{"id":1685503,"date":"2022-10-12T12:33:42","date_gmt":"2022-10-12T16:33:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1685503"},"modified":"2022-10-12T12:38:00","modified_gmt":"2022-10-12T16:38:00","slug":"its-not-ableist-to-wonder-if-fetterman-can-do-his-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-not-ableist-to-wonder-if-fetterman-can-do-his-job\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s Not Ableist To Wonder If Fetterman Can Do His Job"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fits-not-ableist-to-wonder-if-fetterman-can-do-his-job%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1685503&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>On Tuesday night, NBC News\u2019s Dasha Burns <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=b2h4H-NwA0M\">aired<\/a> an interview with Pennsylvania senatorial candidate John Fetterman, who needed a closed-captioned monitor to answer questions because of \u201cauditory processing\u201d struggles caused by his recent stroke. \u201cIn small talk before my interview,\u201d Burns added, \u201cit wasn\u2019t clear he understood what I was saying.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Oh, boy<\/em>. Blue-check Twitter swarmed, attacking Burns for merely noticing what anyone paying attention could see: Fetterman isn\u2019t all right. It\u2019s remarkable to watch how quickly partisans coalesce around a new talking point. For months, the national media stories have been telling us Fetterman\u2019s campaign was completely \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/09\/15\/us\/politics\/fetterman-stroke-health.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">normal<\/a>,\u201d even as video emerges of him unable to cobble two coherent sentences together in succession. In September, Fetterman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=QYfpxwEHlTA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> that the \u201conly lingering problem\u201d he experienced was occasionally missing a word or \u201cmushing two words together.\u201d Yet in only a few minutes last night, the entire left adopted a new position, denouncing any mention of his ailment as an \u201cableist\u201d attack on a person with a \u201cdisability.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Democrats struggled at first to calibrate this shiny new accusation, comparing Fetterman\u2019s cognitive struggles to those with handicaps. \u201cHow is this any different from Tammy Duckworth or Madison Cawthorn needing a wheelchair? How is it different from many elderly Senators who need hearing aids?\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/EricMGarcia\/status\/1580022358085361665\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">asked<\/a> left-winger Eric Michael Garcia. Others <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AJentleson\/status\/1580027306684256258\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wondered<\/a> if it meant Fetterman critics believed \u201cdeaf\u201d people should not run for office.<\/p>\n<p>Well, for one thing, being paralyzed does not undercut a person\u2019s ability to comprehend ideas or articulate thoughts or participate in debates \u2014 all essential functions for a politician. Fetterman is not deaf, he is unable to process spoken words because of brain damage. There is a big difference. Some people recover nicely from strokes, and some do not. We don\u2019t know the  extent of Fetterman\u2019s problems because he won\u2019t release his medical records. That\u2019s his prerogative. There is no shame in suffering a stroke. Nor is it ableist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/archive\/2015\/07\/the-aftermath-of-a-senators-stroke\/435579\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">to wonder<\/a> if a candidate running for the most powerful legislative body in the world is able to do his job.<\/p>\n<p>Kara Swisher, who has herself recovered from a stroke, <a href=\"https:\/\/mobile.twitter.com\/karaswisher\/status\/1579997457903423489\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">claimed<\/a> she had spoken to Fetterman \u201cfor over an hour without stop or any aides.\u201d Then, it\u2019s fair to ask, why can\u2019t Fetterman participate in a debate, and why can\u2019t he answer basic questions from journalists without a closed-captioned transcriber? \u201cIf we\u2019re going to judge folks by their verbal skills and zoning out,\u201d she went on, \u201cI have some internet billionaires you might want to meet. Most of them have all kinds of processing issues and seem to be doing just fine.\u201d She added in a now-deleted tweet, that autism is not \u201cnearly as easy to solve as a stroke.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Does Fetterman have processing issues, or is it autism, or is he just fine? They\u2019re still working it out. This is what happens when you need to create a new talking point on the fly. Then again, these days, your position doesn\u2019t need to be consistent and coherent, it merely needs to be accusatory and sanctimonious.<\/p>\n<p>My theory is that Fetterman\u2019s stroke has probably helped divert attention from his phony working-class mythology, his incompetence as mayor, and his numerous hard-left positions. He rarely ever mentions issues these days, happy to play the victim instead. Of course, even if Fetterman were in a coma, Democrats would come up with a way to rationalize voting for him. Just like Republicans who support flawed candidates, they care a lot more about winning the Senate than they do the competency of their senators. That is also their prerogative. They just need to work on their preposterous excuses.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, the rage-filled meltdown over an interview has two purposes. One is to tamp down any undesirable \u201cnarrative\u201d from forming. The Twitter mob views media as another activist branch in the struggle and has no patience for journalistic integrity. One leftist Twitter personality <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nycsouthpaw\/status\/1580025613930631168\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">argued<\/a> that NBC News \u201cdeliberately fixate[d] on and exoticize[d] Fetterman\u2019s straightforward accommodations for his disability.\u201d \u201cFixating\u201d on an issue means having an obsessive attachment to it. NBC merely mentioned Fetterman\u2019s accommodation \u2014 the candidate himself discusses it \u2014 and offered a passing comment on his inability to participate in a normal conversation. That is basic journalistic transparency.<\/p>\n<p>The second purpose of the Twitter mob is to dissuade future acts of unsanctioned journalism. The peer pressure exerted on reporters within media outlets can be extraordinary. But social media, where most journalists live, really disincentives diligent or dispassionate political journalism. On this front, it was enlightening to watch CNN\u2019s Jake Tapper, who will occasionally triangulate coverage to create the impression of balance, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/cnns-tapper-ripped-soft-serve-interview-president-biden\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">mollycoddle<\/a> the president of the United States. Many journalists are just partisans and ideologues, but many others simply value their careers. All of them know that unintentionally helping Republicans by engaging in acts of journalism will be met with struggle sessions and condemnation from the people you seek to impress.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe Dasha Burns will be one of the exceptions.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">\n  David Harsanyi is a senior editor at The Federalist. Harsanyi is a nationally syndicated columnist and author of five books\u2014the most recent, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Eurotrash-America-Reject-Failed-Continent\/dp\/0063066017\/\">Eurotrash: Why America Must Reject the Failed Ideas of a Dying Continent<\/a>. His work has appeared in National Review, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Reason, New York Post, and numerous other publications. Follow him on Twitter, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/davidharsanyi\/\">@davidharsanyi<\/a>.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Tuesday night, NBC News\u2019s Dasha Burns aired an interview with Pennsylvania senatorial candidate John Fetterman, who needed a closed-captioned monitor to answer questions because of \u201cauditory processing\u201d struggles caused<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":831,"featured_media":1685514,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1685503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1685503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/831"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1685503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1685503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1685514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1685503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1685503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1685503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}