Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was meeting last week with representatives from a teachers union in his home state when things quickly devolved.
Before long, Fetterman began repeating himself, shouting and questioning why “everybody is mad at me,” “why does everyone hate me, what did I ever do” and slamming his hands on a desk, according to one person who was briefed on what occurred.
As the meeting deteriorated, a staff member moved to end it and ushered the visitors into the hallway, where she broke down crying. The staffer was comforted by the teachers who were themselves rattled by Fetterman’s behavior, according to a second person who was briefed separately on the meeting.
So be it. It’s been a LONG time in this state. That sucks for him. The outsized damage he’s able to do makes me unsympathetic. He’s just one guy. Boo fucking hoo. The extraordinary damage happening to countless lives in this fucking country today, and we need to have a chat about how much compassion to give this guy? Again, get real!
Edit: I guess your point is about his own inability to see the problem, which I acknowledge. I don’t think he’s due any outsized compassion, at all.
Yeah, it’s just this unfortunately.
I don’t know how anyone can help or fix the situation directly while it benefits the fascists in power, but being upset at him for not stepping down is like being upset with an Alzheimer’s patient for not remembering your name.
At this point, I’m more upset at whoever is in his orbit and is not at least attempting to take Grampa’s car keys away
I just don’t agree. It’s more like being upset at an Alzheimer’s patient for totally blowing an important debate.
…okay? If you think there are circumstances under which it’s productive or rational to be upset with an Alzheimer’s patient for having alzheimer’s… not much to say to that.
That was a reference to Biden, and the fact that it should not come to this, and when it does, compassion for the patient is obviously the wrong thing to prioritize.
Edit: clarity
Yeah, thanks, I can read.
What is the right thing to prioritize?
It’s entirely valid to call for him to step down. People called for Biden to step down, and it worked. Too little too late, but it’s clear that nearly everyone recognized a problem and encouraged him to step down. I wasn’t upset at him for blowing a debate, I was upset with the DNC for allowing it to happen in the first place.
Fetterman doesn’t have that universal call. Half the nation and political system is applauding him for his stroke-induced personality changes.
Getting angry at him isn’t productive, because he genuinely won’t understand why. As evidenced in this article. Getting angry at the people that are allowing this to happen, however… that’s where the problem is.
We’re just talking in circles my friend. My original and only point is that focusing on compassion for him when discussing the problem is misguided at best. At worst, it’s exactly the thing you’re describing - making the conversation entirely unproductive, and avoiding the serious problem, getting focused on this very typical moralizing we on the left do.
Fuck John Fetterman, and fuck any person who demands compassion for him be prioritized in the conversation. If we disagree, we disagree, I don’t think I can make my point any more clearly. I regard anyone demanding the wrong things be discussed as - intentionally or not - helping the fascists. This is not a poorly thought out point of view, it’s not a shallowly held conviction, and I’m just about finished even discussing it.
I mean, I’m not demanding compassion for him, so much as I’m trying to direct anger towards the people who are more responsible for the problem. This is why I said the “so much for tolerance” was a bit much.
I’m not really trying to protect Fetterman - any politician who enters the arena has willingly offered their life to the will of the public, and accepts the risks of the public turning on them, even for a bad reason. The pre-stroke Fetterman might have even agreed that it’s fair game to be upset with the post-stroke Fetterman, because he is failing in his duty to represent his constituency.
I’m just trying to point out the group of powerful people who are actively encouraging a stroke victim to continue down a path of cognitive decline for their own personal gain. They are willfully taking advantage of a seriously fucked up situation. Fuck those people.
No disagreement there, sounds like we essentially agree and just needed to take a few minutes to argue with one another, lol. Cheers and have a good one!
Compassion should not be reserved only for those that are good, but for everyone, and I think especially for those that are bad and may not realize that they are bad. Right and wrong are not black and white things and it is very difficult to be objective about one’s own situation, and realizing that hey “I’m doing wrong”. In this case I would argue that for Fetterman, he might not even yet realize how irrational his behavior is, maybe even the people around him have not fully realized it. So instead of trying to eat him alive, you can point it out, explain how his actions are harming people and kindly ask that he step down instead of acting rabid about it. Berating him is not gonna make him want to step down more than being kind about it so you might as well be kind, unless this is about realizing some kind of gratification for you.
I don’t care. You are completely missing the point. Everything you said is obviously, like painfully obviously, true in a general sense. It’s Morality 101.
Do you see the state of this place?? Are you aware that Fetterman has been causing these kinds of problems for a LONG time now, and do you agree that we desperately need every fucking scrap of pull to bring this country and it’s people back from the brink?
Giving a shit about the man’s well-being is someone else’s goddamn job. Miss me with your pearl clutching bullshit.
Ok internet tough guy.