Transparency and the Malcontents

 

Pennsylvania Lt. Governor and Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman sat down with @DashaBurns in an exclusive interview using closed captioning.

Fetterman discussed his recovery after suffering a stroke in the primaries and his race against Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz. pic.twitter.com/0fee1cKXgY

— NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (@NBCNightlyNews) October 11, 2022

U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman gave an interview where he was forthcoming about his recovery and the limitations that he still has post-stroke, and it seems to me that a certain number of people who were previously looking for more transparency about his condition were probably actually looking for some window to indicate that he was not capable of serving in this capacity.

I may add more to this, but to be perfectly blunt--it's ableism. We have people serving in the US Senate right now who are recovering from strokes, and have had, and have had people serving in the Congress and even the presidency with other disabilities without this election. Needing some assistance to perform isn't a sign of incapacity, and I do not think the same questions would arise if a candidate was using a cane or a hearing aid. But it is still the same ableism, and some of the "takes" I am seeing on social media are, to stay blunt, in very bad faith.

That said, I can see from this and other interviews that Fetterman remains sharp and insightful, thoughtful and genuine. I can also say that I am unaware of an assistive device for someone who is profoundly ethics-impaired, as in, say, a snake-oil-dealing puppy killer.