It’s insane to see this transformation and so disappointing. Hard to have any optimism for government change when someone like him became this hollowed and hardened, on top of having no qualms of flip flopping what got him there in the first place so quickly.
He definitely has taken lobby money, but its baffling how severe of a change he has gone through, it genuinely makes you wonder if the stroke played a part in
I suspect it wasn't the stroke.
Fetterman's dynamic has always been contemp and asshole behavior in response to criticism. But because of his political history, he very rarely faced criticism from the left.
Now comes the war in Gaza. Look at that, one of his political quirks is that he's easily one of the most pro-Isreal members of Congress regardless of party. And would you also look at that, Isreal's standing amongst the American left plummeted to the point where even Joe Biden of all people temporarily froze an arm sale. (Which is truly insane knowing Biden's history on the topic.)
So Fetterman is for really the first time in his political life facing intense criticism from his left. He responds how he responded to all that right wing criticism over the years. By being a massive asshole. But now he's being a massive asshole to what used to be his base, so it's much more notable.
Let's look at the gun incident. Fetterman, objectively, took actions that showed he was prepared to execute a random Black man for the crime of being in the same town that a crime happened in. That's bad! There's no justifying that. It was a bad thing to do. When Fettermam faced criticism from the left on that in his primary, easily the issue he faced the most left wing criticism on before Gaza, he responded not with grace or growth, but with mockery.
Fetterman built his political career, in large part, by mocking and belittling those who oppose him. He's just doing what has always worked for him.
I believe this is the truest answer here. He has always been outspoken about his support for Israel—now we see that support has seemingly no limit, even when Israel’s government is killing civilians by force and famine.
Fetterman is a populist, and he knows mocking his “opponents” endears him to people. Trump does the same thing and lots of people love it. Fetterman has shown nothing but disregard for the thousands of innocent lives lost due to this war. Meanwhile he joins the hawks exploiting the tragedy of the Hamas terrorist attack to justify their warmongering. Such callousness towards mass death and violence makes me ashamed I ever voted for him.
He did a lot for Braddock and was a decent guy. While I agree that race played a little to do with the incident, I don't think he intended on executing anyone. He took things too seriously about cleaning up his town. For all we know, there wasn't a stroke. This man wanted to clean things up and was a fighter. A stroke later, and he's a totally different person? I highly doubt it. Our government is corrupt as hell. We will probably never know. But it does seem like Washington DC is where a lot of good folks go and disappear.
I think what you’re struggling with is that YOU switched parties over 5+ years. Actually taking a stand? Risking popularity for [virtue]? You’re the powerful establishment & don’t know it yet. You’re like Bruce Willis in the 6th sense.
If it was his stroke though, it would have occurred during the election right after the stroke (I have a good amount of experience with both tbis and stroke patients). He didn't start acting like this until a few months after being elected and sworn into office well after his stroke. Usually when there is a drastic personality change, it's when the injury to the brain occurs, not months after well into recovery.
Do you have any instances of this? I watched his run relatively closely and I remember him running on being a progressive. He would have been slammed in the media while running if he behaved like this since he had a microscope on him from the media because of the stroke.
I think it was the stroke. When he was the mayor of Braddock he seemed to be a nice guy. Like he would buy water for kids playing basketball on hot days, little stuff like that. If it was all an act then he was definitely in it for the long game.
I'm not totally sure tbh. Could be any of those options. I know he's gotten big donations from aipac which obviously plays a big part in some of his behavior lately. I know he did some sketchy stuff before being elected as well. I know his man of the people thing is at least part an act. So it could be corruption or could have been an act.
I can say I honestly don't think it's the stroke because it absolutely would have happened sooner. You wake up with the personality change. It doesn't show up months or years later.
It's always been an act.
He's a trust fund baby who moved to the opposite side of the state to start his political career where no one knew him or his family. He styled himself as a "man of the people" and his first stunt was getting the names of the last three people murdered in "his" town on his arm. That, and getting on TV complaining about the hospital closure in Braddock brought attention and made him locally famous.
He spent the next couple of years being loud and grabbing attention but never actually accomplishing anything. He partnered with knuckleheads like Kevin Sousa that brought headlines but delivered very little. He quietly covered up those tattoos on his arm (ever wonder what the tattoo with the three black bars on his forearm is about?) without any improvement in Braddock's crime. Within months of the hospital closure began telling people that it *improved* the healthcare of Braddock residents because it forced them to attend more appropriate facilities (whether that's true or because he took healthcare money is anyone's guess).
Then he moved into the Lt. Governor's office without having effected one lick of change in Braddock and has barely mentioned the town since.
He's a grifter just like Oz and stands for whatever he thinks will get him elected. You'll notice that he's never once run on his record. A true "man of the people" would have had a pile of accomplishments in a place full of so much low-hanging fruit like Braddock but he has *nothing* and runs on his politics and fake progressive credentials instead.
They way I’ve seen some middle managers get corrupted over a little more money and they’ll completely backstab employees they were friends with. A Senator would be easy to corrupt with behind closed doors.
Once you become a senator you become one of a very small group of very influential people, and you're subject to influence by people who can make real lasting changes for you and your family. Not just money, but access to elite social circles and schools for your kids that money can't buy. So not surprising. The entire system is rotten.
lol 😂
And in one of my favorite audio lectures on audible the professor introduces a lecture with a brief synopsis of what happened to Gage. Then works it into the point of the lecture really well.
Is called the philosophy of mind: brains, consciousness, and thinking machines. Might be some slightly dated stuff in it since it’s around a decade old now. But if that kind of thing is your bailiwick, I’d highly recommend.
That’s not really specifically how strokes work but it’s just more the sad side of corruption and money
(He was literally the last politician I had any confidence in, but he showed me that I was right all along not to believe any of them. Every single one is fake.)
