Mea culpa, Fetterman: I was wrong about Senator and his illness

NY Post ^ | 6/3/24 | Glenn H. Reynolds

[Impala64ssa]

It’s time for me to do something that pundits seldom do: Flat out admit I was wrong.

This is a rarity in the commentating world. But boy, was I.

Here goes: I was wrong about Sen. John Fetterman.

Writing in The Post on Valentine’s Day in 2023, I opined that Pennsylvania’s new US Senator lacked the mental and physical abilities needed to serve.

According to reports, he couldn’t understand voices, had trouble walking and generally wasn’t up to the job.

The mainstream press rallied to protect him (there was a D next to his name, after all), but even a New York Times puff piece admitted that to Fetterman, voices sounded like the adults in the “Peanuts” cartoons — indecipherable noise — and that his health problems had left him with “physical impairment and serious mental health challenges.”

But that was a rare concession. After NBC’s Dasha Burns interviewed him both live and on camera, she said Fetterman didn’t seem to be able to follow their conversation.

That revelation got Burns dogpiled by lefty activists and fellow journalists (to the extent there’s a difference nowadays) amid charges of “ableism” and the like. She was denounced on the air by her own network’s Savannah Guthrie and in the pages of the Times.

From all this, I concluded that Fetterman was just going to be a party tool — shepherded around by his staff, told how to vote by handlers, an institutionally pliable vote for the Democratic Party and the leftist activists who control it.

[Impala64ssa]

Liberalism is a mental disorder, but it can be treated, at least in some cases

[escapefromboston]

Fetterman has gotten better but he was mentally impaired when he was elected and Congress shouldn’t be a flop house for people who couldn’t get a real Job.

[mware]

At the time he was elected he WAS a very different man. Luckily he got the mental health help he so desperately needed.

[napscoordinator]

They are pissed he is AOC, and the other wacky class in beliefs. Trust me, if he hadn’t supported Israel and the very few other issues, they’d still love him.

[Twotone]

My father had a stroke while serving in the Air Force. He was eventually able to return to service, but had lasting after-effects. I’m glad Fetterman is recovering, but he should not have run in the shape he was in & the voters should never have elected him. You never know what “recovery” will look like with strokes.

[John Robinson]

“Fetterman’s health has improved more and faster than expected, and in what may not be a coincidence, the more his brain damage recedes the less he agrees with lefty activists and the Democratic Party’s functionaries.” LMAO

[Sarah Barracuda]

Fetterman tweeted out after the Trump verdict that he was pleased with the results, other than being pro Israel Fetterman is a commie through and through

[lee martell]

For John Fetterman to convince me that (maybe) he really has changed and is not acting just to get headlines, he would have to contact his past opponent, Dr. Mehmet Oz, and ask his assistance in some social partnership.
Stranger things have happened.
I think Dr. Oz got a wrong deal, with majority of media stacked against him, and only soft support from his own party. Some in both parties were against seeing Oz elected mostly because he is of Turkish heritage.

[Robert DeLong]

If he wasn’t a Jew, and thus is now finding himself at odds with his party on this issue, but I’m sure he stands with them on other issues. Not impressed nor am I impressed with this reporter’s mea culpa.

[DIRTYSECRET]

You don’t know the reporter. Read some more of his stuff please.

[Responsibility2nd]

Reynolds wasn’t wrong. Fetterman DID lack the mental and physical capabilities to serve. He was a walking talking vegetable.

Fortunately for him, he made a very strong recovery from his stroke.

[Robert DeLong]

Listen, I may agree with the reporter the overriding majority of the time. But offering a mea culpa to John Fetterman is where I will disagree with him. I even agree with John Fetterman when it comes to the issue of supporting Israel, but his election was a sham. He may have improved, but up until this point there was scant evidence of him getting better. So, what was said was right in line with the man at the time the comments were made about him.

[TChad]

Read some more of his stuff please.

Yes. For people who don't recognize the reporter's name, this is Glenn "Instapundit" Reynolds, well known for his extremely successful blog, that I read every day:

https://instapundit.com/

[DIRTYSECRET]

The H stands for Harlan.

[FateAmenableToChange]

I’m actually surprised that Fetterman appears to be an old school democrat. It’s almost like he actually cares about truth and the country. I still wouldn’t vote for him.

[joshua c]

reminds me of the movie “regarding henry”

harrison ford was shot in the head and

became a decent human being

[sauropod]

bkmk

[montag813]

Fetterman’s health has improved more and faster than expected, and in what may not be a coincidence, the more his brain damage recedes the less he agrees with lefty activists and the Democratic Party’s functionaries.

Great line!

I met him recently in NYC, and spoke for about 10 minutes with some others. He seems a fundamentally decent man. I too was wrong about him.

[montag813]

Imagine what that Muslim douchebag fraud Dr. Mehmet Oz would be saying about Israel-Hamas right now. Sheesh.

[DiogenesLamp]

I’m glad Fetterman is recovering, but he should not have run in the shape he was in & the voters should never have elected him.

I'm not sure they did. Nothing was done to fix the corrupt elections in Pennsylvania, and so I wasn't at all surprised that they used the same rigging system they used in 2020.