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.
You’re the only commenter on this post who mentioned his stroke in the context of hoping for his recovery- rather than using it to mock him. So much for tolerance
Sounds like everyone else is weirdly angry that he’s STILL IN OFFICE causing problems when he’s clearly not fit for the job, regardless of the reason? Isn’t that the more pressing concern than his health, him being an utter stranger to almost everyone?
Why do people need to be kind and sensitive toward someone’s recovery while that person insists on keeping a position of extreme responsibility, and constantly fucks it up, while “recovering”?
Crappy take, friend. And the “so much for tolerance” is such a loaded phrase, you almost sound insincere, to boot. We don’t owe these politicians a fuckin thing, CERTAINLY not some prioritized level of compassion. Get real!
I think people should be compassionate to literally every other person.
Probably because he feels passionate about his beliefs and feels its important that he fights for them.
🤡
xd
Would you feel the same way if his stroke destroyed his ability to drive a car but he insisted on continuing to do so anyway and kept putting lives at risk? It would be great if if can make a full recovery, and I certainly hope he can, but he needs to get the fuck out of the driver’s seat until he does so.
Putting aside the fact that he is also literally doing that and has also hurt his poor wife
Being in political office isn’t driving a car. But regardless, even assuming the analogy were correct, yes I would say you should still be compassionate about it.
He got elected as a Democrat with a decently progressive policy platform, had a stroke, then said, “all the progressiveness has left my body” and turned his back on the constituents who elected him. He’ll get sympathy when he resigns for health reasons and not a moment before that.
Until then he’s just another brain damaged liar and a traitor to his constituents, like his new friend Lil Donnie.
So much for tolerance… in anonymous online forums? Schadenfreude for public figures is easy enough to come by in real life that it should be no surprise to see it shine through online
I mean yea, I think people should be nice on the internet too
Fuck your feelings, and fuck his feelings.
Why though?
Because he’s a piece of shit in bed with Trump.
What did he do that makes you think he’s in bed with Trump?
yeah, why dont we all have more tolerance for people doing active harm? While we are on the topic, Who speaks for the CEOs here? They are human right? And has anyone asked the zionists about their feelings? their pains and fears?
But also, Fetterman is responsible for his actions and his actions suck. Thats how responsibility works, and leadership comes with a lot of responsibility. Fetterman is blowing it, so as a leader he deserves the ridicule. Politics is not all tea parties, playing patty-cakes, and talking about feelings. You perform or you get what Fettermans getting. Once he gets the eff out, he wont hold that responsibility and can be treated as just another human with human problems again.
Yes. Tolerating someone’s existence and humanity doesn’t mean you have to enable them to do things you disagree with.
Yes. Someone who genuinely believes they are acting morally, even if they do something evil, are not themselves evil. They are misguided. You shouldn’t enable them, but you also shouldn’t be needlessly cruel to them.
Yes, but context matters. People’s motives matter when you judge them. People’s circumstances matter.
Nitpick not about you, but just how people talk about congress in general: let’s just be honest, most of them are not leaders. Or at least not leading anything beyond their team of staffers. And they were not intended to be leaders, they represent their constituents, serving them not leading them.
What? Ridiculed and mocked by people on the internet who’s primary hobbies are thinking of creative insults and coping? I’m not being facetious, I’m asking what just saying cruel things on Lemmy does thats productive.
Why can’t he be treated as a human now? Just a human who at least you believe is wrong on serious issues, and therefore causing harm based on misconceptions.
I can understand both sides here.
On the one hand I have empathy with him like with any victim of such a life-altering injury and wish him a swift and full recovery. I don’t want people to suffer and, quite frankly, “the brain doesn’t work right anymore” is one of my personal horror scenarios.
On the other hand this kind of behavior is a huge problem in someone capable of making decisions that can alter the lives of other people – millions of them, in this case. He has enough power to ruin a lot of people’s lives, intentionally or not.
Even as someone who isn’t impacted by his mental fitness in any way, I’d agree that removing him from office seems like a good move. That man needs rest, not the stress of a high-profile political office during interesting times. And his state needs someone with a level head, which doesn’t mesh well with a semi-recent traumatic brain injury.
And, well, this is a politics community so guess which part the discussion will focus on. (Also, this is online so people are inclined to be assholes.)
This is a reasonable position. I just don’t think saying calous and cruel things then justifying it by saying “it’s online” is a good excuse. You can think someone is wrong and causing severe harm without also hating them, vilifying them, etc. Some people are cruel so it’s fair to be cruel back to them, but I don’t think anyone can fairly look at Fetterman and think he actually intends to hurt people.
Oh, please don’t take that remark as an excuse or endorsement. The intended tone is one of resignation – pseudonymity reduces the social cost of bad manners to near zero and there’s not much we can do about it.
I will forgive people for being blunt in their criticism, however. High-ranking politicians are exactly the people who have to be able to take a certain level of verbal abuse since their decisions can change other people’s lives in directions that justify the liberal use of expletives.
Which plays back into my perception that Fetterman is currently not suited to his role.
Well, I’ve lived what he’s lived. That helps.
BTW, I’m glad to hear you recovered! Stay healthy :)
Thanks, so far so good. 20 years now.
Most folks are pissed that he is in office, which is completely fucken reasonable. Fact of the matter is a stroke is as much a mental health issue as it is a physical issue. Just like how I remove myself from people when I’m in an autistic meltdown Fetterman should remove himself from politics. But what do I know I’m just a bloodthirsty Californian who wishes to lash 99.9 percent of politicians to crosses.
As others have pointed out the stroke could definitely impair his ability to understand its impact on his mental state.
But also yea no, someone can be very wrong and you can think and state that without being needlessly cruel to them.
I’m an Inland Imperial, me not threatening to dump their still warm corpse off in Victorville is me not being needlessly cruel. Fact of the matter is some folks need to be told to fuck off.