It must be so hard. Struggling alone to express himself* in that high pressure environment...



Hard to adjust to the Senate

*Referencing here his aphasia - the specific language disability caused by his serious stroke.

A. Great that he's being open about it. Mental health still carries a strong stigma, no matter what the media says.

B. I wonder how the right-leaning media will treat it? Shame him for having mental health issues and doing something about it is what I'm guessing. The outcome of that approach, I believe, is behind a lot of mass shootings.

quote:

Originally posted by Big John:
A. Great that he's being open about it. Mental health still carries a strong stigma, no matter what the media says.

B. I wonder how the right-leaning media will treat it? Shame him for having mental health issues and doing something about it is what I'm guessing. The outcome of that approach, I believe, is behind a lot of mass shootings.

+1

Remember Thomas Eagleton ?
"Within hours, the McGovern campaign was getting those details. On three occasions in the 1960s, Eagleton was hospitalized for depression and had undergone electroshock treatment.

"This was the height of the Cold War," Hart says. "The key here wasn't how do we feel about mental illness or therapy or anything like that. The key was — finger on the button."

That phrase, "finger on the button" began to dog the McGovern campaign once the revelations about Eagleton's mental health became public."

We will see how much things have changed.

I can see the RW responses you describe, Big John - plus lots of enforced expressions encouraging the electorate on both sides, to regret having elected him. A liberal, and not only with mental health issues (did he have known MH problems before?) but - per previous election arguments - suffering from stroke damage of unknown magnitude.

Does anyone know if he has to step down, what the procedure is? Can he appoint a replacement? Or what?

Trying to imagine what he's going through, I see him as a hugely responsible man who was dedicated to blocking his almost unbelievably sleaze opponent, Mehmet Oz.

I try to be as open-minded as possible, but it really is hard to see many RW supporters as possessing anything resembling a conscience. Perhaps those who ARE a manner of idealists, are primarily motivated by a drive to defend what they see as crucial principles - ones important enough to tolerate the (knowingly) disreputable stands candidates like OZ support.

I feel so sad about Fetterman and his devoted (and clever) supporters - the ones I presume behind the campaign Lisa introduced us to.

Governor appoints replacement.

https://ballotpedia.org/Fillin...s_in_the_U.S._Senate

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:
Governor appoints replacement.

https://ballotpedia.org/Fillin...s_in_the_U.S._Senate

Thanks for the info, WTG.

But what is the process determining when a vacancy has occurred? (Apart from the straightforward, like a death.)

I'm not sure I understand the question.

If he resigns, there's a vacancy and the governor appoints a replacement.

From what I see in this article, there's no way for him to be recalled by the electorate.

Also from that article, apparently he can be expelled from the Senate by a two-thirds majority, but I doubt there would be any movement to do that for medical reasons. Mark Kirk was my Senator when he had a major stroke a year after he was elected. I never heard any discussion about having him removed. Kirk's story:

https://www.theatlantic.com/po...ators-stroke/435579/

The unfamiliar stresses and responsibilities of being in Congress must be difficult for someone still recovering from a stroke. I feel sorry for him.

Well, this isn't good news. I remember learning about Eagleton. I don't think anything has changed all that much.

I guess Fetterman will probably be out for a while. I was wondering what happens to his Senate work while he's out, so I went looking to see if there was anything from when Mark Kirk was out for a like a year. This article was written early on before it was known how long Kirk would be out, but it's a good summary of how things work when a Senator is not physically in the Senate.

https://www.chicagomag.com/Chi...f-Mark-Kirks-Stroke/

Edit: Politico did an article on Fetterman’s situation.

https://www.politico.com/news/...s-fetterman-00084671

Sad that his illness is serious enough to require hospitalization.
IMO the field of medicine is in the 19th century when it come to mental illness. If he gets better it will have little to do with the treatments received.

I also think that in the case of clinical depression, there's a popular notion that everyone gets depressed and whoever is feeling depressed should just snap out of it, go for a walk, etc.

I think people don't realize how serious and all encompassing clinical depression is. It isn't the same as having a down day. It can be fully debilitating.