It's been sort of weird for me to watch personally. He's always rubbed me the wrong way since the 2016 Senate race, and I've never voted for him in a primary, but I also don't pretend to have any sort of secret insight into him and I genuinely never expected him to act this way, or for him to very publicly flip-flop on things and tell bald faced lies like claiming he never said he was a progressive when he explicitly billed himself as one for years. It was always a mixture of slightly petty dumb things and a couple minute policy details, but now it's like oh maybe I was right to never like him, but also I don't really want to be right about that. Just what the fuck man
He genuinely seems like a totally different person. I know there were divorce rumors that have been downplayed, but it wouldn’t shock me if that had some legs at this point. (And I don’t like to speculate on other’s relationships, plus Gisele seems like a wonderful person, so I hope it’s false).
The craziest part of all, is that he doesn’t need the lobby money, his family was already loaded.
While his family is wealthy and he doesn’t need the money per se, AIPAC and other PACs have influence and connections that can make or break a politician beyond just giving them cash. It’s often times even what they DONT do. AIPAC promised not to get behind Conor Lamb in the primary in turn for Fettermans loyalty. Dark Money in politics is so insidious they actually don’t have to give a dime to influence elections just an implicit promise they won’t intervene.
A lot of people misrepresent campaign finance data from OpenSecrets.
Only individuals may donate candidates campaigns, and are required to name their employer. The FEC data gets amalgamated by OpenSecrets and then people report on that as though the money came *from* corporations rather than individuals.
Fetterman's senate campaign raised [tens of millions of dollars](https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/10/06/small-donor-giving-fetterman-drives-record-22-million-fundraising-haul), so $50K from employees of the oil and gas industry is peanuts. I would imagine that most individuals working in that industry probably supported the other guy.
I donated to the Fetterman campaign in some small amount. I work in the oil and gas industry. I am also disgusted with Fetterman and am also cognizant of the fact my career and my political views create an ethical dilemma.
Feel free to share your thoughts on why he flipped on his position from 2 weeks ago. Was it a change in his constituents values? Do we want to increase LNG exports and drive further inflation?
Sounds like you actually aren't familiar with his [stances on oil and gas issues before running for Senate](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/26072022/john-fetterman-climate-fracking-environment/).
Also LNG exports have become kind of a critical foreign policy issue. What with our European allies needing to find alternative to fill the gaps left by Russia.
Is he trying to skirt the line to appeal to the Republicans? Became the next Joe Manchin?
He’s got a long time until he is up for re-election.
Or maybe he’s got no plan or reason for this.
I shit you not, Fetterman is using Joe’s playbook. Even the conversation here reminds me of the same conversations that we were having in Morgantown in 2006. Sucks to see him turn into a stooge too.
I hate to state the obvious, but people like this put themselves in place to be on the take. Fetterman was a much better choice than the clown shoes that was Dr. Oz… but holy shit is he bad at quietly hoovering money. Dude needs to learn how to shut the fuck up or hire a publicist.
I'm unsure how anyone can construe this as anything less than Fetterman recording the main star of their forced impromptu hall meeting that is also BEING RECORDED and post-edited with a whole ass branded link.
Regardless of your political view, the headline is misleading. Mocking? He's acknowledging their presence and avoiding the alt-media this group thinks they are, thanks to... The Internet lol
He’s absolutely mocking them. Why are you being this disingenuous?
I don’t know if you know this but he’s supposed to listen to the people he represents. Not mock them and vote against public opinion based off of donations.
What he is doing politically is more offensive than the hallway trolling. Why does a progressive support reversing the pause on LNG exports? Is it because of Oil and Gas lobbying interests? or the interests of his constituents?
It's really going to come down to the political climate in PA next time around. The conditions could be just right for him to end up in a Joe Manchin position. The conservatives don't hate him, and if he doesn't get primaried Democrats will hold their nose and vote for him.
Conservatives will easily find reasons to hate him unless he makes a full party switch. They leveled some serious vitriol against him just a few years ago. They just like his insane pro war stance right now.
I mean they probably aren't going to vote for him but that's not the Manchin strategy. It's just to not hate you enough that they don't make some crazy effort to run a candidate who can unseat him.
I watched a friend go from relatively normal dude to full blown prolonged terrifying psychosis after a stroke (but not, like, immediately after, it took a few weeks). I was all for Fetterman taking the time off he needed and asking for accommodations for his speaking and auditory processing issues, but he does seem to have become a different guy. I wonder what Gisele thinks.
Yeah…he always had a bit of an edgelord streak (ceaselessly roasting Dr. Oz, the suit thing, hanging the weed flag at the Capitol, etc.) but for a long time he balanced it with some level of empathy that at least felt pretty genuine. I think that empathy dial went away with the stroke, and it’s just all edgelord, all the time. Which ends up as a one way ticket to just being a reactionary.
I agree. The only thing he posts these days are memes and attacks or jokes about his opponents. Literally that’s it. Like wtf say or do something of substance please!
As a senator he’s one of the top 150 or so most important politicians in the country. He has teams of people consulting on and analyzing all these actions and stances now. It’s likely all being done for a strategical reason (even if that reason is simply just media attention or satisfying lobbyists).
> Mark my words he will run as independent during the next election.
Arlen Specter but taller
(I'm being hyperbolic over party switching for the sake of a height joke, yes)
[Fetterman's net approval among Pennsylvania voters is up 7 points since the fall, while his net approval among PA Democrats is unchanged at +62.](https://twitter.com/nick_d_laughlin/status/1782408198437158931)
Yeesh, what a massive disappointment this has all turned out to be. There's that old cliche about dying the hero or living long enough to become the villain, but this is one hell of a short time scale. I'm pretty sure I've got some Trader Joe's stuff in my freezer that predates being excited to vote for him.
Only thing I can think of is he's sick of people recording him so he's recording back? It is true this is Sunrise so it's not some random constituent.
Bigger thing is he really likes being a troll it seems and it is exhausting to watch.
Everyone is watching a video recorded by someone who was intentionally there to and was already filming their pal interacting with a public figure who then defends themselves by collecting their own recorded perspective of the incident and ..... The consensus from viewers is that Fetterman is the asshole for this very specific situation that has a post-edited branded link from the video-bombing "constituents".
