What happened to you, Fetterman. You used to be cool.
Why does everyone act like this guy is some every man Savior? He’s a silver spoon baby with a trust fund who can’t even be bothered to dress like a professional adult. I’ve never liked the guy, always had a phony vibe to him
He was a lib who actually put effort into a campaign and built up a coalition of voters around essentially the progressivish platform that Biden had promised as his compromise with Sanders.
For many Fetterman represented an actual movement of the Democratic party away from the neoliberal establishment status quo. His campaign largely felt like it proved that being such a break from the DNC norm.
So he has been a real bummer.
We should start running fake centrists. They’ll get party support and will only have to fight one party instead of two. Then when they get into office, they can start supporting progressive causes they didn’t run on.
And watch the party’s policy of defending incumbents against primary challengers instantly evaporate into nothingness.
Politician uses leftists to get elected, immediately backs off leftism once in office.
“Maverick” my ass. This isn’t a break from the left, it is a stomping down of the coalition that already had to fight tooth and nail against the Democratic Party pushing Conor Lamb.
ugh… and he was doing so well…
I’m not american, but isn’t calling yourself not progressive kinda… Shit? Why would you ever say that you don’t like progress?
It is a label that is applied to a small group of democrats only, as far as I understand.
Progressive is often used as a blanket term that basically means that you are farther left than the Democratic party. Not that he doesn’t like progress, just that he is not pursuing the end of capitalism or something in that direction if even slightly.
To be fair, Fetterman is eager to progress genocide.
Progressives are basically the left wing of the neoliberal consensus but not “left” if we’re talking like actual left ideologies ie socialism.
I always understood it otherwise, that progressive was more to the left, outside that neoliberal democrat stance. But these things change over time and I may have always just misunderstood.
Leftists generally call themselves leftists. Progressives are usually Social Democrats, ie Scandinavian Capitalism.
“Progressive” is a faction of Democrats. They aren’t the only people that support progress.
I don’t consider myself a progressive, because I disagree with about 30% (in very ballpark terms) of current progressive policy choices. It’s not hard to imagine Fetterman feels similarly.
I absolutely disagree with Fetterman that immigration should be curtailed at all - Democrats are not a monolith. Most Democrat representatives disagree with some policy or other.
Exactly I don’t consider myself a progressive either for similar reasons and I don’t agree with the notion of progress they seem to believe in. I’m a materialist and believe progress is contingent on economic and material conditions and that people’s notions of progress are relative to that. “Progress” begs the question progress to what and for them it’s often progress in a capitalist individualist sense, where more of the best people get the best stuff. Progress to them would be like more minorities represented in executive level careers but progress to me would mean the system that creates these disparities doesn’t exist. Progressives think capitalism can be redeemed by appealing to its own morality basically.
“Progressive” is a faction of Democrats. They aren’t the only people that support progress.
Yeah, there are people to their left.
There are also people to their, uh, whichever direction the anti-authoritarian axis is.
He didn’t say that. He said he is willing to have a discussion about immigration policy with republicans.
Whoever wrote the article is trying to speak on behalf of an entire political group called “Progressives” by claiming everyone in the group came to a unanimous decision to not discuss immigration (this isn’t true).
So the writer of the article is claiming Fetterman isn’t a part of the group of Progressives because Fetterman is willing to do his job by being diplomatic.
The piece literally quotes Fetterman saying that he is not a progressive. Not sure what you’re talking about.
Then you didn’t read the article because he never said “I don’t like progress”
“I’m not a progressive,” Fetterman told NBC News. “I just think I’m a Democrat that is very committed to choice and other things. But with Israel, I’m going to be on the right side of that. And immigration is something near and dear to me, and I think we do have to effectively address it as well.”
What you think I’m saying: ‘he didn’t say “I’m not a progressive”’
What BruceTwarzan said: “Why would you ever say that you don’t like progress?”
I said: “he didn’t say that” (he didn’t say “I don’t like progress”)
He said he is willing to have a discussion about immigration policy with republicans.
“Let’s hear the literal fascists who compare even legal immigrants to vermin and invading armies out. I’m sure they’ll be willing to reach a reasonable compromise” 🙄
You can’t just throw a temper tantrum and expect to get your way. Diplomacy is required to actually get things done.
This isn’t a let’s hash out an immigration deal where both sides get a little of what they want regarding immigration reform, it’s submitting to hostage takers for an entirely unrelated issue that shouldn’t really be partisan.
Who said anything about a temper tantrum? Could you please try and refrain from using ridiculous pro-capitulation strawmen?
Calmly refusing to negotiate with fascists about one of their favorite “if we give an inch, we’re traitors” issues because you know nothing good will come from it isn’t having a temper tantrum. It’s being realistic.
So you don’t think our politicians should ever be diplomatic or just when on the subject of immigration reform?
I don’t think politicians should grandstand for cheap points about good faith negotiations with domestic terrorists whose re-election depends on negotiating in bad faith or not negotiating at all.
