Imagine that you’d just been hired for a stressful time-sucking job while at the same time you were struggling to recover from a life-endangering stroke accompanied by mental depression so serious that it put you back in the hospital for an indeterminate period. Might you conclude, however reluctantly, that your uniquely punishing job isn’t worth the risk of permanently ruining your health?
A stint in the U.S. Senate would be enough to stress anybody. It’s no knock on John Fetterman to suggest that he may not be sufficiently fit to remain there. Pennsylvanians deserve to know whether he can fully perform his duties, and, given the dire info that’s already in circulation, they have every right to ask hard questions.
I suppose that, by writing those two paragraphs, I’ll be denounced by disability activists as an insensitive “ableist.” My only defense is that I’m talking common sense.
When Fetterman was admitted last week to Walter Reed (where he remains), key passages in a New York Times report made it abundantly clear that the new senator is dealing with issues that would threaten to overwhelm any mortal. For instance:
“After the life-changing stroke, days before the Democratic primary last year, Mr. Fetterman briefly pared down his schedule to recover. But he continued his campaign…Now, the possibility that he may have missed out on a crucial recovery period has become a source of pain and frustration for Mr. Fetterman and people close to him, who fear that he may suffer long-term and potentially permanent repercussions. His schedule as a freshman senator has meant that he has continued to push himself in ways that people close to him worry are detrimental.”
And this:
“(He has) profound challenges, both physical and emotional…Since January, Mr. Fetterman has been trying to dig into his new job, attending caucus meetings and committee hearings, meeting with constituent groups and attending high-profile events like President Biden’s State of the Union address this month.” But “his closest aides” realized “he needed a better plan to take care of himself physically and emotionally.” Meanwhile his wife Gisele says she’s “sad and worried” about the “difficult days ahead.”
There would be no shame in stepping down, if or when that decision seems inescapable. Health comes first. Compassion comes first.
And, frankly, the seat would stay blue because Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro would appoint a replacement. (Earlier this week, Shapiro released the requisite statement of support, predicting that Fetterman will “do a great job for the people of Pennsylvania as their senator for a long time.”) The problem, however, is that Fetterman and his allies may well dig in their heels, determined to defy the right-wing critics who’ve been calling him a “vegetable” and worse. But is it worth jeopardizing his long-term health, and risk the aforementioned “permanent repercussions,” merely out of a desire to prove the jackals wrong?
Dare I say that the jackals weren’t totally wrong, during the ’22 campaign, when they raised questions about Fetterman’s health? Lest we forget, he refused to release his medical records or let his doctors answer those questions. He also said stuff like this: “I keep getting better and better, and I’m living a perfectly normal life.” Only now have we learned (according to Fetterman’s chief of staff) that “John has experienced depression off and on throughout his life.”
Depression, of course, is common and treatable. Depression in the aftermath of a major stroke is something else entirely. As one mental health expert wrote this week, “For someone like Fetterman, with a prominent public profile and an enormous burden of responsibility, the psychological strain is immense…Mental illnesses are diseases of the brain, and stroke kills brain cells. Fetterman struggles to understand spoken language because the parts of his brain that process speech were damaged when they were deprived of oxygen; he may be experiencing depression because other regions of his brain were damaged as well.”
Fetterman and his team are being lauded for their current transparency (despite their reticence last fall). Kudos indeed for combating the stigma around mental illness and depression. But you don’t have to be an “ableist,” or a right-wing ghoul, to questions – legitimately – whether a seriously impaired soul with a punishing public post has what it takes to go the distance.