1w ago

How John Fetterman became "Trump's favorite Democrat"

www.motherjones.com

“Fetterman?” one speaker yelled from a stage near the steps of City Hall.

“Jagoff!” protesters shouted back in unison.

“Fetterman?”

“Jagoff!”

in Fetterman’s case, it describes a politician who campaigned as a Bernie Sanders–loving populist and vowed to help Democrats advance their priorities past the party’s two obstructionists, Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin—only to reprise their roles once in Congress and cozy up with Republicans.

“He ran in the 2022 primaries against Joe Manchin, and now he’s become Joe Manchin,” says Mike Mikus, a longtime Democratic operative in Pennsylvania. “An unprincipled Manchin.”

He’s sided with Republicans on denying immigrants due process, voted to confirm a 2020 election denier to lead the Department of Justice, and approved a GOP budget that freed Trump to slash spending without oversight. His recent actions have enraged progressives, mystified colleagues, and alarmed former and current aides.

33 comments

Everyone insists it is brain damage or illness or whatever.
He is a con artist, plain and simple. He saw an opening to run on a populist platform and did. And then he very rapidly pivoted towards the party that will always vote for him no matter what he does.
The sad truth is that there are a LOT of very blatant con artists in the "leftist" sphere. Mostly we just don't talk about them because the hope is they are still doing more to "raise awareness" while they get rich or because... we just can't be bothered to deal with the massive waves of hatred that come the moment you point out the kind of stuff they say or just how massively rich they have become and so forth.
- I agree with you 100%
  And the thing about con artists is they're in it for the money. Everything is a sales pitch to them. There are no values, and the more you allow people to do this shit without calling it out, the more ammunition you give to the argument that voting is a waste of time bc they're all the same.
  Somebody who is willing to advertise themselves as supporting something good, while accepting money from the people that are contributing to the thing they're calling bad ::cough:: Ro Kahnna ::cough::, is exactly the same as the people they're pretending to call out.
  Their loyalty is to the highest bidder, not their values, or their party, and definitely not to the public.
He's giving people with brain damage a bad name.
It's a sign of the times that an obviously unwell person like him can continue having a political career.
Beyond the obvious, I wonder who replaced the staffers that apparently left in droves. Maybe somebody saw an opportunity to create another monster a lá RFK or even DJT.
And then this:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bestowed only Trump and Fetterman with mementos celebrating the exploding-pager strike targeting Hezbollah militants that resulted in 32 deaths and thousands more injured. Fetterman (...) accepted a silver beeper from Netanyahu
A silver beeper???
If brain damage makes you a complete piece of shit, then you were always a complete piece of shit in sheep's clothing. I feel like blaming the stroke is just people trying to cope with the loss of someone they thought and hoped would be good that turned out to be a red coat.
Fuck Fetterman.
- Disclaimer: This isn't a defense of the guy. From what I hear, he's been a pos for a long time. He was just able to con voters as an "everyman".
  That said, brain damage isn't drinking. It doesn't "reveal" who someone truly is. Damage to the brain can and does change the way it functions at a fundamental level, which can dramatically change how a person behaves and thinks. This isn't to say the actions of brain damaged individuals are entirely excusable - harm is harm and should be addressed. But suggesting it was always what the person was really like is severely misstating what brain damage is.
  
  Drinking doesn't reveal who someone truly is and prolonged drinking does damage your brain. It can even go as far as to induce psychosis
- It's an insult to everyone who weathers a little brain damage without becoming a zionist conservative shitbag.
- *turncoat.
  Red coats at least had the decency to hold onto their views.
  
  I couldn't decide which term was better. I went with red because maga. Turncoat fits better though.
- Just gonna say I actively have to suppress my piece of shit tendencies which at this point have merged with the call of the void. But they are there and if I do start giving in it's the type of shit that'd get ya side eye in Idaho. But I do not want to be my worst tendencies so I do my best to beat it with a stick, also suppress it with open bloodlust towards those I see as valid targets with no moral implications such as Nazis, WASPs, Mormons, Seventh Day Adventist, and cults of any and all types.
All it takes to join MAGA is some severe brain damage.
Their brains are made of the same rotten soup?
Brain damage, mayn. Pretty fkn obvious.
- One of my best friends has had multiple TBIs. She doesn't always make the best decisions, but she is still a good person with the same morals and core values she has always had.
  In the case of Fetterman, I feel like you're really giving brain damage too much credit for his consistent willingness to do harm to other people.
  Even other people with brain damage have spoken out against this guy.
  https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/as-fellow-stroke-survivor-fetterman-disgusts-me-20341662.php
  
  I mean, regardless of anecdote or how people feel, stroke survivors personalities shifting and becoming more selfish, conspiratorial, and hateful is a well known and documented medical phenomena. Like many such things, it happens in some cases and not others, and on a spectrum of impact.
  I don't know if anyone, Fetterman included, knows for sure the truth.
He's a grifting piece of shit like the rest of them, what a shocker. No one actually wants to serve the public anymore they're just in it to line their pockets.
Fuck him, let him get confused and play in traffic.
- Another good stroke would be all right too.
Never trust anyone from York County.
TL;DR: brain damage
TL;DR By being Republican.

33 comments