The news broke this afternoon that Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania has, upon doctor’s advice, checked himself in for voluntary inpatient treatment for clinical depression at Walter Reed Medical Center.

JUST IN: Chief of Staff to @JohnFetterman says the senator “checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to receive treatment for clinical depression. While John has experienced depression off and on throughout his life, it only became severe in recent weeks” pic.twitter.com/q2UdLEuCHU

— Ed O'Keefe (@edokeefe) February 16, 2023

The news stories that have been released about Fetterman after his “lightheaded” episode while at a Senate Democrat retreat last week, and the two-night stay at the hospital that followed, should reassure no one about his current state of physical or mental health. The New York Times‘s piece that was published on the day Fetterman left the hospital last week surprised no one who was actually paying attention during the Senate campaign.

Mr. Fetterman, 53, the 6-foot-8, tattooed and goateed Democrat from Pennsylvania who suffered a near-fatal stroke last May and went on to win one of the most competitive seats in November’s midterm elections, was never going to blend in seamlessly in the marbled corridors of Congress.”

But his adjustment to serving in the Senate has been made vastly more difficult by the strains of his recovery, which left him with a physical impairment and serious mental health challenges that have rendered the transition extraordinarily challenging — even with the accommodations that have been made to help him adapt.”

“What you’re supposed to do to recover from this is do as little as possible,” said Adam Jentleson, his chief of staff. Instead, Mr. Fetterman “was forced to do as much as possible — he had to get back to the campaign trail. It’s hard to claw that back.”

But if you pointed out that Fetterman, post-stroke and the reveal of his heart condition, was neither in physical or cognitive shape to serve in the Senate, you got raked over the coals by none other than his wife and “de facto candidate” Gisele Fetterman. A single NBC reporter, Dasha Burns, pointed out legitimate concerns about candidate Fetterman’s cognitive issues post-stroke.

Gisele either wanted her FIRED or wanted a groveling apology. And when John Fetterman did so poorly at his single debate with Dr. Oz that it was obvious to anyone willing to listen that he wasn’t up to the job, the campaign blamed the closed captioning technology being used. The campaign got a doctor, who was also a campaign donor, to sign off on his health, and he himself vowed that he would be better in January.

John Fetterman addresses criticism that his stroke recovery could impact his performance as senator if elected: "By January, I will be much, much better, but Oz will still be a fraud. I rely on the judgment of real doctors, not a fake doctor like Dr. Oz." pic.twitter.com/hzm81Sh9jU

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) October 28, 2022

It’s now mid-February, and John Fetterman is hospitalized for the second time in two weeks. Again, let’s look at what the New York Times said just last week:

The most evident disability is a neurological condition that impairs his hearing. Mr. Fetterman suffers from auditory processing issues, forcing him to rely primarily on a tablet to transcribe what is being said to him. The hearing issues are inconsistent; they often get worse when he is in a stressful or unfamiliar situation. When it’s bad, Mr. Fetterman has described it as trying to make out the muffled voice of the teacher in the “Peanuts” cartoon, whose words could never be deciphered.”

The stroke — after which he had a pacemaker and defibrillator implanted — also took a less apparent but very real psychological toll on Mr. Fetterman. It has been less than a year since the stroke transformed him from someone with a large stature that suggested machismo — a central part of his political identity — into a physically altered version of himself, and he is frustrated at times that he is not yet back to the man he once was. He has had to come to terms with the fact that he may have set himself back permanently by not taking the recommended amount of rest during the campaign. And he continues to push himself in ways that people close to him worry are detrimental.”

Read those paragraphs carefully. He cannot hear people properly any longer and relies on technology to help, be it closed captioning in the Senate or a tablet in hand. He is physically not the man he once was – you know, the tattooed macho guy who once chased down a black man with a shotgun. He’s not in the physical health to do that again. Fetterman had the stroke on May 13, 2022, just days before the Democrat primary. If those around him had been realistic at the time, they would have let him bow out and another Democrat could have easily taken his place on the ticket. But no one was realistic. Maybe the doctors were too optimistic, maybe Fetterman didn’t understand what this would mean, maybe Gisele just didn’t give a damn because she wanted to be a senator’s wife. But here we are, after months of glossing over realities and fudging and yelling about “ableism” and just wanting to win at all costs.

Well, Fetterman won the election, but it has likely permanently cost him his health, his cognitive processing, and his emotional stability. According to Johns Hopkins, the first three months after a stroke are the most critical for recovery. What was John Fetterman doing for those three months? His chief of staff admitted as much – he got back on the campaign trail and didn’t take that time to heal. Why? Because winning the election was more important to the Democrats and to his wife than letting him recover. No one around him cared enough to think past Election Day. So here is John Fetterman, nine months after the stroke, likely permanently disabled, never to be the physical or cognitive person he once was, and coming to the sickening realization that no one around him cared enough to stop and let him heal. Not his wife, the “de facto candidate.” Not the Democrats, who only wanted another seat in the Senate and didn’t care if the person voting could hear them or not, so long as he votes the way his staff tells him to. The people who did point out that this was too much for him were political opponents and conservative media, and OF COURSE they were all trying to keep him from winning.

He won, and nobody cares about him, only his status as a Senator and the vote he casts for the Democrats. And you wonder why the man is clinically depressed? Gisele is now asking for privacy – fancy that.

This is a difficult time for our family, so please respect our privacy. For us, the kids come first.
 
Take care of yourselves. Hold your loved ones close, you are not alone.❤️

— Gisele Barreto Fetterman (@giselefetterman) February 16, 2023

Gisele Fetterman is complicit in her husband’s mental health decline, along with the Democrat operatives and campaign advisors and willing media who all went along with covering up John Fetterman’s severe health issues, all pushing him forward instead of holding him back to heal. I would feel profoundly sorry for him, but he was likely complicit in it as well. I do still feel somewhat sorry for him, because it is a tough mental awakening to realize that what you had assumed about your life, your self, your health, your future, has been permanently changed – and not for the better. He suffered a catastrophic health crisis and no one cared enough to tell him “no, stop and rest, don’t do this right now.” Instead, he was used and abused, and everyone around him got what they wanted. And if he can no longer serve, the even money is on Gisele taking his place. John Fetterman? He’s just a broken means to an end now.

I hope that he gets the treatment and help that he needs. And I would hope for a little self-reflection for his handlers, his wife, and the media. You broke him. You own this. I hope you realize that.

Featured image: original Victory Girls art by Darleen Click