John Fetterman returned to work at the U.S. Senate this week, and already there are problems.

He’d been recovering at home after spending over 44 days at Walter Reed dealing with depression.

“It’s great to be back,” he told reporters as he arrived at the Capitol Monday afternoon. He did not answer questions.

“I want everyone to know that depression is treatable, and treatment works,” Fetterman said in a statement after his release. “This isn’t about politics — right now there are people who are suffering with depression in red counties and blue counties. If you need help, please get help.” His office had said he would return to Washington, DC, when the Senate came back into session on April 17 following a two-week recess.

While Fetterman had dealt with “depression off and on throughout his life, it only became severe in recent weeks,” his chief of staff said in February, announcing that the senator had decided to seek treatment.

As we’ve pointed out time and again, the mere fact that the people surrounding him including his wife, Gisele, pushed him to staying in the Senate race when, in reality, he should’ve quit so his stroke recovery could be managed much better. The fact is, it wasn’t. 

Which led to a sad and pitiful performance on the debate stage and an even sadder interview with Dasha Burns. 

Those who did and still continue to claim he is fit for office need to be horsewhipped in my opinion. 

That said, given how his recovery was totally mismanaged in the interest of winning a stupid election, is it any wonder that his depression got worse? Not only that, but BECAUSE his recovery was hindered and likely his inability to navigate the complex situations that surround a U.S. Senator were hampered, is it any wonder that the depth of his depression ramped up?? 

Oh, but this was only and always about his depression, NOT his stroke. 

In the year that’s followed, Fetterman has navigated a difficult stroke recovery, an onslaught of ableist attacks, and one of the most expensive Senate races in history to ultimately flip one of Pennsylvania’s seats blue. He also, in an unusually public manner for a politician, admitted himself to the hospital for a severe case of depression — just one month after being sworn in to Congress.

~Snip

For years Fetterman handled depression like many people do — that is to say he didn’t pay it much attention, accepting as a young man that feeling low was an insoluble element of his personality. “I always treated my depression like I did with losing my hair,” he says. “It’s just kind of like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s just part of my makeup.'”

Not only that, but his deepening depression happened after his stroke when Republicans got ugly and went on the attack. It was supposed to be a lighthearted campaign you see.

That’s when things started “getting really, really ugly,” Fetterman says, equating the attacks to having “a $100 million blow torch turned on you.”

The attacks cut deep for him and his family, targeting his health and fitness to serve in Congress, and opened a door for media and the public at large to do the same, often veering into ableist territory by failing to acknowledge that the lingering side effects of his stroke would not prevent him from making the important decisions a senator is tasked with.

There you have it. We have been “ableist” all this time by daring to question his mental and physical fitness for office after having a massive stroke. 

Well, guess what folks? I’ll wear that damned title proudly! Why? Because of how John Fetterman handled himself during a Senate committee hearing yesterday. 

And he chaired a subcommittee hearing today. 

John Fetterman chaired a subcommittee hearing today.

Here is his opening statement. pic.twitter.com/Y6EHYkhkBZ

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) April 19, 2023

John Fetterman has a staffer holding up his iPad as he talks to people after the hearing ended.

CSPAN cut away from that pretty quickly. pic.twitter.com/ujhOxIZuDk

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) April 19, 2023

You see, we aren’t supposed to notice the sad and alarming fact that Fetterman struggles to make himself clear, isn’t tracking, and needs guidance plus screen assistance when interacting with others. Nope! This is about this brave man dealing with his depression!

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, CNN’s Lauren Fox that Fetterman “saved lives” by being public about getting help for his depression.

“I think John Fetterman saved lives by being a prominent person who stepped up and said he had a problem with mental health issues and he would seek treatment in a very visible and public way,” Warren said.

The. Man. Had. A. STROKE!! A pretty severe one from all accounts! Is it ableist to be concerned about his ability to manage a highly stressful position that impacts Pennsylvania citizens AND Americans across the country? No it isn’t, even as Democrats want to gaslight us into thinking it is. 

We are supposed to ignore Fetterman’s very real issues while the Democrats whine about and try to boot Diane Feinstein to the curb. They want to have it both ways. 

Feature Photo Credit: Fetterman via Wikipedia, cropped and modified