One simple fact exemplifies the fundamental, enduring, systemic corruption of big corporate media that we have all witnessed in ways big and small over decades. Here it is: According to its “panel of experts,” The Philadelphia Inquirer declared that John Fetterman was victorious in his now-infamous debate with Dr. Mehmet Oz.
Try to stop laughing and go ahead and read that again, since you may have thought it was a joke or misprint. And rest assured that our friends in the city of brotherly love are hardly alone in telling us that the excruciatingly painful performance of stroke-addled John Fetterman in the lone Pennsylvania Senate debate is not nearly as bad as it appeared and has nothing to do with his actual ability to serve in the highest legislative office in the land.
Spinning Fetterman
In Washington, a widely recognized newspaper with deep ties to the left has all but dismissed the obvious concerns of viewers who could barely believe what they were seeing. In a transparent attempt to flip the fatal narrative, it deflects from the severity of his condition by citing “four top neurologists” – none of whom are treating Fetterman – who posit that “he appears to have recovered well from a serious stroke with no obvious long-term effects other than his acknowledged difficulty understanding spoken language and finding words.”
The granddaddy of them all on the left, The New York Times, went to great lengths during its live online coverage of the debate to explain how our concerns about a guy who can barely spit out a sentence amount to mere ignorance. “Mr. Fetterman’s verbal stumbles and halting style do not reflect a problem with his brain … [his] style may be halting and some voters may even find it hard to listen to him. But he clearly understands what is being asked and he is getting his message across … And even before his stroke, Fetterman was not nearly as polished a communicator as Oz,” said Times reporter Sheryl Stolberg. Her colleague, Blake Hounshell, tried to deflect from the Fetterman disaster by blaming a central part of the political process itself: “Watching this debate, I’m struck by what a weird American tradition this is” – as if he would have made the same observation had Fetterman won the debate as clearly as he lost it, or even provided a minimally comforting performance.
MSNBC’s Zeeshan Aleem lectured us with, “medical experts say there’s no reason to doubt Fetterman’s cognitive capacity … In all likelihood this difference in oratorical styles is going to be at the center of pundit analyses of how the debate went, not just on the right, but likely across centrist media, as well. But it shouldn’t be.” Oh, okay then, if you say so.
John Fetterman (Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images)
Honestly, who could have imagined that Democrats would present a candidate in a crucial race that actually makes Joe Biden look robust in comparison? The Pennsylvania Democratic party could have pulled the plug on Fetterman once it was clear he had fallen victim to a stroke, and a serious one at that, as Liberty Nation’s Leesa K. Donner explained methodically in response to blatant spinning from leftist media about the full consequences of the candidate’s condition. But the party chose not to act, and then the Fetterman campaign agreed to a debate in which even the lowest of low bars set by the campaign turned out to be wildly optimistic. The party and the campaign are now being excoriated across the political spectrum for the decision to debate which, at least in hindsight, amounts to one of the most glaring examples of political malpractice in our lifetime.
Of all the preposterous psychological manipulation from leftists in politics and media desperate to avert the voters’ eyes from the reality of their lives, to tell us that what we plainly see as true is not really true, this one has to serve as the new Exhibit A. Who are you going to believe, your lying eyes that tell you clearly and sharply that John Fetterman should be in rehab and is unfit to hold any office at this time, or our superiors preaching down to us from their sheltered ivory towers?
But then, we already knew left-wing media has long since given up any pretense of objectivity. They have done the same thing in spinning other poor debate performances by left-wing candidates: in New York, where Kathy Hochul has seen her once-enormous lead reduced down to the nub; in Michigan, where COVID queen Gretchen Whitmer has seen her advantage shrink to well within the margin of error; and in Georgia, where Republican Brian Kemp appeared steady at the wheel in his debate performance, as he rolls up a big and growing lead over progressive darling Stacey Abrams.
Could Fetterman even function as a senator? The present balkanized political climate on top of the long-existing Senate filibuster requiring a supermajority to pass legislation, leaves the upper chamber of Congress with four primary functions beyond actually voting on legislation. The first is confirmation of judicial nominees. The second is to serve as a stage for senators seeking to prepare the ground for a presidential run – see Joe Biden, Barack Obama, et al. But it’s the third and fourth functions – committee assignments and speechifying – where Fetterman will fall so glaringly short of the minimum performance level expected of a person sitting in this elite chamber. How will he be able to interact in the give-and-take of high-level hearings on issues of abiding significance, or rise and speak before “the world’s greatest deliberative body?” Now more than ever, a painfully inarticulate John Fetterman would be an outcast in his own ranks and would likely need to be hidden away in his basement, à la Joe Biden. But it’s crystal clear that the millions of voters who regret their vote for the current president are in no mood for another stealth Democrat.
Don’t think the image of the entire national party, already falling through the floor as Election Day beckons, won’t take another big hit from this avert-your-eyes performance witnessed by millions not just in Pennsylvania, but across the land. It is sure to live forever in political infamy. The Dems can try to deny and spin it every which way but loose, but reality bites. This debate will be unforgettable to all who witnessed it, from the moment John Fetterman opened the proceedings by saying “good night,” which turned out to be an apt metaphor for the likely fate of his – and the Democrats’ – doomed campaign.
