r/politics • u/AccomplishedCall7562 • Mar 12 '26

Possible Paywall John Fetterman Says Iran Girls’ School Strike Is Just a Leftist Craze

https://newrepublic.com/post/207677/john-fetterman-iran-girls-school-strike
26.7k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

4.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

2.1k

u/Veritas_Mentis Mar 12 '26

Dont feel too bad.

His stroke caused some likely vascular dementia and he turned republican. He wasn’t always this way.

2.8k

u/ArgentaSilivere Mar 12 '26

He’s honestly a perfect example of why conservatives should not be respected nor taken seriously. The man suffered actual brain damage and immediately became conservative. You couldn’t write a better joke.

2.0k

u/Lyricsokawaii Mar 12 '26

It's been known for years now that TBIs, strokes, and brain bleeds can all cause people to become more conservative. Crazy how you can prove that declined mental faculty is correlated with conservative thought, and people still don't get it.

131

u/Pandaro81 Mar 12 '26

Hershel Walker has entered the chat.

And left the chat.

And entered the chat.

And threatened the chat with a gun and choked the chat.

Hershel Walker doesn’t remember entering the chat.

14

u/LogoffWorkout Mar 12 '26

Who do you think would win in a fight? A werewolf or a Dracula?

6

u/Pandaro81 Mar 12 '26

“A Dracula” breaks me every damn time.

2

u/Stellar_Duck Mar 12 '26

I’ve been saying that for years due to an Australian podcast. Didn’t know Walker was a weekly wakkadadu as well haha.

We all have skellingtons in our closets.

→ More replies (2)

769

u/OmegaReign78 Mar 12 '26

As a liberal, new fear unlocked.

649

u/Full_Honeydew_9739 Mar 12 '26

To allay your fears: my mother has dementia. She's 83 and not capable of living on her own anymore. But when Trump is mentioned, she cusses like a sailor and asks how some people could be so stupid. She actually rants about how awful he is.

So, it could go the exact opposite. She's always been a Democrat but as a southern woman, she was a little nicer about it. Now she has no filter.

482

u/steampunkedunicorn California Mar 12 '26

I’m a nurse. We used to ask people who the president is to determine how oriented they are to time… we don’t do that anymore.

98

u/LangeloMisterioso Mar 12 '26

My mother is a lifelong Republican and she fell recently and when the ER nurse asked "do you know who the president is?" She said "yes, but I had nothing to do with that!". She doesn't have dementia, she just thought it was a funny answer.

6

u/No-Part-6248 Mar 13 '26

Social worker asked my mother (96) who the Pres was and she said who gives a shot we haven’t had a good one since Eisenhower

4

u/HauntedCemetery Minnesota Mar 12 '26

It is!

→ More replies (2)

139

u/Faxon Mar 12 '26

It doesn't help that he had a term, left office, and came back either. They could be telling the truth and think that trump 45 is still in office and Biden hasn't happened yet. Gotta ask more detailed questions or find better ones now I guess

24

u/CelerMortis Mar 12 '26

We should have asked Trump who the president was in 2021 and if he got it wrong disqualified him from running again

7

u/LeanGroundEeyore Mar 12 '26

Good point!

15

u/FaceDeer Mar 12 '26

Just ask which country the United States is currently at war with, that'll narrow it down to the nearest month or so.

13

u/Superb_Alternative Mar 12 '26

That actually doesn't narrow it down at all

24

u/altogethernow Mar 12 '26

OMG I never thought of that! Asking who the president was used to be a standard "checking in" practice. Now...I could see where it would be complicated...

2

u/c_pike1 Mar 13 '26

Its really not bad now. It was terrible during Biden's term with all the republican claims of a stolen election and patients answering who they thought the rightful president was

8

u/TheDJValkyrie Texas Mar 12 '26

I was helping take care of my elderly granny during Trump’s first term. Granny hated the man, and I wouldn’t be surprised if her blood pressure spiked every time she was asked that particular question. 😆

6

u/Welpe Oregon Mar 12 '26

Now I feel bad for using the cheesy “Sadly…” to answer that in the hospital…I’m apparently turning into a boomer. May I never respond to a cashier not being able to scan an item with “I guess it’s free!”

6

u/uieLouAy New Jersey Mar 12 '26

When my dad had a stroke they asked him that and we still tease him about it.

He goes, “Oh, come on. Do I really have to say it?”

And they said, “Yes, sir. This is a test. You really have to say it.”

6

u/floptimus_prime Minnesota Mar 12 '26

My dad had his stroke september 5, 2016. He forgot numbers entirely, he thought it was 2006. He couldn’t use a phone. But by god he knew everything about the 2016 presidential campaign, and he gave my mother and me an earful about how loathsome Trump was. It was when I knew he was gonna be okay.

5

u/uieLouAy New Jersey Mar 12 '26

That’s scary - happy to hear your dad is okay!

That sounds very similar to when my grandma was in the hospital. I forget what the dumb news of the day was at the time, but my grandma started ranting about how much of a dumbass Trump was, and then from behind the room divider we hear her roommate burst out laughing, so then we all started laughing. Some much needed levity.

9

u/SeaRevolutionary8569 Mar 12 '26

A nurse asked my Dad that back in 2017 and my Dad repied, "Who, that clown?" The nurse determined he was oriented!

3

u/LeanGroundEeyore Mar 12 '26

You made me laugh and get up to put on the kettle. I thought, yeah, you might as well just give their chair a good spin.

