Senator John Fetterman …
… makes me nostalgic for a time when the sort of reasonable opinions he expresses about the opposition were commonplace in Democrats. Back then, I was a Democrat, too.
It’s ironic that it’s Fetterman who’s not on the “Republicans are evil fascists” bandwagon, because when he was elected no one would have predicted this; at least, I certainly didn’t predict it. In addition, his physical health seems to have improved far more than expected. So, color me surprised.
Here’s the latest from Fetterman:
Fetterman made several comments during NewsNation’s live town hall at the Kennedy Center on Wednesday that demonstrate why he is considered a maverick among Democrats in the Senate.
“I follow country, then party,” he explained. …
“You don’t hold the government hostage,” Fetterman added, noting that the Schumer shutdown is “what the Democratic Party wants to do.” …
“It’s the wrong thing for the country, and in a period of chaos, I refuse to shut our government down,” he said. …
“I know and I love people who voted for President Trump. But they are not fascists, they’re not Nazis, they’re not trying to destroy the Constitution and those things,” he insisted. “I refuse to call people Nazis or fascists. I would never compare anybody — anybody to Hitler.” …
“Let people grieve [Charlie Kirk] — give people the space. I’m not going to use that terrible thing and that tragic assassination to make my argument and try to put out my views,” he told a now-hushed crowd.
Fetterman went on to point out that the country was almost plunged into utter chaos when President Trump narrowly avoided a bullet in Butler.
“It’s like, my God, he’s a father that had his neck blown out by a bullet. And now people have forgotten President Trump was — in my state — was shot in the head. Could you imagine where our nation would be if he were hit in the same way with Kirk?” he asked.
“We’ve really got to turn the temperature down.”
I read those words and felt a sense of relief that at least one prominent Democrat was saying them. Yes, Fetterman votes with the Democrats on policy. But he seems to be a very decent human being who’s not afraid to express sentiments that used to be expected of all politicians, and used to be demonstrated by many. No more.
I said that Fetterman is with his party on policy – but that’s not completely true, because he’s probably its most pro-Israel member. That’s another stance of his that’s a throwback to an earlier time, when both parties agreed on strong support for Israel.
The apparent result of Fetterman’s outspoken disagreements with the current party line is that Democrats are planning to primary him. Can’t have that sort of kindness extended to the GOP enemy, or to the genocidal Israel:
According to a Thursday report in Axios, Democrats are in active recruitment mode in their efforts to take out Fetterman.
-Potential Democratic challengers are already bashing Fetterman — and each other — years ahead of schedule.
-Some Democratic officials are openly contemplating running against Fetterman or keeping the door open to a Senate bid in the event he retires.Some names being bandied about to take on Fetterman in the primary include current Reps. Brendan Boyle and Chris Deluzio and former Rep. Conor Lamb.
It’ll be a long wait. Fetterman was elected to the Senate in 2022 and therefore doesn’t go up for re-election until 2028. Meanwhile, he may continue to be a thorn in Democrats’ side. His political future really depends on which path the Democrats choose to take, and at present they seem determined to go ever and ever leftward.
I’d like to contribute a personal note here. I suffered a stroke the day after Thanksgiving in year 2000. The most visible stroke symptom was what they told me was “expressive aphasia” — I was unable to speak.
My speech therapist explained how certain neurological connections had been broken, and how new neurological connections were going to have to be made. I was and am no biologist, but the gist of her explanation made sense to me. By and by, after exercises and practice, she told me there was nothing more she could do for me, that I was going to have to just get myself out there, struggle on my own, and make the new neurological connections work.
I imagine that was approximately the 2022 Fetterman situation. Sen. Fetterman made it work, and I made it work. My own personal moral-of-the-story is that I made my most lasting contribution at my place of employment a couple of years *after* that stroke occurred, when I was then in my mid-fifties.
I still struggled slightly forming sentences, but I was on my way in that arena as well. When my daughter called from school needing help before her calculus final, I drove up to help her out. That’s when I found that I could successfully speak to others, not just conversationally but in professional-ish mathematical terms.
A couple of years later, I was appointed to a part time position as an adjunct in Mathematics and Statistics at a local university — on top of my existing full time job.
And now . . . to tackle that continually emerging problem of slow aging . . .
M J R:
Glad to hear you made such a good recovery.
I really am starting to wonder…
If the Dems suffer a bad defeat in 2026, I think there may be hope for the country as it seems the only hope to snap them out of their insanity. But let them pick up a few seats or break even on the midterms…
Then I wonder how long until civil war 2 becomes official.
Nate Winchester (5:42 pm) said:
“I really am starting to wonder . . . how long until civil war 2 becomes official.”
