability to appear outwardly benevolent
7. Deceptive ability to behave in superficially charming ways to hide purely selfish motives
8. Willingness to use intimidation and violence to control others in order to satisfy their own needs
9. Willingness to intentionally violate the basic inherent human rights of others
10. Complete absence of any sense of guilt or remorse for the harm their actions have caused to others
11. Rationalization of their own immoral behavior
12. Will attempt to lay blame upon someone else for their own conduct
13. Denial, will deny their own wrongdoing outright
14. Utter contemptuousness toward the feelings and desires of their fellow beings
15. Pathological lying, will say anything without any concern for truth to advance their own hidden agendas
16. Ablity to feign [fake] normal human emotions and empathy
17. Distorted sense of the consequences of their actions
18. Total failure to accept any responsibility for their own socially irresponsible ways
19. Strong bellef that they will never be brought to justice for their criminal behavior
paleotn
(22,182 posts)damage the country and put us all at risk from an adversary skilled in asymmetric warfare?! His health potentially DRIVING those votes makes it an issue. Ya think?!
Ms. Toad
(38,606 posts)To make others' lives better - or dramatically worse. He needs to recognize this and step down.
By your reasoning, we should stop beating up on Trump, who is equally, if not more disabled.
littlemissmartypants
(33,413 posts)Please see the reply to mr715. Thank you. 💐
1. Aggressive, callous, and cunning
2. Complete absence of conscience and empathy
3. Very adept at manipulating others
4. Willingness to engage in immoral, criminal conduct
5. Willingness to take what they want and do as they please, regardless of who is hurt or wronged
6. Deceptive ability to appear outwardly benevolent
7. Deceptive ability to behave in superficially charming ways to hide purely selfish motives
8. Willingness to use intimidation and violence to control others in order to satisfy their own needs
9. Willingness to intentionally violate the basic inherent human rights of others
10. Complete absence of any sense of guilt or remorse for the harm their actions have caused to others
11. Rationalization of their own immoral behavior
12. Will attempt to lay blame upon someone else for their own conduct
13. Denial, will deny their own wrongdoing outright
14. Utter contemptuousness toward the feelings and desires of their fellow beings
15. Pathological lying, will say anything without any concern for truth to advance their own hidden agendas
16. Ablity to feign [fake] normal human emotions and empathy
17. Distorted sense of the consequences of their actions
18. Total failure to accept any responsibility for their own socially irresponsible ways
19. Strong bellef that they will never be brought to justice for their criminal behavior
WinstonSmith4740
(3,436 posts)I do have a little experience with dealing with the aftermath of a stroke, as my late husband had a fairly nasty one, but then again, there are no "good" ones. While he was in the hospital, their social worker took me aside to explain what to expect, and what my future held. One of the things she explained is that very often, if a stroke patient had a strong personality trait, it tended to do one of two things...it either came out in spades, or completely reversed itself.
I think this is probably what happened to Fetterman...everything he ever believed in or stood for did a 180 on him, which turned him into a Republican. So it's up to the people of Pennsylvania to fix this...it's unfortunate that he's in office for about another 4 years. Maybe if his constituents get fed up enough, they'll recall him. After all, they elected him as a Democrat, and he seems to have abandoned a lot of what he promised.
QueerDuck
(1,680 posts)
mr715
(3,523 posts)It isn't so much as a 180 degree turn to Republican, but his emotional regulation, impulsivity, and executive control circuitry is messed up. His shifts are more metacognitive, so it results in a dude that says the wrong things and takes some bad positions. His identity is still Democratic. He hasn't disavowed that, nor seems willing to.
fujiyamasan
(1,665 posts)That’s been the case since the 10/07 Hamas attacks on Israel, so nothing new or surpising there. Nothing will change that world view. What’s alarming is how his views on just other issues also aligned with republicans such as ICE and just about everything else. Eventually it just became contrarian for the point of being one, just like Sinema. I could almost forgive Manchin, being from the most Trump friendly state in the country.
Unfortunately the state of PA is stuck with him until 2028. I don’t believe any recall mechanisms exist for federal office.
BumRushDaShow
(169,433 posts)He also had a pacemaker with a defibrillator implanted, and I know that can also impact mood and personality.
At 6'8", there would have been a tendency to have more potential health issues as it is, especially as he has grown older.
If anything, his breaks with (D)s are on just a couple narrow subjects that have dominated the news the past year - Israel (which is translating in to this mess with Iran), paying federal employees, and more recently, the immigration thing (despite him being married to a naturalized citizen).
WinstonSmith4740
(3,436 posts)Sometimes math is hard!
BumRushDaShow
(169,433 posts)Don't I know it! 
pcdb
(112 posts)He lives in a swing state and wants to Democrats to hold the seat.
mr715
(3,523 posts)So, no, that dog won't hunt. There is a balance between intraparty politics and general electioneering. He has made it so he cannot win a Democratic primary, so he won't have to worry about reelection. Presumably he could run as an independent or a republican, but he hasn't shown any inclination to do so.
He is unwell and will likely not run for reelection. His path, should he seek reelection, is very clear.
Polybius
(21,881 posts)He still votes with his Democratic colleges the vast majority of times. He was also strongly pro-choice and pro-gay rights pre-stroke, and still is. So why no 180 on that?
Scrivener7
(59,463 posts)
Bread and Circuses
(2,011 posts)He’s been doing this for a long time.
Bristlecone
(11,105 posts)dawn5651
(770 posts)
karynnj
(60,955 posts)him (or followed him) in his years as a PA Lt Governor and mayor could really say that. He had the stroke a few days before the primary. The rest of us really have no "before" to compare his current to.
As to major shifts, are there things he said when running that are in contrast to current positions. As to Israel and Iran, he ran in 2022 when neither were anywhere near the issue they are now.
dawn5651
(770 posts)to much from my comment.
karynnj
(60,955 posts)that I really didn't know. I followed the election from afar and read more about things his team did pointing out missteps of Oz. Most of what I knew of him was not related to positions as much as a few accounts of who he and his wife were.
Thinking that, I wondered if at least the PA people have more insight.
durablend
(9,257 posts)Maybe his fan club (IDK here, but I've seen at another prolific site) that they keep falling back on his "exemplary" 95% voting with Democrats. IDK which timeline that is.
twodogsbarking
(18,713 posts)
Initech
(108,697 posts)It's evident now that Rupert Murdoch is the head brainwasher. Can we admit how dangerous Fox News is to the collective American psyche now? 
Goonch
(4,991 posts)
Lochloosa
(16,731 posts)“I think, I think the TDS that — I think that’s the leader right now. You know, right now our party, is, is governed by the TDS,” Fetterman said in the interview.
Klarkashton
(5,280 posts)
Blue Owl
(59,036 posts)NCDem47
(3,462 posts)Put a fork in that one. He's done.
Of course the media won't ignore him for the remainder of his term because he'll continue to still be the skunk at the garden party for Democrats.
ALWAYS comes out on the wrong side for us on the votes that matter.