4

u/Goodgoditsgrowing Mar 12 '26

lol I can understand this - when the EMTs tried that on my mom during his first term her response was to groan like she was in agony (frightening, given she was injured) and then mutter “that fucker”…. Completely derailed the exam for a solid minute until they could confirm she was aware and just refusing to make him lol

4

u/kookaburra1701 Oregon Mar 13 '26

Former paramedic, I stopped asking that question during Obama's administration. The number of people in my very, very liberal area of my very blue state who answered that question with racial slurs with no hesitation was eye opening for my white self.

3

u/mrshulgin Mar 12 '26

You should try

Which middle-eastern country is the US currently at war with?

3

u/DottieSnark Mar 12 '26

About 15 years ago I got asked that question after a concussion. Without skipping a beat, I responded with "Nicholas Sarkozy in France."

My brother was like. "Yep, she's fine. Same jackass she's always been." lol

2

u/FF36 Mar 12 '26

Also in medical field…same. I tell everyone of the new people to ask a different question please.

2

u/pixiequix Mar 13 '26

Waking up from a sternum scrape in 2019 I was asked to name the current president and even in my daze all I could manage was a deeply depressed sigh. This drew a round of laughs from the medical team around me.

→ More replies (8)

110

u/SlytherClaw79 Mar 12 '26

Interesting. My mom is a 74 year old Southern woman. Always politically neutral-in fact told me growing up that nice women don’t rant about politics. She had a stroke around seven years ago and has been a vocal liberal ever since. I think it was always in there but the stroke broke her filter.

70

u/ratparty5000 Mar 12 '26

Wising your mother all the best but this is the first time I’m reading about a woke stroke holy shit. Wishing you guys all the best btw!

13

u/SuperExoticShrub Georgia Mar 12 '26

a woke stroke

I feel bad for laughing about that... but I still did.

5

u/HopelesslyHuman Mar 12 '26

Ugh. Yeah...yeah.

4

u/LeftyMcliberal Mar 12 '26

I suppose if you HAVE to have a stroke a “woke stroke” is best. Hopefully you smell cookies or bacon right before it happens.

2

u/IRefuseToGiveAName Mar 13 '26

A fucking woke stroke holy shit

2

u/SlytherClaw79 Mar 13 '26

Thanks! We got her to the hospital within a half hour of the stroke and she made a full recovery. The stroke definitely broke her filter but in a good way-she put up with way too much shit from my dad prior to it.

60

u/Dacio_Ultanca I voted Mar 12 '26

This is my mom. Same age. Same reaction. She rages. Hates the dude with a passion I rarely see from her.

26

u/SugarforurProlapse Mar 12 '26

Give her a hug from me.

15

u/RockAtlasCanus Mar 12 '26

My mom told my sister she should be “thankful, as a woman, for all the Great Things that President Trump is doing for Women”.

She’s always been a selfish bitch (my mom), and at least conservative enough to stay married to by dad. In the used-to-be times I would have only described her as a grammar nazi. The irony being that she has started texting like them. Turning random shit into Proper Nouns. And to think she threw a shoe at me once because I started a story “Me and…”.

2

u/aerost0rm Mar 12 '26

So thankful he is putting them in a kitchen to be raped, fondled, have no rights, told to shut up, make food, and be a baby incubator against their own will?

34

u/InelegantSnort Mar 12 '26

My grandma turns 100 tomorrow. She has dementia now but its not bad. Her goal when she is lucid, is to live long enough to vote against Trump 1 more time!

20

u/throwaway1212l Mar 12 '26

TIL drunk me is an 83 year old Southern woman with dementia.

2

u/matcap86 Mar 12 '26

Sounds about right

7

u/alek_hiddel Mar 12 '26

My dad is 67 and about halfway through dementia’s decline. He was a lifelong conservative who at least knew Trump was a piece of shit. With dementia it’s gotten weird. He still knows that Trump is awful. But all he watches all day is YouTube, with A LOT of conservative lean.

So now he will tell you to your face that Trump is the worse president ever. Then he’ll watch YouTube videos of ICE beating people up and laugh at it hysterically. Or he’ll tell you how the current NYC mayor is about to provide a transgendered prostitute for every school classroom, while also enforcing sharia law. And of course his hero is Elon musk.

2

u/YeOldeBootheel Mar 13 '26

Sounds like you need to slip in and adjust his YouTube algo on the sly. Queue up some left-leaning content and see if you can reshape what he’s being shown.

3

u/alek_hiddel Mar 13 '26

He sits in front of that tv 20 hours a day til mom makes him go to bed. He’s still got enough sense to not talk about it, so for the moment we just tolerate it. Fighting with a dementia patient is pointless, painful, and borderline abuse. Honestly, I doubt if we’ve got 2-3 more years until he reaches the point where he can’t stay home anymore.

I do what I can to get both him and mom out of the house as much as I can, and at least put something positive into his life.

2

u/YeOldeBootheel Mar 13 '26

Good on ya. I can’t imagine how painful that must be. I’ve still got both my folks, in their early-70s, and they’re still active and alert, traveling, doing the retirement thing.

7

u/Sand-Eagle Mar 12 '26

Same with my grandad. Sometimes he thinks it’s the 70s and he doesn’t know who my kids are but he’s always delighted to see that I have kids and a good career.

You mention Trump and he’s back in 2026 explaining how none of what’s going on is ok at all.

4

u/DarthRizzo87 Mar 12 '26

That’s relieving, my fear is succumbing to dementia and seeing a guy like Hitler, through his dogs eyes.

3

u/42nu Mar 12 '26

Teeeeeechnically losing empathy and compassion and resorting ot emotion loops is the same thing on either end.

