The New York Times finally comes clean about John Fetterman…and it’s not

Anyone who has paid even the slightest amount of attention to the 2022 PA Senate campaign knows that John Fetterman had no business doing anything, not even catching dogs. The man is very unhealthy. But, if you said that during the campaign, you were called a terrible person for even suggesting this. Now, he’s in a hospital, suffering from dizziness, and The New York Times is reporting that Fetterman is having a hard time grinding out life in the Senate, saying when people talk, they sound like the teacher from the show “Peanuts.”

great…

From the New York Times:

But her adjustment to work in the Senate has been made much more difficult by the strain of her recovery, which has left her with physical disabilities and severe mental health challenges that have made the transition extraordinarily challenging — even with accommodations. Help him adapt.

“What you have to do to recover from this is to do as little as possible,” said Adam Gentelson, his chief of staff. Instead, Mr. Fetterman “was forced to do as much as possible — he had to get back on the campaign trail. It’s hard to put it back.”

On Wednesday, Mr. Fetterman was hospitalized after feeling light-headed while attending a day-long Senate Democratic retreat in Washington. Tests showed no signs of another stroke and his spokesman said he was doing well, speaking to family and staff. But he spent a second night in hospital on Thursday as doctors monitored him for seizures.

The latest health scare convinced his staff that Mr. Fetterman needed a better plan to take care of himself, both physically and mentally.

Mr. Fetterman declined to be interviewed for this story. But aides and confidants describe his role in the Senate as a difficult one, filled with unfamiliar responsibilities that are taxing for someone still in recovery: meetings with constituents, attending caucus and committee meetings, public appearances at White House events and the State of the Union. address, as well as make a presence in Pennsylvania.

The most obvious disability is a neurological condition that impairs his hearing. Mr. Fetterman suffers from auditory processing problems, forcing him to rely primarily on a tablet to transcribe what is being said to him. Hearing problems are inconsistent; They often worsen when he is in a stressful or unfamiliar situation. When it’s bad, Mr. Fetterman describes it as trying to recreate the slurred voice of the teacher in the “Peanuts” cartoon, whose words can never be deciphered.

The stroke – after which he was fitted with a pacemaker and defibrillator – also took a less apparent but very real psychological toll on Mr Fetterman. It’s been less than a year since the stroke transformed him from a man who advocated machismo — a central part of his political identity — to a physically altered version of himself, and he’s sometimes disappointed that he still hasn’t bounced back. The man he once was. He has to accept the fact that he may have permanently set himself back by not taking the recommended amount of rest during the campaign. And he continues to push himself in a way that worries those close to him.

“It’s stressful, going through that experience in the context of one of the most high-profile Senate races in the country,” Mr. Gentelson said.

As Mr. Fetterman adjusts to his new life, the Senate and his colleagues adjust to his special needs.

“We have to learn our own style with it,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, who said she tested the tablet at a recent Democratic caucus luncheon. “What I was saying was accurate even when I spoke fast. I wanted to make sure it was correct. It was kind of imagining what it would be like to be her.”

“He answers the way you would answer anybody,” Ms. Klobuchar added. “It’s something we have to get used to; He’s used to it.”

The ongoing hearing issue means Mr. Fetterman cannot participate in the hallway scrums with reporters that are part of most lawmakers’ daily existence in the Capitol. He usually moves around the building with many of the staff, partly because he needs assistants to check the technical setup before he enters any room and partly because they are still learning their way around the building.

This man should not have been allowed to run for office. There should be some “bar” that people must meet before attempting to serve the public.

The same goes for the dementia patient in the White House.