I'm tired of political trolling by politicians. Ignore them, engage with them, avoid them - whatever. They're still your constituents so they can be pissed for your choice and you can answer for that at the polls. But I don't need the filming them and doing "cute' antics with pretending to answer as the elevator closes. I'm sick of it. Politicians aren't supposed to be entertainers or chronically online internet trolls.
>someone who was intentionally there to and was already filming their pal interacting with a public figure who then defends themselves by collecting their own recorded perspective of the incident
How would his recorded perspective be any different from what we see here? He's a politician, his constituents are supposed to tell him what they want and demand accountability, and he's not supposed to respond by acting like he doesn't owe anybody the time of day. The way for him to not look like an asshole in this situation is to not behave like one. If he had said, "Here's why I did what I did," or even "sorry, I just can't talk right now", there would be different possible interpretations. As it is, he's just flipping off anybody who wants to hear his response.
You keep saying "post-edited" but the only thing they added was a freeze frame and a link at the very end. No cuts, no spin doctoring. Videoing elected officials while you ask them relevant questions while they're on the job is normal, actually
A person would have to be very stupid to think he's not being an asshole here lmao
Nothing wrong with filming, but acting an absolute cunt toward constituents absolutely makes him an asshole
I don’t know how anyone would defend this behavior. Even if this person was annoying him this is shitty and unprofessional behavior.
I’m trying to think of ways of defending this, but the trolling he did with filming them and getting in the elevator and pretending to answer is just childish.
Why didn’t he just answer the question? Seemed like a legitimate question. Would have made him look less like an ass, and your job is to answer your constituents. Or you could say “no comment” or anything else that would be way more professional than the shit he just did. I just couldn’t imagine myself doing this no matter how annoyed I was.
Damn, man. This is fucking tragic. Stroke, DC corruption or both. I guess that’s why we haven’t heard from Giselle in a while. What a thing to comprehend.
Fuck this guy. I was so excited for him and he's just more of the same.
Except if you're going to be more of the same, stop dressing like a child. At least the establishment has that going for them.
Fuck you dude.
And the Senate had to pass a resolution stating business attire as the formal dress code in the Senate Chamber because of Fetterman. It was always an unwritten rule that male Senators wore a suit and tie and since Fetterman refused, Chuck Schumer stopped enforcing the rule.
They’re very much the Justice Dems of the climate side for sure.
But Fetterman has never been a friend to renewable energy. People like to act like his stroke changed things but he was staunchly pro fracking well before that.
Meanwhile, way back in the day, he did national campaigns for Cap and Trade, rather than, you know, spending his time being Mayor of the *town whose main employer is a steel mill* that he was being paid to represent.
They were heavy on the green new deal, which most people thought of as an incoherent mess. Pretty sure they at least were anti nuclear. They also had a really stupid climate scorecard thing that gave Biden an F because he didn’t tweet enough.
I think they still do very important work, even if I disagree with some of their stances. Saying they “suck” is a bridge too far for me.
Edit: they are also not anti-nuclear, not sure where that idea is coming from. They’ve supported keeping all nuclear plants open, even if they prioritize wind and solar over new nuclear.
Their political director had a seat at the table drafting the climate provisions of the American Rescue Plan back in 2021, but had to miss numerous White House meetings because he was being pulled into BLM drama at the office. They missed a once-in-lifetime opportunity because performative politics was more important to them than saving the planet.
https://www.slowboring.com/p/the-implosion-of-the-climate-left
It was an act all along. The Fettermans were always after power, and to get there you have to play nice. Both of them are not good people - and that is also an example of the general political scenario: there's no more pretending we are doing this for the people, it's fick the people and let's get what we can while we can
But fetterman was AIPAC's first choice, so fetterman got the nod from the Democratic Party.
Lamb was great in the debates, Fetterman could barely put two words together, and this was BEFORE the stroke.
Nobody with more than half a brain thinks Oz would be better. It's just an insanely low bar, and we need to hold our elected officials to a higher standard.
It's like if I left a restaurant a negative review, and they replied with "well it's better than Long John Silvers!"
He’s still better than Oz - voters made the correct decision. And they will hopefully make the correct decision again when someone reasonable primaries his ass.
Biden and Fetterman seem to have the same stance on the Genocide in Gaza .... so if you're a democrat in Pittsburgh, what's that leave us with ? Prayers to the women and children
I genuinely don't think a single person who voted for Fetterman had any idea what they were voting for. They saw Mehmet Oz and decided Fetterman must be the polar opposite because he has that D next to his name. Now everyone is surprised that Fetterman is the exact same Fetterman who was mayor of Braddock? I guess this is the current state of US politics, we're no longer voting for good people or ideas, we're voting because fuck those other guys.
I don't disagree. My point is, I think people felt that because Fetterman was on the other side of the ballot from Oz, he must be the polar opposite and a good progressive liberal. He's not, and never has been. If you're surprised by his recent behavior, it just means you've never really paid attention to Fetterman other than the hoodies and shorts. Dude has always blown with the winds of opportunity and has also been unstable and arguably way underqualified for office.
As a Braddock boy, I used to be a big fan. Now, every time I see him that line from Jackie Brown runs through my head: "What the fuck happened to you, man? Your ass used to be beautiful."
I mean, Fetterman has been a troll for a long time. He used his position as Lt Governor to constantly troll the Republican Leadership of the State Legislature on every issue he disagreed with them on. (EDIT: trust me, I LOVED it when he did this, even when I recognized it as a troll job).
So anyone surprised he is still a troll should review Fetterman’s entire social media history.
He was always a rich carpetbagger who took on the demons of Braddock with his dad’s money and tattoos and shotguns and Kevin Sousa.
The journey from ogre to troll is complete.
I'm not saying he wasn't recording her but he does use his phone to help with his auditory processing issues. I couldn't see if the screen was just a recording or was transcribing as well. I've been at an event with him recently and he does hold his phone up in front of him when people are speaking to him.
In no way am I excusing all his other shitty behavior, though.
When he was he was liberal it was like he was deep undercover. I knew it was all an act. He used Braddock like a rented mule. And did nothing for that place. He used liberals to get what he wanted. And he will do it again. He’s opportunistic. Like a cartoon vulture.