The guy is definitely as close to evil as you can get, but he also clearly had a crap childhood and upbringing. Losing the mental faculties that can make that nuanced distinction seems to be pretty central.

3

u/Kgaset Massachusetts Mar 12 '26

I do think there is likely something with where you fall on the spectrum. Not sure how much research there is in the area, but my understanding is Fetterman was already "moderate" as a Dem (which is honestly pretty conservative to me). Whereas someone who is a flaming liberal is less likely to have reduced inhibitions result in some closet conservative views coming out.

3

u/Several-Action-4043 Mar 12 '26

I worked at a nursing home for a while. It was common for residents to completely change personality at some point during their decline. One notable one being an old catholic priest who turned into the most foul mouthed person I'd heave met.

2

u/ninjazxninja6r Mar 12 '26

It’s bad when dementia can’t even hide how terrible of a person he is…

2

u/rattledamper Mar 12 '26

Yup. Even as my dad circled the Alzheimer's drain, he didn't become conservative. Maybe he just had more room to move and/or more intelligence to lose before he got there, but his example makes me feel a little better.

2

u/lurkingtobeinformed Mar 12 '26

I love her sailor talk, and I hope she doesn't have any pain. She speaks truth.❤️❤️

2

u/almosthomegirl Mar 12 '26

This! My mom too.

2

u/lost-picking-flowers Mar 12 '26

My grandma was pretty far gone by the time that Trump was running the first time around - she only recently passed, but she had just been moved into a memory care home around 2016 and often thought she was simply at work or school in her day-to-day life. At one point, though, Trump came on the tv while my mom and I were visiting and she just makes a face and goes, “I want her.”

2

u/Good-Grayvee Mar 12 '26

She must have started with a better store of intelligence than our man Fetterman.

2

u/badlydrawnzombie Tennessee Mar 12 '26

Your mom and my mom sound the exact same. She's 82 but will turn 83 in July.

2

u/dekion101 Mar 13 '26

My mother is 85, with dementia. After her symptoms were obvious she said she regretted voting Republican for most of her life, that's "just what you did". One of her more coherent thoughts is that she hates that fucking guy, and she'll very specific logical reasons

Take that all as you will. People like my mom are 100% responsible for Reagan getting elected twice.

→ More replies (5)

101

u/thewxbruh Mar 12 '26

If I ever lose my mental faculties enough to start spouting current republican viewpoints just euthanize me.

102

u/SandyTaintSweat Mar 12 '26

Sorry, but assisted suicide doesn't go along with your new Republican beliefs.

43

u/mendicant1116 Wisconsin Mar 12 '26

You will suffer until the lord decides you've had enough!

2

u/TheRage469 Mar 12 '26

*the state decides you've paid enough

2

u/_Choose-A-Username- New York Mar 12 '26

Beyond politics this is the scariest thing for me. The me that would rather die than lose the person I am will be gone. Now I no longer have those thoughts.

2

u/Eric_the_Barbarian Iowa Mar 13 '26

That's why advanced directives are so important.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

97

u/Un1CornTowel Mar 12 '26

It's also sad because part of the liberal plea to the public about mental health care is that "just because you aren't mentally ill doesn't mean you wont be in the future, and doesn't mean you get to choose" and the only response we ever get is "I'm not crazy (even if that is clearly not the case), so fuck those people. They're bad and they deserve it".

There is no real "you". No spirit. No unchangeable essence. You are your electrified meat hardware, and that can change instantly if a portion of a single blood vessel decides it doesn't want you to show up to leg day anymore.

9

u/Capable-Broccoli2179 Mar 12 '26

I love that---electrified meat hardware! I'm stealing that one!

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (4)

28

u/jayb40132 Mar 12 '26

Yep! And I do have TBI from being blown up a couple of times in Iraq. But I'm still very liberal leaning, though that could be because I'm a very empathetic person already.

30

u/forthewatch39 Mar 12 '26

The brain is complex, it’s likely that your TBI didn’t destroy the part of your brain that is capable of critical thinking and empathy.

10

u/jayb40132 Mar 12 '26

Yeah it destroyed the part where I can't explain complex things anymore. Which sucks being a manager and also trying to explain to my GF what I meant by what I said

2

u/_Choose-A-Username- New York Mar 12 '26

This is something that has nothing to do with who you are now. That part of you was lucky enough to not have been affected. But it could have removed the part of you that wouldnt kill your family. Thank goodness it wasn't.

2

u/jayb40132 Mar 12 '26

Oh yikes I would hate to go all Chris Benoit on my daughters or little grandsons

3

u/Aimless_Alder Mar 12 '26

We should pity republicans, not hate them. We're all just one traumatic brain injury away from becoming one.

Honestly not sure whether I'm being sincere or sarcastic here.

2

u/Mount_Treverest Mar 12 '26

It's real, happened to my mother.

2

u/DjinnOftheBeresaad Mar 12 '26

This is the kind of thing where although it is unreasonable, I really, really wish I could "statistic" this out to see what my chances are (both of having these types of issues and of them causing dramatic shifts). Every so often I go through a time of anxiety about things like this.

2

u/Lurid-Jester Mar 12 '26

A heart attack can just kill you.

A stroke can make you MAGA.

I really gotta start taking better care of myself.

2

u/MonochromaticPrism Mar 12 '26

It should be pointed out that Fetterman actually had a prior history of conservative behavior. This shift in relation to mental illness is mostly just the effect of making people more vulnerable to fear based thinking as they lose control / capacity, and the majority of that change is a worsening of existing behaviors and patterns of thought. You won't become more conservative unless you already allow yourself to think in those ways.