I wouldn’t brag about negotiating with cats about them going vegan either, and that would have a BETTER chance of bearing fruit.
Let me know when you see Republicans try any. I haven’t seen it during my lifetime, but hey, there’s always this time 🙄
It’s all just labels, it’s not really the etemology of the word that people care about, but the ideas it represents. The opposite of progressive is conservative. I think if you were to ask anyone in particular, they would say that they’d like to progress some things and conserve others. It’s just the label for who tends to do more of each. So it’s less about saying your not “for progress” and more about showing what ideas you align with. And many conservatives wouldn’t call progressive ideas “progress” if they were implemented; they think it’d be bad for society. So it’s all just words at the end of the day to signify what ideas you align with
It’s becoming increasingly clear that Fetterman is just kind of an opportunistic liar. He’s not there yet, but he’s well on his way to becoming a Kristen Sinema-level charlatan.
Can you illustrate why you think this? I’ve heard almost nothing about his work since getting elected.
To be fair, even the blue states are feeling the resource and budget pinch with immigration and are aggressively calling for federal assistance. His views aren’t exactly out of line with his constituents on that issue.
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Anyone who would vote to limit immigration is so anti-American that I cannot believe they are listened to at all.
I recognize the reality of it, but it’s just a bag full of insanity to me.
.
Whoops! No re-election for you!
Having a conversation about immigration isn’t a bad thing. Going in to that conversation looking to shove your view points down the others side throat IS a bad thing.
The reality is that we need immigrants to fill a ton of holes in our workforce but we also need to fix the system to allow legal immigration to be an easier process and to try to stem the tide of illegal immigration.
I don’t have the answers, but I know the problems exist and there are much smarter people who could help get ideas moving if the ideologues would get out of the way.
Yeah, most people against illegal immigration have no idea how arduous and expensive the process actually is. It’s not as simple as going to the border and saying, “One greencard please.”
I’m against illegal immigration, but the solution I’d like to see is a more streamlined process so people wouldn’t need to pay coyotes to smuggle them across with no guarantee they’d even survive the trip.
If they want to come be productive members of society, why stop them?
Because America, by large, has been built upon immigrants coming over and shutting the door behind them so others can’t get their success.
We’ve done it as English colonists, we’ve done it during the Industrial Revolution, we’ve done it in the early 1900s, and we’re doing it now. It’s sadly a trend that we, as a country, never grew out of.
Being a shill for the Israeli apartheid regime is the LEAST “maverick” thing you can possibly do in American politics.
To break with the left to join everyone else in enabling genocide isn’t a brave and principled stand. It’s ignorance at best, but more likely morally bankrupt cowardice.
Go home NBC, you’re drunk on neoliberal gaslighting. Again.
Morally bankrupt, fiscally wealthy
Yeah, that’s usually how it be in Congress 😮💨
Breaks with the Far Left, as most do. Progressives add nothing but complaints and no solutions.
This comment is laughably delusional. Single payer health care, ranked choice voting, ubi.
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He means no solutions centrists and their republican best friends want.
More like the lack of means to pay for all their “ideas”. Tax the rich isn’t an actual idea.
M4A would cost less than our current system, and you see no need to handwring about its current wasteful cost while people go into medical bankruptcy and then die preventable deaths.
Increasing the minimum wage? Getting rid of “right to work” anti-union legislation? Encouraging co-ops? Antitrust laws with teeth? Police accountability? Not dragging our feet for decades on civil rights laws? Ending the war on drugs in favor of harm reduction? Yeah, wasteful as hell, all of them.
We need that money so we can fund fighter jets designed for three wars ago, and perpetuating the racist war on drugs, and funding kill-ology classes for police, and disregarding 26 environmental laws to build Trump’s wall for him, and shoveling no-strings-attached money to Netanyahu for genocide. Funding for those “ideas” needs no justification, ever.
But anything that might have direct tangible benefit for US Citizens without having to be filtered through corporations first? “How are we gonna pay for it” say centrists and Republicans alike, in perfect unison.
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https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(19)33019-3/fulltext
The Lancet says M4A would save 450 billion and 68,000 lives annually. But what do they know?
Since centrists never once thought about how to pay for their “idea” of maintaining a cruel status quo, it’s being paid for with bankruptcies and people’s lives.
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A mAvEriCk SiDe
he’s not some sort of independent thinker charting his own way through the murky waters of american politics, he’s bought and paid for with a quarter million dollars of Israeli lobbyist money. I used to believe in Fetterman. I walked picket lines with him in Pittsburgh. I campaigned to help him and Tom Wolf into the governor’s mansion in PA. I see this as a betrayal and he’ll get neither a vote nor a kind word from me for the rest of his career.
Wait, so you agree with him so much on most issues that you campaigned for him, but disagree with him on a couple of difficult hot-button issues, and so you will never have another kind word for him? This kind of hyper-polarization from one extreme of support to complete vilification is what is wrong with American politics. Politics equals compromise, not going balls-out to completely crush anyone who is slightly further left or right of your position.
