Congress members who were more supportive of Palestinian causes or more neutral prior to being elected, like Senator John Fetterman, Representative Maxwell Frost and Senator Raphael Warnock, shifted to take more pro-Israel positions after pro-Israel groups made donations, or threatened to get involved in a race. The Guardian found Fetterman and Warnock to be more supportive of Israel following the 7 October attacks, while Frost had a mixed response and has signed onto a resolution calling for a ceasefire.
So it was all a show and Fettermans stance on progressive positions was purely performative. He’s a turncloak and its not clear he believes anything really. For me, this makes him a ‘cypher’ in the same way that Biden or Buttigieg can be a bit of a cypher in that they just adopt the policy positions of their largest donors. There is no ‘there’ there in regards to their policy positions. They are hollow in this way, and simply perform to whatever the policy positions of their donors are.
I have nearly no evidence of that happening, and strokes changing personality is a well studied phenomenon. I could, of course, be wrong. Do you have any evidence to support this hypothesis?
The history of left wing leaders in the Americas and the plethora of chemicals that present as stroke like symptoms (sometimes by just, you know, causing strokes)
While strokes can impact memory and personality they usually don’t make a person with a campaign and aides forget the policy positions they’ve had for years. Or someone can remind them, and they can say “Oh, I’ve changed my mind” not “I’ve never said this easily verifiable thing and I don’t know why you’re calling me a progressive just for campaigning as a Democratic progressive”
I’m not aware of strokes - or stroke like symptoms - being particularly common among that set of people. I thought mostly the US funded military coups, funded guerillas and death squads, used financial warfare, that sort of thing. I know the CIA basically had a Wile E Coyote phase with Castro, but that never actually went anywhere that I’m aware of.
Fetterman campaigned as a progressive. He was funded largely through small dollar donations and rejected money from organizations like AIPAC. Here is a 2022 article about him rejecting PAC cash.
Since then, Fetterman has take a 180 degree pivot from his previous political association and stances, rejecting the term progressive. He’s after taking AIPAC monies, he has effectively adopted a neoconservative/ neoliberal set of policy positions (Times of Israel’s warning, but that puts you on the map to where things stand).
From the (linked below) Guardian:
Guardian article
So it was all a show and Fettermans stance on progressive positions was purely performative. He’s a turncloak and its not clear he believes anything really. For me, this makes him a ‘cypher’ in the same way that Biden or Buttigieg can be a bit of a cypher in that they just adopt the policy positions of their largest donors. There is no ‘there’ there in regards to their policy positions. They are hollow in this way, and simply perform to whatever the policy positions of their donors are.
The way he changed, so quickly, suggests to me that the stroke might have caused some alterations to his personality.
Or the “stroke” was a warning and it was play ball or get another, far more violent one.
I have nearly no evidence of that happening, and strokes changing personality is a well studied phenomenon. I could, of course, be wrong. Do you have any evidence to support this hypothesis?
The history of left wing leaders in the Americas and the plethora of chemicals that present as stroke like symptoms (sometimes by just, you know, causing strokes)
While strokes can impact memory and personality they usually don’t make a person with a campaign and aides forget the policy positions they’ve had for years. Or someone can remind them, and they can say “Oh, I’ve changed my mind” not “I’ve never said this easily verifiable thing and I don’t know why you’re calling me a progressive just for campaigning as a Democratic progressive”
I’m not aware of strokes - or stroke like symptoms - being particularly common among that set of people. I thought mostly the US funded military coups, funded guerillas and death squads, used financial warfare, that sort of thing. I know the CIA basically had a Wile E Coyote phase with Castro, but that never actually went anywhere that I’m aware of.
Interesting, I haven’t kept up with him post election so I’ll have to read more about this