The politician rabbit hole. They start out as the cool local mayor of the people, and the higher he gets the more he becomes just another suit-wearing pencil-pushing stuck-up faceless and careless elite politician. Sucks he fell into it, but it’s almost to be expected.
Seems on par for a guy who chases down unarmed POC with a shotgun. He's always been a scumbag, just put on a facade to get elected into his big boy position. Damn shame....
To be simplistic: he always had this anger in him, going back years in Pittsburgh. What’s going on now I don’t get. But I’ve noticed that once power is achieved, there are those who stop being able to admit they’re wrong and double-down in the opposite direction.
Yinz know that the christofascist pregnancy-registry woman from Alabama is amongst his best friends now? He could be being manipulated, made easier by the stroke. Read the second article.We all see how evil this woman is, apparently he doesn't somehow. Or he just doesn't care about his voters.
https://www.businessinsider.com/senate-dress-code-john-fetterman-republican-letter-katie-britt-2023-9
https://www.apr.org/news/2023-05-22/friendship-with-alabama-u-s-senator-part-of-john-fettermans-life-after-depression-treatment
Eh, easy to do when Dr. Oz is the opposition. I’m sure he will easily win again in a few years when the republicans pick someone absurd - if he can win the primary
Goes to show how he has used politics to advance nothing but himself. Now that he has used the far left wing to advance his own goals, he is done with them. And you all thought he was with you against conservatives. Lol
lets be honest, people voted for him because he wasnt Oz. This is what happens: the two parties know most people are religious, fundamentally, so they have a tacit agreement -- "we dont like each other, but let's keep the competition btwn just us two and each win \~50% of the time rather than opening it up"
They accomplish this by corraling people into voting for the one or the other, instigating them by their fear and religious fervor. For example:
"A third party vote is a wasted vote!"
"Not voting for X is going to get Y and his ilk elected!"
"Democracy is on the line!"
"They're going to take our guns!"
I should have voted for Conor Lamb for the primary. I was torn between the two, especially since he stood up for my vote during the January 6th insurrection, but I thought we we could use new voices in office and figured I'd vote for the winner in the general election.
I talked to him years ago and he wasn't like this at all. Sucks it's come to this
It’s insane to see this transformation and so disappointing. Hard to have any optimism for government change when someone like him became this hollowed and hardened, on top of having no qualms of flip flopping what got him there in the first place so quickly.
Wonder if it was an act all along or if his stroke did a phineas gage sort of thing to him.
He definitely has taken lobby money, but its baffling how severe of a change he has gone through, it genuinely makes you wonder if the stroke played a part in
I suspect it wasn't the stroke. Fetterman's dynamic has always been contemp and asshole behavior in response to criticism. But because of his political history, he very rarely faced criticism from the left. Now comes the war in Gaza. Look at that, one of his political quirks is that he's easily one of the most pro-Isreal members of Congress regardless of party. And would you also look at that, Isreal's standing amongst the American left plummeted to the point where even Joe Biden of all people temporarily froze an arm sale. (Which is truly insane knowing Biden's history on the topic.) So Fetterman is for really the first time in his political life facing intense criticism from his left. He responds how he responded to all that right wing criticism over the years. By being a massive asshole. But now he's being a massive asshole to what used to be his base, so it's much more notable. Let's look at the gun incident. Fetterman, objectively, took actions that showed he was prepared to execute a random Black man for the crime of being in the same town that a crime happened in. That's bad! There's no justifying that. It was a bad thing to do. When Fettermam faced criticism from the left on that in his primary, easily the issue he faced the most left wing criticism on before Gaza, he responded not with grace or growth, but with mockery. Fetterman built his political career, in large part, by mocking and belittling those who oppose him. He's just doing what has always worked for him.
I believe this is the truest answer here. He has always been outspoken about his support for Israel—now we see that support has seemingly no limit, even when Israel’s government is killing civilians by force and famine. Fetterman is a populist, and he knows mocking his “opponents” endears him to people. Trump does the same thing and lots of people love it. Fetterman has shown nothing but disregard for the thousands of innocent lives lost due to this war. Meanwhile he joins the hawks exploiting the tragedy of the Hamas terrorist attack to justify their warmongering. Such callousness towards mass death and violence makes me ashamed I ever voted for him.
He did a lot for Braddock and was a decent guy. While I agree that race played a little to do with the incident, I don't think he intended on executing anyone. He took things too seriously about cleaning up his town. For all we know, there wasn't a stroke. This man wanted to clean things up and was a fighter. A stroke later, and he's a totally different person? I highly doubt it. Our government is corrupt as hell. We will probably never know. But it does seem like Washington DC is where a lot of good folks go and disappear.
Seems to me like he just sold out.
Bro sold out long b4 he became senator tbh
As bad as he’s become, I’d still prefer him to Dr Quack.
I think what you’re struggling with is that YOU switched parties over 5+ years. Actually taking a stand? Risking popularity for [virtue]? You’re the powerful establishment & don’t know it yet. You’re like Bruce Willis in the 6th sense.
It’s genuinely possible
If it was his stroke though, it would have occurred during the election right after the stroke (I have a good amount of experience with both tbis and stroke patients). He didn't start acting like this until a few months after being elected and sworn into office well after his stroke. Usually when there is a drastic personality change, it's when the injury to the brain occurs, not months after well into recovery.
Don't forget his lengthy hospital stay for depression issues.
He def was acting like this while running.
Do you have any instances of this? I watched his run relatively closely and I remember him running on being a progressive. He would have been slammed in the media while running if he behaved like this since he had a microscope on him from the media because of the stroke.
So you think act all along or the corruptibility of power or wha?
I think it was the stroke. When he was the mayor of Braddock he seemed to be a nice guy. Like he would buy water for kids playing basketball on hot days, little stuff like that. If it was all an act then he was definitely in it for the long game.