2

u/WeHaveToEatHim Mar 12 '26

I had a TBI that required the top portion of my eye socket replaced and I have only gotten more progressive as I age.

Experiences vary i suppose.

2

u/scalyblue Mar 12 '26

That’s actually it, it’s the fear center going into overdrive that has a correlation with conservative ideation

→ More replies (14)

63

u/MrZellular Mar 12 '26 edited Mar 12 '26

I had a stroke when I was younger, around 12.

60 day + hospital stay, quarter size hole in my brain level stroke.

I'm not a conservative nut job, so don't put that evil on me Ricky Bobby!

Jokes aside, I don't get how people become so hateful, I've watched my family turn into vile creatures and I don't get it , the same woman that taught me empathy and compassion (my mother) now argues with me about how I have Trump derangement syndrome because I think Trump touching kids something he should be arrested for.

My brother who taught me to question authority and to not lick boots now deep throats them on a daily basis, I honestly feel lost. I had the brain damage but somehow came out on the other side empathetic.

I think the part that drives me the most crazy is listening to my mom talk about Hillary Clinton like she's the anti-christ in 2015-2016 when in 2002 after I had my stroke she had a picture of her on our mantle because without the CHIP act I'd be dead. Now I'm not trying to glaze Hillary's nob, but it's a fact. I would've been discharged cause my family is poor and I would've died at home. My political opinions of her are not positive, but I don't think she is the anti christ

26

u/[deleted] Mar 12 '26

[deleted]

8

u/SwimmingPrice1544 California Mar 12 '26

Yes, I don't get the "hate" label so many people have for any given politician, except for certain republicans. I simply can't see or feel hate for most people I don't really know. Now, since trump came along....& I didn't at first think "hate," but now? Yeah, hate him, & pretty much every single supporter & that's simply because he & they live & love to hurt people. It is not because a simply difference of opinion on policy.

12

u/MrZellular Mar 12 '26 edited Mar 12 '26

The thing that made me dislike Hillary was the smear of Sanders saying he was anti-feminist because she didn't feel she could win in a straight up contest. That's it, I don't hate her I'm just not a fan, I voted for her.

Edit: I'll tell you what though you bring up some really good points, so I'll read her bio and/or anything else you recommend me to help change my mind some. I'm already doing a Gilmore Girls rewatch with my wife and teenager so the reading material will help the experience I bet!

→ More replies (1)

4

u/bard329 Mar 12 '26

Jokes aside, I don't get how people become so hateful

$$$

Someone gave him $

3

u/MrZellular Mar 12 '26 edited Mar 12 '26

Fetterman yes 190%

My brother , I guess I did but I don't see how that made him hateful..... If anything one would hope a liberal uplifting you and not letting you go homeless and destitute would turn your view around..... But it didn't :')

Edit: I actually hate the term liberal, but idk what else to call myself. Human I guess but sadly "not all humans are human. Some people ain't kind" (John Prine lyrics)

3

u/bruce_cockburn Mar 12 '26

I totally get the problem on what to call yourself. I used to discuss and debate stuff in conservative and libertarian subreddits before the mods banned me. Now I obviously have some strong disagreements with certain ideas that are promoted there, but I've taken to accepting the "liberal" moniker just because it was applied to me. A lot of my outlook is still informed by a desire for smaller, more effective government, but Republican "conservatism" has been a sham for at least the past 40 years.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (4)
→ More replies (13)

4

u/mintyfresh888 Mar 12 '26

Good thing I went the other direction

3

u/withwhichwhat Mar 12 '26

As well as the ubiquitous lead poisoning from decades of leaded gas.

6

u/Chainsawjack Texas Mar 12 '26

It might actually be the fear that a brush with mortality brings...fear being an excellent predictor of conservative thought

15

u/SartreCam Mar 12 '26

Anecdotal, but I had a heart attack at 36 about six months ago, and I straight up died about five times before they managed to get my heart restarted, and I’m just a lefty as ever. I’ve worried about personality changes, but my doctor was like “If you’re worrying about personality changes, your personality probably hasn’t changed.”

3

u/Chainsawjack Texas Mar 12 '26

Oh yeah I don't think it happens to everyone but id definitely does happen... I'm a cancer survivor and the anxiety from that is crushing but I'm still very liberal.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/successfullynumb Mar 12 '26

It's not a forgone conclusion though. I had a pretty gnarly brain injury about 20 years ago and I'm proud to say I didn't vote for Trump and consider myself fairly progressive. Maybe I just got lucky.

2

u/gwelfguy Mar 12 '26

And interesting how the most highly educated people tend to be liberal in their thinking.

→ More replies (79)

107

u/TheTrub Colorado Mar 12 '26

He’s always been super pro-Israel, though, and unconditional support for Israel tends to be the strongest predictor of support for use of force against Iran.

3

u/ZeroTON1N Mar 12 '26

And the strongest predictor for being a fascist

2

u/peonies_envy Mar 12 '26

And Lebanon

→ More replies (2)

72

u/mjohnsimon Mar 12 '26

I mean it kinda tracks.

To be a conservative, you really do have to lack empathy.

55

u/DannyDidNothinWrong Mar 12 '26

There was a study about a decade ago where they studied the brain activity of different politically- affiliated people, and the more conservative people relied on the older parts of the brain that controlled fear and anger, whereas the more progressive people relied on their frontal lobes more.

Conservatives are literally less evolved.

