Pick your piss: A Pennsylvania latrine may help determine control of the U.S. Senate

benfell

More details are trickling out about John Fetterman’s atrial fibrillation and stroke, earlier reported.[1] A Philadelphia Inquirer story had suggested Fetterman’s condition was more serious, incorrectly reporting that implantable defibrillators are not used to treat atrial fibrillation.[2] In fact, they are and have been approved for this purpose since 2001.[3]

It turns out, however, that Fetterman’s condition was indeed more serious, also involving cardiomyopathy. The letter the campaign released, however, is from the cardiologist who diagnosed Fetterman in 2017, and whose advice Fetterman failed to follow, not the doctors who treated him this year, and the procedure used to treat the stroke is evidently used for a major stroke in progress. CNN’s expert joins[4] those consulted by the Inquirer in being dissatisfied with the campaign’s explanation,[5] and the question keeps coming up: What is Fetterman hiding?[6] And why?

I am not this kind of a doctor, whether medical or psychological, by any stretch, but CNN’s account of Fetterman is of a man who, like many men, avoided doctors.[7] Something that seems to be important at least in southwestern Pennsylvania politics, right there along with reckless driving in what I call ‘testosterone trucks,’[8] is that Fetterman has a style that surely appeals to working class men;[9] you cannot accuse him of being a ‘sissy.’[10]

I will venture the speculation that Fetterman’s masculinity is important to him: At a debate in the primary contest, he still refused to apologize[11] for chasing down a Black jogger in his pickup (‘testosterone?’) truck and brandishing a shotgun at him while mayor of Braddock,[12] home of the U.S. Steel Edgar Thomson plant.

Yes, Malcolm Kenyatta, those “two little words, ‘I’m sorry’” do seem to come awfully hard for Fetterman, “who has cut an image of an incredibly tough guy.”[13] If I understand Fetterman and men like him correctly, to apologize would be to apologize for his masculinity. And somehow, I suspect, the full truth of Fetterman’s medical condition also threatens what is suddenly seeming like a very frail and vulnerable masculinity.

Fetterman will be facing[14] Mehmet Oz, a carpetbagger from New Jersey,[15] in the November election for Pat Toomey’s old seat in the U.S. Senate.[16] Oz had Donald Trump’s endorsement in the primary,[17] he joins arch-Trumpist gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, who of course also had Trump’s endorsement,[18] on the Republican ticket in a state whose legislature has pledged fealty to Trump,[19] and of course Trumpian politics reek of toxic masculinity.[20]

So I’m looking at a pissing contest between a somewhat-less-than-truly-progressive Fetterman[21] against an actual heart surgeon, Oz, who plays a white Christian nationalist quack on television.[22] Eww.

My sense of smell may be permanently damaged.

Eww. Eww. Eww.