There won’t be an official beginning — or, in my own telling, there *wasn’t* an official beginning. It’s already here and is unfolding before our somewhat uncomprehending eyes. Look around you.
Maybe ten years ago, I was saying that Civil War II is here, all but the shooting. In the intervening years, there’s been plenty of shooting. Add 2 + 2 . . .
I know and have chatted quite a bit with Karl and Susan Fetterman, John’s parents, as well as his brother and sister in law. They are great folks, very down to earth and kind, and successful in their insurance agency business. Once the Senator and his wife accompanied them and I had a chance to chat briefly with him, didn’t want to take up too much of his time, but thanked him for standing by Israel, unlike so many in his party. He was genuine and sincere, not a typical politician at all.
I don’t know his intentions, whether he will even run for reelection. I don’t think the typical politicians they are likely to throw at him in the primary will be much of a threat. I wouldn’t take the votes that he does in the Senate, but he seems to have the decency that runs in his family, and isn’t a hater or the typical Pennsylvania politician who tend toward either corruption or sad incompetence, or both.
I confess I was not impressed by Fetterman when he became the new Senator. But it turns out he is a middle-America icon, true to country and reason. So the good people of Western Pennsylvania saw what we outsiders could not or would not see.
We need more Fettermans!
CICERO (6:36 pm) said: “We need more Fettermans!”
Fettermen???
@neo: It’ll be a long wait. Fetterman was elected to the Senate in 2022 and therefore doesn’t go up for re-election until 2028.
Lots of Democrats play the I’m-Getting-Death-Threats card. However, rarely do they provide examples.
I wouldn’t doubt Fetterman has. I hope he’s beefed up his security. His career could end sooner than 2028.
I agree with you, Neo, on being nostalgic for the old times when we could still have polite discussions and friendships with people with whom we disagreed.
No rainbow, no collusive cacophony, the blue sky has cleared to reveal an unfiltered light.
Fetterman has become a welcome surprise. Clearly he embraces Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s admonition that, “Politics stops at the water’s edge.” Apparently he is among the very few, even perhaps the last patriot among elected democrats.
@Nate Winchester: I really am starting to wonder . . . how long until civil war 2 becomes official.
I wonder what people think a civil war is.
______________________________
Formal classification [of civil wars]
James Fearon, a scholar of civil wars at Stanford University, defines a civil war as “a violent conflict within a country fought by organized groups that aim to take power at the center or in a region, or to change government policies”.
Ann Hironaka further specifies that one side of a civil war is the state.
Stathis Kalyvas defines civil war as “armed combat taking place within the boundaries of a recognized sovereign entity between parties that are subject to a common authority at the outset of the hostilities.”
The intensity at which a civil disturbance becomes a civil war is contested by academics. Some political scientists define a civil war as having more than 1,000 casualties, while others further specify that at least 100 must come from each side.
The Correlates of War, a dataset widely used by scholars of conflict, classifies civil wars as having over 1,000 war-related casualties per year of conflict.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_war
______________________________
Certainly the US has become greatly polarized and there has been some violence, but we’ve got a long way to go to civil war.
“Certainly the US has become greatly polarized and there has been some violence, but we’ve got a long way to go to civil war.”
No we don’t – just wait. Every single poll suggests that Democrats think we are Nazis and Fascists.
Every poll says a huge number of Democrats want to use force against us for a myriad of reasons and that includes speech.
Every sign points to a future where if the Democrats get in power again, yoru rights are toast.
John Galt:
What people say and what people do are different. Otherwise, a lot of us would be dead already.
Perhaps you could specify your vision of an American Civil War in the 21st C. How would it start and what would it look like?
Talk is cheap; whiskey is expensive.
Couldn’t agree more. Fetterman has bowled me over with his measured and thoughtful commentary. I guess thoughtful vs. spiteful is the biggest problem Dems have. There seems to be no thought, no willingness to negotiate. It really is astonishing. They’ve fixed on “Nazis” and “Fascists” and “Authoritarian” and Trump hate. Sadly there are many who are willing to jump on their bandwagon and buy into this stuff. Just as so many uninformed buy into the notion of “Israeli genocide” and Hamas support. As someone who thinks logically, and who tries to be informed, it’s very difficult for me to wrap my head around. As for the Mamdami support – I JUST DON’T GET IT. He’s quite transparent and has changed his vocabulary and declarations so obviously for political advantage, but yet won’t disclaim his past hatred and anti-Semitism. Martha MacCallum did great interview and gave him so many chances to explain – or disclaim previous positions – from Hamas support to racist police…. and was just the same slippery “I’m not going to fall into your trap” and say something I don’t believe. For those who think, there’s a clear message. Unfortunately, politics today isn’t about thought or information.