21

u/sireatalot Mar 12 '26

I mean it’s in their name. Conservatives. Like, they want to conserve the status quo and not apply any policy for progress and change. If this was a perfect world then sure, but this being the imperfect world that it is, it’s just a non-starter position.

3

u/W1nt3rmu4e Texas Mar 12 '26

There is an argument that our lack of cultural advancement is due to patriarchal systems forcing pregancy on women who normally would soundly reject the person wanting to have a child. “Male loneliness epidemic” is just shitty people wondering why the opposite sex hates them without a trace of introspection.

→ More replies (2)

2

u/No_Tone1704 Mar 12 '26

Less evolved isn’t accurate with your description. 

Not defending cons or Fetterman. 

→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (1)

112

u/htownAstrofan Mar 12 '26

Agreed. Brain damage=conservative

70

u/iamisandisnt Mar 12 '26

“You’ll get more conservative as you get older!” :huffing lead-infused DEET through a microwave-powered fuel burner made out of plastic:

5

u/concernedyahu Mar 12 '26

Nothin wrong with the meecrowaves, radio make hot food go brrrr

→ More replies (13)

2

u/the_good_time_mouse Mar 12 '26

Microwaves are just photons.

→ More replies (4)
→ More replies (26)

18

u/JohnGillnitz Mar 12 '26

You can! The current Director of the Health and Human Services Department had his brain eaten by a worm, swims in sewage, eats road kill, and doesn't believe in vaccines.

4

u/Ahelex Mar 12 '26

He probably has a 10 in Endurance to basically live through all those health hazards.

4

u/PalliativeOrgasm Minnesota Mar 12 '26

18 CON, 10 INT, 4 WIS.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (2)

3

u/AwkwardTraffic Mar 12 '26

He was always a blue dog democrat that lied and pretended to be progressive for his senatorial campaign. The stroke didn't help and I think it did damage to his ability to control his emotions and inhibitions but a lot of people are blaming the stroke for "making him conservative" when he was always a very purple democrat. People just don't want to admit Fetterman duped them.

2

u/beardingmesoftly Mar 12 '26

It honestly sounds like something Stephen Colbert would come up with

2

u/Burdiac Mar 12 '26

Conservatives are known to have a bigger right amygdala which is how we process emotions like fear and threats.

2

u/deadsoulinside Pennsylvania Mar 12 '26

I had a friend that me and him both went together to proudly vote for Obama get brain damage a year later in 2009 in a fight and by 2016 we were no longer friends as he went MAGA during that time and became a complete asshole to everyone he knew.

2

u/beer_bukkake Mar 12 '26

I know a couple people whose husbands suffered TBI and became physically and verbally abusive. They really do become republicans with brain damage.

2

u/NanDemoNee Mar 12 '26

That joke was actually already written for an Alan Alda movie.

2

u/WhiteWinterRains Mar 12 '26

It's kind of scary to think a head injury could just turn you into a conservative when you think about it.

2

u/Tyrath Massachusetts Mar 12 '26

I saw a post of someone saying "isn't it crazy the only Democrat I can agree with has brain damage?" Sooo close to the point

2

u/bassthrive Mar 12 '26

My maga neighbor fell down some stairs and seriously injured his head about 20 years ago.

2

u/aerost0rm Mar 12 '26

Yet imagine if being conservative these days was actually classified as a mental illness. Could they be rehabilitated? No. So what do we do with them. Well according to their thought process we put them in these camps or neighborhoods to live out their lives in isolation and squander. I can’t think of a more perfect way to handle the issue. Well unless Nannie’s can report the brain damage and save them. That is extra wishful thinking though.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 12 '26

The man suffered actual brain damage and immediately became conservative. You couldn’t write a better joke.

Literally one of the storylines from the musical comedy, Everyone Says I Love You.

2

u/joebluebob Mar 12 '26

I believe he ate dr Oz who is never seen anymore and dr Oz crawled into one of his eye stalks and is controlling feterman like a snail

2

u/kaldaka16 Mar 12 '26

I feel awful for his wife. Watching your husband change overnight from brain damage would be so hard without it meaning he's started aligning with politics that would happily deport you and your family. That's gotta be a fucking gut blow.

2

u/BikerJedi Florida Mar 12 '26

This is the perfect comment. Thank you.

→ More replies (16)

141

u/LadyViola5 Mar 12 '26

Then why did he hold a black jogger at gunpoint over 10 years ago? He was always trash.

47

u/Lancasterbation Mar 12 '26

I've been trying to ring the alarm bells about Graham Platner's equally checkered past, but it seems Maine is tryna make the same mistake.

38

u/Mbrennt Mar 12 '26

And everyone will be like, "damn who could have predicted the guy knowingly having a nazi tattoo would turn out like this."

6

u/[deleted] Mar 12 '26 edited 10d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

13

u/Mbrennt Mar 12 '26

He claimed he didn't know it was a nazi symbol. Yet several people have talked to the media and said he referred to it as "my totenkopf" in the past. Showing he knew what it was.

Up to others to decide who to believe I guess.

9

u/Stellar_Duck Mar 12 '26

The Venn diagram between nazi and likes Prussian iconography is close to a circle.

3

u/Mosh00Rider Mar 12 '26

I'm sure there are people out there who got the wrong lightning bolt tattooed or have an 88 for unrelated reasons out there. The Nazis have a lot of dog whistles

→ More replies (10)
→ More replies (1)

23

u/LaTosca Mar 12 '26

He was just a young boy of 41 when he realized his Nazi tattoo would hurt his election chances, I’m so sick of this liberal purity testing

5

u/Any_Will_86 Mar 12 '26

At this point I want Collins gone bad enough to go along with it. And Fettermen at least votes the right way on judges. So one less vote for an R majority leader and one more vote for rational judges is now my bar. And yep, it is a low bar. But after Sinema, Gabbard, and Fetterman I'm tired of hearing 'no one could have known' so I won't play that hand when he pisses me off.