  1. [1]David Cohen, “Fetterman discharged from hospital,” Politico, May 22, 2022, https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/22/john-fetterman-released-hospital-00034274; Julia Terruso and Sean Collins Walsh, “John Fetterman suffered a stroke just days before Pa. Senate primary but says he’s recovering well,” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 15, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/john-fetterman-stroke-20220515.html↩
  2. [2]Tom Avril and Julia Terruso, “John Fetterman got a defibrillator after his stroke. But doctors say the campaign’s story ‘doesn’t make sense,’” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 26, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/john-fetterman-stroke-health-pacemaker-defibrillator-afib-20220526.html↩
  3. [3]Lisa Benton, “Atrial Defibrillation: A New Treatment for Atrial Fibrillation How Do We Best Manage These Patients?” EP Lab Digest, September 2002, https://www.hmpgloballearningnetwork.com/site/eplab/articles/atrial-defibrillation-a-new-treatment-atrial-fibrillation-how-do-we-best-manage-these-patie; J. Christoph Geller et al. “Treatment of atrial fibrillation with an implantable atrial defibrillator — long term results,” European Heart Journal 24, no. 23 (2003): 2083–2089, doi: 10.1016/j.ehj.2003.09.033; University of California, San Francisco, “Atrial Fibrillation Treatments,” 2022, https://www.ucsfhealth.org/conditions/atrial-fibrillation/treatment↩
  4. [4]Dan Merica, “Fetterman’s cardiologist says Democrat, who had stroke, suffers from atrial fibrillation and cardiomyopathy,” CNN, June 3, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/03/politics/john-fetterman-health/index.html↩
  5. [5]Tom Avril and Julia Terruso, “John Fetterman got a defibrillator after his stroke. But doctors say the campaign’s story ‘doesn’t make sense,’” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 26, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/john-fetterman-stroke-health-pacemaker-defibrillator-afib-20220526.html↩
  6. [6]Tom Avril and Julia Terruso, “John Fetterman got a defibrillator after his stroke. But doctors say the campaign’s story ‘doesn’t make sense,’” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 26, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/john-fetterman-stroke-health-pacemaker-defibrillator-afib-20220526.html; Dan Merica, “Fetterman’s cardiologist says Democrat, who had stroke, suffers from atrial fibrillation and cardiomyopathy,” CNN, June 3, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/03/politics/john-fetterman-health/index.html↩
  7. [7]Dan Merica, “Fetterman’s cardiologist says Democrat, who had stroke, suffers from atrial fibrillation and cardiomyopathy,” CNN, June 3, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/03/politics/john-fetterman-health/index.html↩
  8. [8]David Benfell, “Hate, Pittsburgh Style,” Not Housebroken, June 1, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2021/04/06/hate-pittsburgh-style/↩
  9. [9]Jake Blumgart, “Can this offbeat tattooed Democrat flip a Pennsylvania Senate seat?” Guardian, May 14, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/14/john-fetterman-pennsylvania-senate-campaign-democrat↩
  10. [10]Jason Togyer, “Will the sons of steelworkers see Trump’s COVID-19 behavior as strong, or reckless?” Columbia Journalism Review, October 6, 2020, https://www.cjr.org/special_report/year-of-fear-pennsylvania-steel-trump-masculinity-covid.php↩
  11. [11]Julia Terruso and Jonathan Tamari, “5 takeaways from Thursday’s Pennsylvania Democratic Senate debate,” Philadelphia Inquirer, April 22, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/pa-democratic-senate-debate-fetterman-lamb-kenyatta-20220421.html-2↩
  12. [12]Stephen Caruso, “Fetterman justifies — but does not apologize for — chasing down and brandishing shotgun at Black jogger while Braddock mayor,” Pennsylvania Capital-Star, February 10, 2021, https://www.penncapital-star.com/blog/fetterman-justifies-but-does-not-apologize-for-chasing-down-and-brandishing-shotgun-at-black-jogger-while-braddock-mayor/; Katie Meyer, “Braddock made John Fetterman a politician. It’s also home to some of his biggest critics,” WHYY, April 26, 2021, https://whyy.org/articles/braddock-made-john-fetterman-a-politician-its-also-home-to-some-of-his-biggest-critics/↩
  13. [13]Julia Terruso and Jonathan Tamari, “5 takeaways from Thursday’s Pennsylvania Democratic Senate debate,” Philadelphia Inquirer, April 22, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/pa-democratic-senate-debate-fetterman-lamb-kenyatta-20220421.html-2↩
