Now it’s time for me to do something critics rarely do: openly admit that I was wrong.
This is a rare occurrence in the commentary world, but it happened to me.
Yes, I was wrong about Senator John Fetterman.
In an op-ed for The Washington Post on Valentine’s Day 2023, I expressed the opinion that Pennsylvania’s freshman senator lacked the mental and physical capabilities necessary to perform the job.
He reportedly couldn’t understand people, had difficulty walking and was unfit for work.
The mainstream media rallied to his defense (he had a D next to his name, after all), but New York Times promotional article To Fetterman, the voices sounded like those of adults in the “Peanuts” cartoons (they were indistinguishable noises) and he acknowledged that his own health issues have left him with “physical disabilities and serious mental health issues.”
But it was a rare concession: After NBC’s Dasha Barnes interviewed Fetterman live on air and in front of the cameras, she said Fetterman seemed lost in the conversation.
The revelation led to Burns being heavily criticized by left-wing activists and fellow journalists (to some extent now there is a difference), with accusations of “ableism” and more. She was denounced on-air by her own network’s Savannah Guthrie and in the Times.
All of this leads me to the conclusion that Fetterman is nothing more than a tool of the party: manipulated by his staff, told how to vote by his cronies, and systematically subservient to the Democratic Party and the left-wing activists who control it.
It’s basically a Senate voting machine programmed by bureaucrats.
Again, I was wrong.
Fetterman’s health has improved more quickly than expected, and, perhaps not coincidentally, as he heals from his brain injury he is finding himself less and less agreeable with left-wing activists and Democratic Party officials.
Speaking at Yeshiva University’s commencement ceremony, Fetterman dramatically removed his Harvard hood and expressed “deep disappointment” with his alma mater’s refusal to address rampant anti-Semitism on campus, spreading his frustration across the Ivy League, which fosters anti-Semitism.
Fetterman said, “As a Harvard alumnus, I graduated 25 years ago, and of course I was always a bit of a pinko then, but now I don’t know what it is.”
“Jewish communities around the world deserve our support,” he added, “and I assure you that you will always have my support.”
And that’s not all: When pro-Palestinian protesters showed up at the senator’s home (a topic that left-wing activists have not come to his defense for attack) and told him he had “nowhere to hide,” Fetterman defiantly climbed onto the roof of his house, carrying an Israeli flag.
His unscripted behavior isn’t limited to Israel: When an environmental activist approached him in a Senate hallway to berate him about his support for the pipeline, he pulled out his cell phone and recorded a video of himself mocking her.
“I’ve talked to Republicans who are friendlier than that,” the activist snorted afterwards.
Fetterman also opposes the Biden administration’s open border policy and has taken a hard line against illegal immigration.
He has also differed with the White House on energy policy, voicing support for pipelines and liquefied natural gas exports.
He called Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey a “scumbag.”
And he, despite being a senator, undercuts the Democrats’ loafer attacks on Donald Trump by saying, “I don’t know exactly what his trial is about.”
Across the board, progressive news outlets have complained that he has adopted a new, caustic style that tolerates no sanctuaries on the left.
This has not gone down well with Democrats, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, known for her tirades against Republicans, now calling Fetterman a “bully.”
Fetterman appears unfazed. For now, he’s meeting with Democrats in the Senate, but there’s nothing to stop him from meeting with Republicans if Democrats irritate him enough.
With the Senate split 51-49, this is sure to cause heartburn for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
Is it just a coincidence that as Fetterman’s brain repairs, his thinking has shifted to the right?
I dare say “no.”
Glenn Harlan Reynolds is a law professor at the University of Tennessee and founder of the blog InstaPundit.com.