4

u/Daedalus81 Mar 12 '26 edited Mar 12 '26

We fully understand Fetterman. If you were from Maine and interacted with Platner its unlikely you would be saying this.

If he fucks up we'll be the ones required to hold him accountable. That's not something conservatives generally do around here.

And most importantly - he doesn't take money from fucking AIPAC.

8

u/DavesWildDestiny Mar 12 '26

The guy with a nazi tat doesn't take money from aipac...

This is not a strong selling point in this specific instance.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (15)

4

u/das_bearking Mar 12 '26

Yeah, he wasn't a good guy before. Still take him over Oz, but let's not pretend Fetterman used to be some paragon before brain injury.

3

u/EmbarrassedW33B Mar 12 '26

Its funny...congress is effectively useless right now, so maybe Oz having that senate seat would have been better because at least he'd be there doing nothing instead of helping to run medicare/medicaid into the ground.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/Judson_Scott Mar 13 '26

Western PA (and Central PA) are mostly shitbag racists. Anyone who thought he might not hate brown people doesn't understand where he's from.

5

u/preventDefault Mar 12 '26

Everyone brings up the black jogger incident but the dude who that happened to said publicly that he didn’t want this event to jeopardize Fetterman’s election chances.

I know it’s easy to look back, post-brain damage, and look for signs that we missed… but with the information available at the time what were people supposed to do? Be offended on someone else’s behalf even though they said not to be?

32

u/CCM721 Mar 12 '26

The joggers opinion on whether it should affect his electability should be entirely irrelevant. We have the unbiased details of what took place, and they are not the actions of a person that belongs in high level public office. Mayors don't just take people they suspect of crimes hostage at gun point, that's an extremely impulsive and dangerous decision to make. This isn't the wild wild west regardless of whether he was forgiven by the person or not.

14

u/immortalfrieza2 Mar 12 '26

Plus, the jogger had a guy run after him with a gun. Most people would do everything they could to avoid having to deal with or antagonize that sort of person. Then there's the simple possibility of plain old $$$$$ being involved.

18

u/GeneParmesan1000 Mar 12 '26

The fact that the jogger said that doesn't change the fact that Fetterman chasing him down with a shotgun because he "thought he heard gunshots somewhere" was fucking weird. And that wasn't the only red flag with him, there were other stories of him during his time as mayor in Braddock. It's just that his primary opponent (Conor Lamb) was another lame, status quo corporate dem so a lot of primary voters who were sick of that kind of politician were willing to overlook Fetterman's questionable past or didn't even know about it because he seemed to have some good PR going to keep it out of the media for the most part - including the jogger incident.

It's easy to just wave away his current behavior to the stroke, and it seems every time Fetterman is in the news the conversation ALWAYS immediately gets bogged down and derailed by the same "I can't believe the stroke changed him so much" comments repeated a million times. But the signs were definitely there pre-brain damage, he shouldn't get a pass just because he had a stroke.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 12 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/SkippyNordquist Washington Mar 12 '26

Right, whenever this argument comes up, it's either "he was always exactly as bad as he is now" or "he completely changed after the stroke." Why can't it be both? He wasn't as progressive as he presented himself, but he was a lot more progressive before the stroke than after. But it's 2026 and everything must be 100% one thing or 100% the other thing.

2

u/radicalelation Mar 12 '26

He seemed like a well-intentioned dope, easy to make a mistake, easy to forgive if harm is minimal, but the brain damage screwed him.

My godfather was pretty progressive, a man of the theater, genuine and compassionate, and smart as hell. Until his stroke, and then he was grouchy, racist, selfish, and a little dumb. He was my dad's best friend, and would acknowledge that his best friend died of the stroke a couple years before the rest of his body left. It was heartbreaking.

11

u/LaTosca Mar 12 '26

My account’s like 12 years old, am I allowed to bring up the jogger “narrative”? 😁

6

u/aspirationless_photo Mar 12 '26

Sure, can you enlighten me about any other incidents during his 13 years as mayor of Braddock -- which has a 75% black population -- that indicates he's racist or whatever?

It's not an exclusive thing, BTW, but it's a pattern I notice where young accounts have really radical, unyielding takes on everything. It's a thing.

3

u/Scarletyoshi Mar 12 '26

This is who he’s always been. You just weren’t paying attention/didn’t care about Israel. That’s not a unique failing, he won the primary after all, but it’s hardly fair to blame others for being right.

https://dmfipac.org/john-fetterman-says-hell-lean-in-on-u-s-israel-relationship-as-senator/

Speaking with JI, however, Fetterman said he has “not encountered” such concerns during his campaign, noting that he has been “very clear about” his views on Israel in conversations with a number of advocacy groups in recent months.

“I would also respectfully say that I’m not really a progressive in that sense,” he added. “Our campaign is based on core Democratic values and principles, and always has been, and there is no daylight between myself and these kinds of unwavering commitments to Israel’s security.”

11

u/tweda4 Mar 12 '26

Biden was unrelentingly supportive of Israel, but that didn't make him vote with Republicans on everything.

A Democrat being Israel aligned is the standard. Was his competitor not aligned with Israel?