Democrat Sen. John Fetterman Admits Democrats Are Responsible For The Government Shutdown – Video
https://commoncts.blogspot.com/2025/10/democrat-sen-john-fetterman-admits.html
Fetterman is easily the only pleasant surprise I’ve seen out of the Democrats in a long, long time.
To have over 1k war related deaths in a year, you only need 300-400 people killing 3 each.
As car and law enforcement vehicles get boxed in, rocks get thrown, and shots fired at ICE (while the city police chief is ORDERING officers to NOT assist) it won’t take much for those “3 per” to start racking up quickly.
I do have some hope the cold weather might tamp down some of the Left’s rambunctiousness, but we’ll see. We may just get a reprieve before the spring warms things up and then the radical Left convinces themselves they have nothing left to lose opposing nu-nazis.
I didn’t see it coming. I wonder if anyone did?
Statesmanship sometimes comes in surprising packages.
I hope some of his colleagues are listening.
From Huxley’s Wiki citation: ” … specifies that one side of a civil war is the state.
Stathis Kalyvas defines civil war as “armed combat taking place within the boundaries of a recognized sovereign entity between parties that are subject to a common authority at the outset of the hostilities.”
Those have been the situations in some commonly recognized civil wars (English, Spanish, US), but I don’t think that is an essential element when two or more parties/factions really decide some other group is truly “needful of dying” to “ensure our survival”. A government or state could still be a hapless bystander, especially if they are favoring one side over the other, or are just plain incompetent.
And definitions that use casualty levels as low as a 1000 per year, out of a multi-million population, strike me as closer to describing “mere” protests or insurrections*. I don’t know the numbers for the English or Spanish wars, but our CV had 700K+ dead. That required real effort to achieve that, but even that was less than 3% of the 31M population of 1860 (incl 4M slaves). Today that would have grown 10 fold to 7M. And it might have to include some of our friends, acquaintances, or relatives!! Including spouses, brothers, and children/parents.
Not something to be desired at any level – perhaps mitigated right now by our very high level of commercial interdependence. But if/when push comes to shove, some form or work around to keep local or regional, if not national, economies going would be developed.
Before we get too agitated about our domestic political factions and differences, we need to ensure the CCP and Islamic jihadists are not succeeding in adding to our social discord. There is mounting evidence that is the case, possibly with intentional or inadvertent assistance from domestic power players.
*which may be aiming for resurrections? 🙂
Oldflyer, wouldn’t it be great if some of Fetterman’s colleagues would decide “hey, I can stand with him!”
“Share the risk”, as Greg Gutfeld often talks about.
(A big example: the females refusing to participate in sport events with “trans”.
As Greg has noted, the insanity in many sports associations may have stopped sooner if females had come out in unity, refusing right off the bat.)
.
It’d be great if more democrats would join “team sanity” with Fetterman.
To have over 1k war related deaths in a year, you only need 300-400 people killing 3 each.
Nate Winchester:
Wake me up when that happens. We are a long way from civil war.
America is a dynamic country with lots of feedback built-in. The Founders designed it that way.
Note that Trump won by a substantial margin plus both houses of Congress. He is in the process of quashing Antifa and the Democrat excesses. The momentum is now on our side.
America is a dynamic country with lots of feedback built-in. The Founders designed it that way.
Back in the late 60s/early 70s I was a hippie expecting America to morph into a Pepperland utopia. That’s how it looked to many of us.
Spoiler alert: In 1972 Nixon won by a landslide.
America is a dynamic country with lots of feedback built-in. The Founders designed it that way.
The Democrats/Left are inciting and committing violence, but the Republicans/Right are not. Maybe what we have is a nascent Insurrection, rather than a Cold Civil War.
I didn’t vote for him, won’t in 2028 either. But he does appear to be someone you could have a disagreement with and walk away without any animosity after.
And speaking of sanity, honesty and decency—we were, weren’t we?—the cat is now, officially, out of the bag:
“The Great Feminization”—
https://www.compactmag.com/article/the-great-feminization/
H/T Powerline blog.
+ Related Bonus (of a sort)…
“The book-burners have taken over the publishing house;
“Sensitivity readers and ultra-woke staff are censoring works that deviate from ‘progressive’ dogma.”—
https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/10/16/the-book-burners-have-taken-over-the-publishing-house/
H/T Powerline blog.
Fetterman did what he had to do to get elected as a democrat.
Maybe they can get him under some version of truth-in-labeling.
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I miss the era of Democrats being more like Henry Jackson (Washington) and Hubert Humphrey (Minnesota) than Chris Murphy (Connecticut) and Chris Van Hollen (Maryland).
You never know……