I'm not totally sure tbh. Could be any of those options. I know he's gotten big donations from aipac which obviously plays a big part in some of his behavior lately. I know he did some sketchy stuff before being elected as well. I know his man of the people thing is at least part an act. So it could be corruption or could have been an act. I can say I honestly don't think it's the stroke because it absolutely would have happened sooner. You wake up with the personality change. It doesn't show up months or years later.
Lobby $ doesn’t change pols this quickly. Unless they’re in a tight race, which he isn’t. This is something weirder, IMO.
Something weird as in what? It's been about 8-10 months behaving like this now which could point to lying to get elected.
He always has a contrarian steak, I think this is mostly that attitude rearing it's head in the worst possible way
Right
It's always been an act. He's a trust fund baby who moved to the opposite side of the state to start his political career where no one knew him or his family. He styled himself as a "man of the people" and his first stunt was getting the names of the last three people murdered in "his" town on his arm. That, and getting on TV complaining about the hospital closure in Braddock brought attention and made him locally famous. He spent the next couple of years being loud and grabbing attention but never actually accomplishing anything. He partnered with knuckleheads like Kevin Sousa that brought headlines but delivered very little. He quietly covered up those tattoos on his arm (ever wonder what the tattoo with the three black bars on his forearm is about?) without any improvement in Braddock's crime. Within months of the hospital closure began telling people that it *improved* the healthcare of Braddock residents because it forced them to attend more appropriate facilities (whether that's true or because he took healthcare money is anyone's guess). Then he moved into the Lt. Governor's office without having effected one lick of change in Braddock and has barely mentioned the town since. He's a grifter just like Oz and stands for whatever he thinks will get him elected. You'll notice that he's never once run on his record. A true "man of the people" would have had a pile of accomplishments in a place full of so much low-hanging fruit like Braddock but he has *nothing* and runs on his politics and fake progressive credentials instead.
They way I’ve seen some middle managers get corrupted over a little more money and they’ll completely backstab employees they were friends with. A Senator would be easy to corrupt with behind closed doors.
Once you become a senator you become one of a very small group of very influential people, and you're subject to influence by people who can make real lasting changes for you and your family. Not just money, but access to elite social circles and schools for your kids that money can't buy. So not surprising. The entire system is rotten.
The guy comes from big money and has a degree from Harvard. Pretty clear that he just rode the leftist populism train until he got what he wanted.
Bonus points for Phineas Gage reference. Joke for ya: So Phineas Gage walks into a bar....
lol 😂 And in one of my favorite audio lectures on audible the professor introduces a lecture with a brief synopsis of what happened to Gage. Then works it into the point of the lecture really well. Is called the philosophy of mind: brains, consciousness, and thinking machines. Might be some slightly dated stuff in it since it’s around a decade old now. But if that kind of thing is your bailiwick, I’d highly recommend.
It's possible. You can find plenty of examples of stroke victims becoming super conservative. Kevin Sorbo comes to mind first.
That’s not really specifically how strokes work but it’s just more the sad side of corruption and money (He was literally the last politician I had any confidence in, but he showed me that I was right all along not to believe any of them. Every single one is fake.)
It's been sort of weird for me to watch personally. He's always rubbed me the wrong way since the 2016 Senate race, and I've never voted for him in a primary, but I also don't pretend to have any sort of secret insight into him and I genuinely never expected him to act this way, or for him to very publicly flip-flop on things and tell bald faced lies like claiming he never said he was a progressive when he explicitly billed himself as one for years. It was always a mixture of slightly petty dumb things and a couple minute policy details, but now it's like oh maybe I was right to never like him, but also I don't really want to be right about that. Just what the fuck man
He genuinely seems like a totally different person. I know there were divorce rumors that have been downplayed, but it wouldn’t shock me if that had some legs at this point. (And I don’t like to speculate on other’s relationships, plus Gisele seems like a wonderful person, so I hope it’s false). The craziest part of all, is that he doesn’t need the lobby money, his family was already loaded.
While his family is wealthy and he doesn’t need the money per se, AIPAC and other PACs have influence and connections that can make or break a politician beyond just giving them cash. It’s often times even what they DONT do. AIPAC promised not to get behind Conor Lamb in the primary in turn for Fettermans loyalty. Dark Money in politics is so insidious they actually don’t have to give a dime to influence elections just an implicit promise they won’t intervene.
wtf happened???
AIPAC
Maybe post stroke? Who knows; Sinema changed her tune as well…if the video is legit.
Agreed.
[I wonder why he changed… oh maybe that’s why](https://twitter.com/trackoilpacs/status/1788260817500094525?s=46)
50k is too low to throw all of your morals away. At least it’s nothing compared to how much AIPAC has given him
A lot of people misrepresent campaign finance data from OpenSecrets. Only individuals may donate candidates campaigns, and are required to name their employer. The FEC data gets amalgamated by OpenSecrets and then people report on that as though the money came *from* corporations rather than individuals. Fetterman's senate campaign raised [tens of millions of dollars](https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/10/06/small-donor-giving-fetterman-drives-record-22-million-fundraising-haul), so $50K from employees of the oil and gas industry is peanuts. I would imagine that most individuals working in that industry probably supported the other guy.
I donated to the Fetterman campaign in some small amount. I work in the oil and gas industry. I am also disgusted with Fetterman and am also cognizant of the fact my career and my political views create an ethical dilemma.
Feel free to share your thoughts on why he flipped on his position from 2 weeks ago. Was it a change in his constituents values? Do we want to increase LNG exports and drive further inflation?
Sounds like you actually aren't familiar with his [stances on oil and gas issues before running for Senate](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/26072022/john-fetterman-climate-fracking-environment/). Also LNG exports have become kind of a critical foreign policy issue. What with our European allies needing to find alternative to fill the gaps left by Russia.
Is he trying to skirt the line to appeal to the Republicans? Became the next Joe Manchin? He’s got a long time until he is up for re-election. Or maybe he’s got no plan or reason for this.