Yep, I’m a single issue voter when it comes to genocide.
Believe it or not, a person can be a supporter of Israel without being in favour of killing babies. Israel is an entire country full of different people and opinions. Just like the USA and every other country.
a person can be a supporter of Israel without being in favour of killing babies
maybe you can be, but he’s not. he’s got a quarter million dollars of AIPAC money in his pocket and he doesn’t give a fuck who the IDF kills or why, he’s gonna do everything he can to send them more of MY money.
Well, I assume you have met him so you know him better than I do. I would have to defer to your judgment if you really believe he is that kind of guy. I mean he would have to be a very evil person if he genuinely does not care how many people the IDF kills.
Do you think he has changed since you campaigned for him, or was he always a wolf in sheep’s clothing? Or is he just prioritizing the needs of his constituents and fellow members of the working class over those of foreigners? Or is he saying that he supports Israel overall in the big picture, and is willing to give Israel wide latitude for a short period of time to deal with Hamas, even if it means many civilian deaths?
It’s unsurprising, especially since even legitimate leftists often balk at immigration due to the rampant myths around it. Still an obvious and better choice than Oz, or any Republican, and important blueprint for outreach to actual moderates.
God only knows how he can support Israel on moral grounds while being in a position where he has access and time to study the issue, though. Pre-existing biases, one supposes.
The Philly suburbs have a pretty influential Jewish population. Nothing like NYC, of course, but they’re politically active and probably donate a lot of money.
But Fetterman has also tried very hard to listen to everyone in the state. He did a tour of all of the counties - even blood red places like Clearfield and Perry - to get people’s impressions on marijuana legalization. It’s one thing I respect him for.
Sadly, I disagree with most of my fellow state citizens on this issue so I have to go along with the majority and watch children die.
Yay democracy.
The Philly suburbs have a pretty influential Jewish population. Nothing like NYC, of course, but they’re politically active and probably donate a lot of money.
I would very much like to think that “Jewish” and “supportive of Israel’s genocidal tactics” are much less synonymous than this comment assumes.
American Jews, in fact, are more likely to be friendly to the cause of Palestinian independence and dignity than the general American population.
Considering how many evangelical Christians are Zionists because they want to trigger the End Times and get Raptured, that doesn’t surprise me at all.
Yes, and thank you for mentioning that. A lot of my friends from high school are Jewish and they taught me that it was possible to be anti-Zionist and not antisemitic. They would hate being lumped in with those who support these actions, at least a few of them.
Why are children dying? I don’t understand…I’m missing something here.
Half of the people living in Gaza are children
Have you… read the news for the past two months?
I suspect the question was framed through the lens of the maryjane comment. That was my initial reading until I completed the statement.
segweyed to weed then back to Gaza. I think the guy you are replying to thought it meant he disagreed on weed and the prevailing opinion was somehow causing children to die.
“Segued” is the spelling, but otherwise I think your read is spot on.
Ha ya, had a brainfart. Looked at it and thought “that can’t be right” then hit send.
Typical neoliberal scumbag. Buddy up to the left to get elected then as soon as you’re on the inside and have the power to actually chnge something, unleash your inner cliche villain and start loudly supporting the worst things you possibly can.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
WASHINGTON — Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., is breaking with progressives on hot-button issues with his fiery support for Israel and calls for Democrats to engage on tougher immigration laws, disappointing some on the left as he shows an independent streak.
Fetterman insisted he can be pro-immigration while also favoring policies to restrict the flow of migration to manageable levels, disagreeing with progressives who oppose new limits on asylum and bash some of the ideas in the negotiations as cruel.
The senator added that while it’s “not ideal to have this conversation” about asylum and parole policy in connection with an aid package for Israel and Ukraine, “it’s still one that we should have,” given that Republicans have made it an essential condition to advance the supplemental bill.
Fetterman’s fierce and unwavering support for Israel breaks sharply with demands by Sanders to withdraw U.S. military aid and has drawn searing criticism from the left as the Palestinian death toll soars amid the Israeli government’s bombing campaign in retaliation for the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
“For a lot of Republicans, it’s been a pleasant surprise,” said Christopher Nicholas, a longtime GOP strategist based in Pennsylvania, referring to Fetterman’s stances on Israel, border policy and Menendez.
Fetterman chief of staff Adam Jentleson said the senator has “always had” the policy positions he’s espousing today, even though Republicans wanted to paint him as a socialist in 2022 and “some folks on the left are pretending” he has since changed his beliefs.
The original article contains 1,044 words, the summary contains 247 words. Saved 76%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
A liberal politician with a spine?
The ‘progressive democrats’ are going to lose their minds. Their in group out group demanding bs is rivaling that of the Republicans. So much for freedom of thinking or ideas.
I’m curious to see how this guy rolls over the next few years but this is nice to see.
ETA. Wanting to curtail people entering the country without following the process and getting rid of someone who is legitimately accused of being a crook doesn’t seem like they should be questionable. Supporting one of Americas closest Ally’s is questionable these days though. That’s fair game.