  14. [14]Natalie Allison, Zach Montellaro, and Ally Mutnick, “McCormick and Oz neck-and-neck in Pennsylvania as Fetterman gets Dem Senate nod,” Politico, May 18, 2022, https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/17/gop-picks-swing-state-nominees-for-key-midterm-races-00033271; Rachel Bade, Eugene Daniels, and Ryan Lizza, “Takeaways from the biggest primary night of the year,” Politico, May 18, 2022, https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2022/05/18/takeaways-from-the-biggest-primary-night-of-the-year-00033345↩
  15. [15]Jonathan Tamari, Ryan W. Briggs, and Jonathan Lai, “Senate candidate Mehmet Oz says he’s a Pennsylvania resident now. So why’s he still hanging out in his New Jersey mansion?” Philadelphia Inquirer, December 2, 2021, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/pennsylvania/does-dr-oz-live-in-pennsylvania-20211202.html↩
  16. [16]Hannah Knowles, “David McCormick concedes to Mehmet Oz in Pa. Republican Senate primary,” Washington Post, June 3, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/03/david-mccormick-concedes-mehmet-oz-pa-republican-primary-senate-race/; Jonathan Tamari, “David McCormick concedes to Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania Republican Senate primary,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 3, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/david-mccormick-concede-pa-senate-primary-mehmet-oz-20220603.html↩
  17. [17]Jonathan Tamari, “Donald Trump endorses Mehmet Oz in Pa. Senate race,” Philadelphia Inquirer, April 9, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/news/trump-endorses-mehmet-oz-pa-2022-20220409.html↩
  18. [18]Associated Press, “State Sen. Doug Mastriano opens Pennsylvania election audit plan,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, July 7, 2021, https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/pennsylvania-state-sen-doug-mastriano-opens-election-audit-plan/; Katie Benner and Catie Edmondson, “Pennsylvania Lawmaker Played Key Role in Trump’s Plot to Oust Acting Attorney General,” New York Times, January 23, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/23/us/politics/scott-perry-trump-justice-department-election.html; Zach Montellaro, Meredith McGraw, and Holly Otterbein, “Trump endorses Mastriano for Pennsylvania governor,” Politico, May 14, 2022, https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/14/trump-endorses-mastriano-pennsylvania-governor-00032538; Marley Parish, Stephen Caruso, and Cassie Miller, “Pa. GOP lawmaker — and Trump ally — Mastriano initiates ‘forensic investigation’ into state elections,” Pennsylvania Capital-Star, July 7, 2021, https://www.penncapital-star.com/government-politics/pa-gop-lawmaker-and-trump-ally-mastriano-initiates-forensic-investigation-into-state-elections/; Greg Sargent, “Say it clearly: Republicans just nominated a pro-Trump insurrectionist,” Washington Post, May 18, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/05/18/doug-mastriano-insurrectionist/; Andrew Seidman, “A top GOP candidate for governor campaigned at an event promoting QAnon and conspiracy theories about 9/11,” Philadelphia Inquirer, April 27, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/doug-mastriano-teddy-daniels-qanon-conference-gop-candidates-20220427.html↩
  19. [19]Holly Otterbein, “Pennsylvania GOP pledges full allegiance to Trump,” Politico, January 26, 2021, https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/26/pennsylvania-republican-party-trump-support-462843↩
  20. [20]David Benfell, “Hate, Pittsburgh Style,” Not Housebroken, June 1, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2021/04/06/hate-pittsburgh-style/↩
  21. [21]David Benfell, “Progressive Democrats in Pennsylvania, if they actually exist, should support Malcolm Kenyatta for U.S. Senator,” Not Housebroken, April 22, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/04/22/progressive-democrats-in-pennsylvania-if-they-actually-exist-should-support-malcolm-kenyatta-for-u-s-senator/↩
  22. [22]Trip Gabriel, “Dr. Oz Says He’s Running for Senate in Pennsylvania,” New York Times, November 30, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/30/us/politics/dr-oz-senate-run-pennsylvania.html; Hannah Knowles, “David McCormick concedes to Mehmet Oz in Pa. Republican Senate primary,” Washington Post, June 3, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/03/david-mccormick-concedes-mehmet-oz-pa-republican-primary-senate-race/; Jonathan Tamari, “David McCormick concedes to Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania Republican Senate primary,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 3, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/david-mccormick-concede-pa-senate-primary-mehmet-oz-20220603.html↩

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