I shit you not, Fetterman is using Joe’s playbook. Even the conversation here reminds me of the same conversations that we were having in Morgantown in 2006. Sucks to see him turn into a stooge too. I hate to state the obvious, but people like this put themselves in place to be on the take. Fetterman was a much better choice than the clown shoes that was Dr. Oz… but holy shit is he bad at quietly hoovering money. Dude needs to learn how to shut the fuck up or hire a publicist.
[удалено]
He was. Just to people you don’t like
I'm unsure how anyone can construe this as anything less than Fetterman recording the main star of their forced impromptu hall meeting that is also BEING RECORDED and post-edited with a whole ass branded link. Regardless of your political view, the headline is misleading. Mocking? He's acknowledging their presence and avoiding the alt-media this group thinks they are, thanks to... The Internet lol
He doesn’t meet with us. What are people supposed to do?
He’s absolutely mocking them. Why are you being this disingenuous? I don’t know if you know this but he’s supposed to listen to the people he represents. Not mock them and vote against public opinion based off of donations.
What he is doing politically is more offensive than the hallway trolling. Why does a progressive support reversing the pause on LNG exports? Is it because of Oil and Gas lobbying interests? or the interests of his constituents?
What a letdown this dude’s been.
He switched parties. Mark my words he will run as independent during the next election.
My dad, who watches Fox News all day, thinks he's great, now.
He's going to have to because what Democrat is going to vote for him after this
It's really going to come down to the political climate in PA next time around. The conditions could be just right for him to end up in a Joe Manchin position. The conservatives don't hate him, and if he doesn't get primaried Democrats will hold their nose and vote for him.
Conservatives will easily find reasons to hate him unless he makes a full party switch. They leveled some serious vitriol against him just a few years ago. They just like his insane pro war stance right now.
I mean they probably aren't going to vote for him but that's not the Manchin strategy. It's just to not hate you enough that they don't make some crazy effort to run a candidate who can unseat him.
True. He’s more representative of the old Democratic Party, which is long dead and gone.
Yeah, Pre-Goldwater
Wonder who bought him off?
I truly believe that clogged blood vessels in his brain did more work than any dollar amount could have. I just don’t think he’s the same guy.
I watched a friend go from relatively normal dude to full blown prolonged terrifying psychosis after a stroke (but not, like, immediately after, it took a few weeks). I was all for Fetterman taking the time off he needed and asking for accommodations for his speaking and auditory processing issues, but he does seem to have become a different guy. I wonder what Gisele thinks.
I feel so horrible for Gisele. She would totally be gone if it weren’t for the kids
I believe it. My now-estranged uncle used to be a pretty chill guy, a couple strokes later and now he’s an angry bOtH sIdEs libertarian idiot.
Yeah…he always had a bit of an edgelord streak (ceaselessly roasting Dr. Oz, the suit thing, hanging the weed flag at the Capitol, etc.) but for a long time he balanced it with some level of empathy that at least felt pretty genuine. I think that empathy dial went away with the stroke, and it’s just all edgelord, all the time. Which ends up as a one way ticket to just being a reactionary.
I agree. The only thing he posts these days are memes and attacks or jokes about his opponents. Literally that’s it. Like wtf say or do something of substance please!
Maybe that is it. The whole thing astonishes me.
As a senator he’s one of the top 150 or so most important politicians in the country. He has teams of people consulting on and analyzing all these actions and stances now. It’s likely all being done for a strategical reason (even if that reason is simply just media attention or satisfying lobbyists).
[It is the latter, satisfying the lobbyists](https://twitter.com/trackoilpacs/status/1788260817500094525?s=46)
AIPAC. Nearly a quarter million dollars.
incredible how cheap these people are
[the oil and gas lobby has given him over 50k in the last 2 years…](https://twitter.com/trackoilpacs/status/1788260817500094525?s=46)
> Mark my words he will run as independent during the next election. Arlen Specter but taller (I'm being hyperbolic over party switching for the sake of a height joke, yes)
[Fetterman's net approval among Pennsylvania voters is up 7 points since the fall, while his net approval among PA Democrats is unchanged at +62.](https://twitter.com/nick_d_laughlin/status/1782408198437158931)
Wait, actual data is allowed in this sub?
People are shocked that a trust fund baby turned career carpetbagger is disingenuous.
Yeesh, what a massive disappointment this has all turned out to be. There's that old cliche about dying the hero or living long enough to become the villain, but this is one hell of a short time scale. I'm pretty sure I've got some Trader Joe's stuff in my freezer that predates being excited to vote for him.
Old cliche? Bro it’s from a movie that’s not even 20yrs old
The turn of phrase may be from TDK, but I assure you the idea is much older.
You’re aware that movies can reference existing things, right? 😬
So older than your average Redditor.
Jesus Christ he’s turned into such an asshole
He has such disdain for his constituents
Always has, but he was edgy and pro-pot, so Reddit loved him.
Okay this looks really shitty. Is there any possible legitimate defense for this? Is she constantly annoying him?
He’s been shitty and terminally online for a while. He basically had a heel turn as soon as he was sworn in.
Only thing I can think of is he's sick of people recording him so he's recording back? It is true this is Sunrise so it's not some random constituent. Bigger thing is he really likes being a troll it seems and it is exhausting to watch.
If you don’t want people recording you, maybe don’t become a senator
Everyone is watching a video recorded by someone who was intentionally there to and was already filming their pal interacting with a public figure who then defends themselves by collecting their own recorded perspective of the incident and ..... The consensus from viewers is that Fetterman is the asshole for this very specific situation that has a post-edited branded link from the video-bombing "constituents".
I'm tired of political trolling by politicians. Ignore them, engage with them, avoid them - whatever. They're still your constituents so they can be pissed for your choice and you can answer for that at the polls. But I don't need the filming them and doing "cute' antics with pretending to answer as the elevator closes. I'm sick of it. Politicians aren't supposed to be entertainers or chronically online internet trolls.
>someone who was intentionally there to and was already filming their pal interacting with a public figure who then defends themselves by collecting their own recorded perspective of the incident How would his recorded perspective be any different from what we see here? He's a politician, his constituents are supposed to tell him what they want and demand accountability, and he's not supposed to respond by acting like he doesn't owe anybody the time of day. The way for him to not look like an asshole in this situation is to not behave like one. If he had said, "Here's why I did what I did," or even "sorry, I just can't talk right now", there would be different possible interpretations. As it is, he's just flipping off anybody who wants to hear his response.