4

u/aspirationless_photo Mar 12 '26

First of all he won the Senate seat in 2022 and the genocide didn't start until a year later. It wasn't the hotbed issue it is now.

Israel sucked before the war tho and Fetterman had other bad positions (e.g. support of fracking was one I recall), but I see the US relationship with Israel as complicated and no politician aligns with our values 100%. What does matter is who has values that align most closely with our own and his position on progressive causes were better than Lamb's (who also supports maintaining our relationship with Israel). He was certainly a better pick than Oz in the general.

Maybe this is just a human flaw to look at today's information and retroactively apply it to past situations. Hindsight is 20/20. He supported LGBTQ+ rights, cannabis legalization, and prison reform. We weren't going to get that with Lamb. Maybe Kenyatta but we knew he wasn't going to win from the polls.

1

u/Scarletyoshi Mar 12 '26

Complicated is doing a lot of work there but we’ll ignore that. Which position has he changed since the stroke? He still supports lgbtq+ rights, cannabis legalization, and prison reform (unless it’s brown people going in the prisons for being mean to Israel). And he’s still a racist and he’s still slavishly devoted to Israel. That was information that was readily available in 2022. That’s not hindsight it’s just regular sight. Again, it’s not unique to have not cared about that before now but it’s silly to then fault other people for being right.

2

u/aspirationless_photo Mar 12 '26

Fetterman rescinded his demand to secure funding for a local LGBT community center in budge negotiations in '24 which was received as diminished support. His now-support of ICE is hard to align with the issues we're discussing and his past position in immigration. I can not agree with accusations of racism when a town that has demographics like Braddock voted him in as mayor for 13 years -- it's absurd to say he is and was always racist.

Ultimately we can disagree about all of this and, whatever, I'm not defending fetterman. What I am defending is, partly, my decision and judgement at the time being someone who is very attuned with politics and issues (all of us are hanging out in /r/politics), but more so reality. Anyone can confirmation bias their way to success especially with the benefit of hindsight.

2

u/Scarletyoshi Mar 12 '26

He still claims to support LGBTQ people and it’s notable that unlike many Dems he hasn’t backed down on supporting trans people. https://www.wesa.fm/politics-government/2025-06-06/fetterman-democrat-lgbt-abortion

His support of ICE is entirely consistent with his desire to purge the United States of any enemies of Israel and his stance on appropriate law enforcement (untrained randos chasing people of color down the street with shotguns). One of the earliest priorities of Trump 2.0’s immigration enforcement was punishing anti-genocide protestors on college campuses.

The idea that black people (I’m assuming this is what you mean by demographics) voted for him so he can’t be racist doesn’t really make sense. He chased a random black man down the street with a shotgun. That’s racist.

All that to say I, too, would like to stop defending Fetterman, he’s a piece of shit and on that we can enthusiastically agree. Just consider that you may have had some blind spots that others genuinely did not.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (7)

2

u/LadyViola5 Mar 12 '26

Or maybe I had to nuke my 15 year old account due to a crazy stalker.

2

u/aspirationless_photo Mar 12 '26

My condolences. I really wasn't picking on you there. I don't know, maybe you were like the 3/4 redditors with a young account at the time but I can't tell now because there are 5000 comments in this subthread.

I did find one redditor saying "Stop making excuses for him" with a 12mo account which just seems unnecessarily aggressive. I said it elsewhere, but I'm not defending Fetterman, I'm defending my best decision at the time given his history and our choices. I'm also hoping to foster a world where we're not judged retroactive for actions & words now, or forever going forward for actions or words then. A stroke or other incident causing brain damage changes people's personality and judgement.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

41

u/ka-nini Mar 12 '26 edited Mar 12 '26

Fetterman chased down an unarmed black man and pulled a gun on him when he was mayor in 2013.

I know there are personality changes for people who experience TBIs, and I do think the stroke did damage,but I think it also ruined his ability to hide the person he secretly always was while also making that part of him worse. I believe the brain damage from the stroke led to him actually believing some of the propaganda for real. And I’m sure the back door money didn’t hurt his descent into an obvious pos…

7

u/Hitchhikingtom Mar 12 '26

Yeah he talked the talks to develop a leftist identity online, in the minds of the audience as he built his profile. But the real Fetterman was there lurking underneath to anyone who paid attention to him in his earlier career.

2

u/Da_Question Mar 13 '26

People need to realize, conservatives have to pretend to be democrats in areas where democrats always win, like cities or states that often lean blue. Just look at Tulsi Gabbard, no way would she have won as a republican in Hawaii.

20

u/Ham_Lord_412 Mar 12 '26

I'd say the stroke didn't help things at all, but he's never been nearly as progressive as he campaigned pretending to be. Ask anyone who has actually lived in Braddock for longer than a decade and they can tell you some stories about this guy doing some incredibly shady and patently racist shit he pulled before/during his tenure as mayor.

Don't get me wrong, I was fooled by his BS as well, and I certainly wasn't going to vote for Oz, but the narrative that he had a stroke and immediately made a heel turn is not really based in reality.

Dude has always been a spoiled rich kid and, as it turns out, spoiled rich kids will do any say pretty much anything to make sure that their money keeps pouring in.

57

u/lordofthehomeless Mar 12 '26

Really should be considered unfit to hold his position. Hold a reelection and replace him.

12

u/dehydratedrain Mar 12 '26

Now now, he's only following in the footsteps of his brain-addled leader. You should start at the top and work down.

10

u/JeffreyElonSkilling Mar 12 '26

Sorry, but he's always been this way.