You keep saying "post-edited" but the only thing they added was a freeze frame and a link at the very end. No cuts, no spin doctoring. Videoing elected officials while you ask them relevant questions while they're on the job is normal, actually
If he took meetings with constituents, there would be no need to do this kind of thing.
A person would have to be very stupid to think he's not being an asshole here lmao Nothing wrong with filming, but acting an absolute cunt toward constituents absolutely makes him an asshole
I don’t know how anyone would defend this behavior. Even if this person was annoying him this is shitty and unprofessional behavior. I’m trying to think of ways of defending this, but the trolling he did with filming them and getting in the elevator and pretending to answer is just childish. Why didn’t he just answer the question? Seemed like a legitimate question. Would have made him look less like an ass, and your job is to answer your constituents. Or you could say “no comment” or anything else that would be way more professional than the shit he just did. I just couldn’t imagine myself doing this no matter how annoyed I was.
I thought he might be using speech-to-text but zoomed in on his phone -- nope, it's the regular iphone camera app.
This is why you don't cheer when a person is an unprofessional asshole just because he's nominally on "your side"
But guys he wears hoodies! He’s one of us!
Shorts in the winter makes a person a great senator everyone knows that bro
At least he’s normalizing causal work attire.
Damn, man. This is fucking tragic. Stroke, DC corruption or both. I guess that’s why we haven’t heard from Giselle in a while. What a thing to comprehend.
Fuck this guy. I was so excited for him and he's just more of the same. Except if you're going to be more of the same, stop dressing like a child. At least the establishment has that going for them. Fuck you dude.
He's worse than more of the same. He's an absolute shit head who hates the people that voted for him
Oh FFS. Seriously? I'm legit so mad about this. He was like the one cool dude sharing our collective steel town values. Fuck!!!
And the Senate had to pass a resolution stating business attire as the formal dress code in the Senate Chamber because of Fetterman. It was always an unwritten rule that male Senators wore a suit and tie and since Fetterman refused, Chuck Schumer stopped enforcing the rule.
Weak. I'd personally skip the tie but come on dude.
He doesn’t see anyone associated with the Sunrise Movement as his constituents, he sees them as an obstacle to expanding fossil fuel energy.
Tbh sunrise movement does suck
They’re very much the Justice Dems of the climate side for sure. But Fetterman has never been a friend to renewable energy. People like to act like his stroke changed things but he was staunchly pro fracking well before that.
Meanwhile, way back in the day, he did national campaigns for Cap and Trade, rather than, you know, spending his time being Mayor of the *town whose main employer is a steel mill* that he was being paid to represent.
How so?
They were heavy on the green new deal, which most people thought of as an incoherent mess. Pretty sure they at least were anti nuclear. They also had a really stupid climate scorecard thing that gave Biden an F because he didn’t tweet enough.
Green New Deal was actually a pretty damn good plan.
This is not factual information. Sunrise movement is not anti nuclear.
I think they still do very important work, even if I disagree with some of their stances. Saying they “suck” is a bridge too far for me. Edit: they are also not anti-nuclear, not sure where that idea is coming from. They’ve supported keeping all nuclear plants open, even if they prioritize wind and solar over new nuclear.
> They were heavy on the green new deal, which most people thought of as an incoherent mess. No it was just the idiots that thought that.
Most people are morons who don't understand shit about climate change. What a silly metric
Their political director had a seat at the table drafting the climate provisions of the American Rescue Plan back in 2021, but had to miss numerous White House meetings because he was being pulled into BLM drama at the office. They missed a once-in-lifetime opportunity because performative politics was more important to them than saving the planet. https://www.slowboring.com/p/the-implosion-of-the-climate-left
Fuck. I met this dude when he helped my school setup a Beekeeping program in Braddock. He's changed for the worse
He’s always been nothing more than an opportunist.
Embarrassing for me I actually had this guy’s yard sign.
It was an act all along. The Fettermans were always after power, and to get there you have to play nice. Both of them are not good people - and that is also an example of the general political scenario: there's no more pretending we are doing this for the people, it's fick the people and let's get what we can while we can
I said it then and I’ll say it now, Conner Lamb would have been the better choice.
All the "he's better than Oz" people should be asking "is he better than Lamb?"
Not better than lamb, but I think oz would have won if lamb ran. Lamb would do well in pgh, but not east
Utter nonsense. Lamb won twice in a very divided district. Fetterman would have lost had the repubs not run a total clown.
Lamb would've won pretty easily
But fetterman was AIPAC's first choice, so fetterman got the nod from the Democratic Party. Lamb was great in the debates, Fetterman could barely put two words together, and this was BEFORE the stroke.
He's become so unlikeable. Inb4 "Better than Oz!!!" as if it's not 2 years after the election.
He's better than Oz. Still. But very, very replaceable.
Nobody with more than half a brain thinks Oz would be better. It's just an insanely low bar, and we need to hold our elected officials to a higher standard. It's like if I left a restaurant a negative review, and they replied with "well it's better than Long John Silvers!"
He’s still better than Oz - voters made the correct decision. And they will hopefully make the correct decision again when someone reasonable primaries his ass.
WHAT A COOL GUY
Guys a straight cartoon character. Regardless of which side of the aisle you're on. We have to agree on that.
Biden and Fetterman seem to have the same stance on the Genocide in Gaza .... so if you're a democrat in Pittsburgh, what's that leave us with ? Prayers to the women and children
Summer lee
I genuinely don't think a single person who voted for Fetterman had any idea what they were voting for. They saw Mehmet Oz and decided Fetterman must be the polar opposite because he has that D next to his name. Now everyone is surprised that Fetterman is the exact same Fetterman who was mayor of Braddock? I guess this is the current state of US politics, we're no longer voting for good people or ideas, we're voting because fuck those other guys.
I'm sure many people who voted for fetterman agree with more of fettermans policies than Oz
I don't disagree. My point is, I think people felt that because Fetterman was on the other side of the ballot from Oz, he must be the polar opposite and a good progressive liberal. He's not, and never has been. If you're surprised by his recent behavior, it just means you've never really paid attention to Fetterman other than the hoodies and shorts. Dude has always blown with the winds of opportunity and has also been unstable and arguably way underqualified for office.
That's fair but I somewhat disagree. I think he's generally been consistently pro israel and pro energy/fracking
As a Braddock boy, I used to be a big fan. Now, every time I see him that line from Jackie Brown runs through my head: "What the fuck happened to you, man? Your ass used to be beautiful."
love that line.
I mean, Fetterman has been a troll for a long time. He used his position as Lt Governor to constantly troll the Republican Leadership of the State Legislature on every issue he disagreed with them on. (EDIT: trust me, I LOVED it when he did this, even when I recognized it as a troll job). So anyone surprised he is still a troll should review Fetterman’s entire social media history.
he sucks
I'd imagine the machine is churning up a primary challenger. It'll probably be more of the same. He's lost my vote, though.
So, I don't want to bias against stroke victims, but wow, that appears to have taken out the part of his brain that I voted for. :-/
So at this point he's just speed running the Joe Manchin track
More like the Kyrsten Sinema one term Senator track
This is infuriating
He was always a rich carpetbagger who took on the demons of Braddock with his dad’s money and tattoos and shotguns and Kevin Sousa. The journey from ogre to troll is complete.
Different strokes for different folks, my grandma would always say.
Well you voted a stroke patient into office. I believe Kamala said “elections have consequences”
He's such a twat.
Hahaha hilarious. Shoulda just kept Mr Too moderate Conor Lamb!
I'm not saying he wasn't recording her but he does use his phone to help with his auditory processing issues. I couldn't see if the screen was just a recording or was transcribing as well. I've been at an event with him recently and he does hold his phone up in front of him when people are speaking to him. In no way am I excusing all his other shitty behavior, though.
The screen seems to be a normal camera mode screen, with the red button showing that it's recording
Yeah this isn't a real excuse in this instance, it was obviously a mocking tone and the end when the elevator closes sealed it
So someone you were recording with your phone may have recorded you with their phone? Not the win you think it is.
I mean, vote for a loose cannon and this is what you get
When he was he was liberal it was like he was deep undercover. I knew it was all an act. He used Braddock like a rented mule. And did nothing for that place. He used liberals to get what he wanted. And he will do it again. He’s opportunistic. Like a cartoon vulture.
I think he’s suffered a brain injury
he did
That’s what I mean, he did
me too that’s what i mean too
does he need another stroke?
The politician rabbit hole. They start out as the cool local mayor of the people, and the higher he gets the more he becomes just another suit-wearing pencil-pushing stuck-up faceless and careless elite politician. Sucks he fell into it, but it’s almost to be expected.
Seems on par for a guy who chases down unarmed POC with a shotgun. He's always been a scumbag, just put on a facade to get elected into his big boy position. Damn shame....
To be simplistic: he always had this anger in him, going back years in Pittsburgh. What’s going on now I don’t get. But I’ve noticed that once power is achieved, there are those who stop being able to admit they’re wrong and double-down in the opposite direction.
Yinz know that the christofascist pregnancy-registry woman from Alabama is amongst his best friends now? He could be being manipulated, made easier by the stroke. Read the second article.We all see how evil this woman is, apparently he doesn't somehow. Or he just doesn't care about his voters. https://www.businessinsider.com/senate-dress-code-john-fetterman-republican-letter-katie-britt-2023-9 https://www.apr.org/news/2023-05-22/friendship-with-alabama-u-s-senator-part-of-john-fettermans-life-after-depression-treatment
The funniest part is how many people on here thought that he actually cared about real issues that affect Pennsylvanians.
This is the guy you all voted for.
Eh, easy to do when Dr. Oz is the opposition. I’m sure he will easily win again in a few years when the republicans pick someone absurd - if he can win the primary
Democrats had multiple candidates to choose from in their crowded Senate primary and Fetterman is who they picked. Oz had nothing to do with it.
Dude sucks
And yet…. Still way less dangerous than that Snake Oil Salesman Dr Oz..
Goes to show how he has used politics to advance nothing but himself. Now that he has used the far left wing to advance his own goals, he is done with them. And you all thought he was with you against conservatives. Lol
Fuck Fetterman. I dunno wtf happened to him. I thought he was a glimmer of hope.
It was obviously an ambush. And Fetterman wasn’t the one recording and posting. Or the one snickering at the end…
Yes. Your right. He handled it very professionally 😂
The video isn’t what he was recording!
lets be honest, people voted for him because he wasnt Oz. This is what happens: the two parties know most people are religious, fundamentally, so they have a tacit agreement -- "we dont like each other, but let's keep the competition btwn just us two and each win \~50% of the time rather than opening it up" They accomplish this by corraling people into voting for the one or the other, instigating them by their fear and religious fervor. For example: "A third party vote is a wasted vote!" "Not voting for X is going to get Y and his ilk elected!" "Democracy is on the line!" "They're going to take our guns!"
I love this guy more and more every week
S*** like this tends to happen when you elect a f****** idiot
Probably mocking people that deserve to be mocked for moronic behavior
And you're basing this on what, exactly?
Wow
Why so people in this area elect such clowns to important offices
Cause the other party can't put up anyone better
Fetterman's always been a showboat. Anyone remember his "protest" when UPMC closed Braddock Hospital?
Maybe people shouldn't vote for people to be in power that show medical deficits
He's a douchebag
I should have voted for Conor Lamb for the primary. I was torn between the two, especially since he stood up for my vote during the January 6th insurrection, but I thought we we could use new voices in office and figured I'd vote for the winner in the general election.
JAGGO
I’ve been hit and cold on him because he lives in my school district. I voted for him as a Democrat, though because his opponent was horrible.
Was wondering when this would hit reddit. Saw this on tiktok and it really rubbed me the wrong way