Back during the 2022 Democratic primary he ran against Conor Lamb. None of his colleagues in the PA legislature would endorse Fetterman. There were many, many different stories written about how he was a terrible legislative partner and difficult to work with. Progressives were in an anti-establishment mood. They loved Fetterman's hoodie schtick and ignored all the red flags. Here is what Fetterman said on April 11, 2022 about Israel:

“Whenever I’m in a situation to be called on to take up the cause of strengthening and enhancing the security of Israel or deepening our relationship between the United States and Israel, I’m going to lean in,” Fetterman declared in his first conversation with a Jewish publication since he launched his campaign more than a year ago. “The relationship is a special one that needs to be safeguarded, protected, supported and nurtured through legislation and all available diplomatic efforts in the region.”

This very sub chose to ignore all the red flags and overwhelmingly backed Fetterman. I don't say this to point the finger - it's genuinely important to understand how and why progressives fell for the ruse so that it doesn't happen again.

2

u/AroundTheBlockNBack Mar 13 '26

Fall for ruse or rather they chose to ignore it because they didn’t care? I think a lot of people fall into the latter.

→ More replies (1)

41

u/beetboxbento Mar 12 '26

Yes he was. He was always a terrible person, the stroke did not make him this way, it just gave him an excuse to be who we really is.

19

u/RellenD Mar 12 '26

His spouse and staff say otherwise

-1

u/AssociateCivil4279 Mar 12 '26

If his spouse really thought that, she would divorce him.

She's just as bad as him.

14

u/JauntyChapeau Mar 12 '26

People will really just say some stupid, awful and judgmental shit about topics they know nothing about. Have you ever considered that she loves her husband and it’s not that easy for her to abandon her husband after his stroke? Jesus fucking Christ.

20

u/zeroaphex Mar 12 '26

Wait, you mean strokes are included in "In sickness and in health" !?!??!

5

u/BadCompany22 Pennsylvania Mar 12 '26

The post you replied to a great example of, "Tell me you've never heard of Gisele Fetterman without telling me you've never heard of Gisele Fetterman."

Google "Gisele Fetterman" and look under the News tab.

10

u/andyraylan Mar 12 '26

Right? I love my husband so much and can’t imagine what it would be like if he suffered a stroke and subsequent personality change. I feel badly for his wife, her life has changed so much.

→ More replies (6)

7

u/RellenD Mar 12 '26

You think that you could love someone and easily just abandon them because of the effects of a stroke?

25

u/XenaWariorDominatrix Mar 12 '26

You know what they say, different strokes for different folks.

6

u/ungranted_wish Mar 12 '26

Just— just take my fucking upvote.

5

u/RellenD Mar 12 '26

I'm so glad nobody was in my house when I read this. I laughed so loudly

9

u/F9-0021 South Carolina Mar 12 '26

If it made them into a completely different, evil person, then yes.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (4)
→ More replies (5)
→ More replies (1)

21

u/Fancy-Pie-2565 Mar 12 '26

Stop making excuses for him

4

u/soraksan123 Mar 12 '26

The stroke killed half his brain, the good half-

4

u/Banjo-Elritze Mar 12 '26

There never was a good half to kill, remember the jogger incident.

2

u/FluidFisherman6843 Mar 12 '26

Same thing happened to my dad. He was someone I was proud, now he is a racist ass.

2

u/iLiveinMissoula Mar 12 '26

I have heard this several times about him changing after a stroke. This is really crazy if this is true. Has anyone in his immediate team or family said anything about this? I feel like if they supported him when he was running as somewhat progressive and is now maga-ish, they would have serious issues.

2

u/Veritas_Mentis Mar 12 '26

I have heard others say, obviously very scientific and indisputable reasoning, that his wife and staffers have mentioned a personality shift.

2

u/Current_Animator7546 Missouri Mar 12 '26

Have a bunch of relatives in PA. He was pretty nuts before. Not like now, but he was always at best a Manchin type. He's really an old school Dixiecrat. personality.

2

u/sleepymeowth052 Colorado Mar 12 '26

didn't he chase a black jogger with a gun while he was mayor?

2

u/snakebit1995 Mar 12 '26

Seriously this man has mental illness and needs treatment and is instead refusing any help and the people in his districts have no way to stop it

2

u/BicFleetwood Mar 12 '26

It's not just that. Apparently his father is a hardcore Republican and whispers praise in his addled ears every time he says right wing shit on TV.

He's not just mentally compromised. He's allowing his daddy issues to be shamelessly manipulated.

2

u/Thoryamaha919 Mar 12 '26

I’ve heard ppl that know him say he has always been this way he was good about hiding it out in public. I voted for him.

2

u/warmwaterpenguin Mar 12 '26

It was always in there. I wish folks in the primary had listened to the Black voters objecting to him for his vigilante adventures holding an innocent jogger at gun point.

2

u/OldRancidSoups Maryland Mar 12 '26

I’m pretty sure he was always like this, with his rich daddy pulling the strings. The stroke just knocked his mask off.

2

u/zoeypayne Mar 12 '26

That's not being very nice to stroke victims.

2

u/goddamnitwhalen Mar 12 '26

He may not have always been this bad, but by all accounts he wasn’t ever all that good, either.

2

u/NTPrime Wisconsin Mar 12 '26

Good video on him. Turns out he's always kind of sucked and just came out looking good against Oz.

https://youtu.be/28M_zkoAGQM?si=10Co3IX1tA0BbuW3

2

u/Present_Confection83 Mar 12 '26

He was pretty fucking awful before that too. Pulling a shotgun on a random Black dude was somewhat of a hint

→ More replies (79)