The plot of the 1989 black comedy “Weekend at Bernie’s” involves two company employees who were invited to their boss’s vacation home for a weekend, only to find when they got there that he (Bernie) had been murdered. Nonetheless, they take Bernie’s corpse with them wherever they go to give the appearance he is still alive, hoping to flush out the killer.
Reflecting upon the current situation of Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., one is reminded of this film by the recent antics of the senator’s staff. While Fetterman is still among the living, reports are that he has been physically and mentally sidelined by the impact of a pre-election (May 2022) stroke he suffered, combined with a diagnosis of severe depression – so much so that he remains hospitalized and is to receive inpatient care for “a few weeks.” Added to his medical problems most recently is a diagnosis of shingles.
Yet, despite Fetterman’s possible inability to function either physically or mentally to perform the responsibilities of the office to which he was elected, his staff – much like Bernie’s two employees – have been giving Pennsylvania voters the appearance that Fetterman is an active, functioning member of the U.S. Senate. It is amazing what an incapacitated Fetterman has been able to do, according to his office.
In the aftermath of the East Palestine, Ohio, train wreck and the environmental damage it has wrought, Democrats’ legislative efforts seek to introduce a new framework to enhance train safety. Fetterman’s office reported their senator was joining this effort and would co-sign the legislation. This, despite the fact Fetterman purportedly is unable to comprehend much of anything at this time.
According to Matt Vespa in Townhall, Fetterman’s doctor’s notes, “some of which were drafted by campaign donors … were rendered worthless when reports trickled out that he blew a fuse during a party retreat” in February, resulting in his being rushed to a hospital. The public has yet to see the senator’s medical records, while his staff deflects inquiries about his ability to consider such legislation. CNN reported that Fetterman’s stay at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center may be as long as a month and that he is unable to even care for himself. In addition to the railway safety legislation, we are told Fetterman is cosponsoring five other bills.
Questions remain over whether Fetterman has suffered brain damage. The situation is serious enough that Republicans now are demanding the senator appear on camera to prove he is still “alive and well” or resign if he is unable to do so. Perhaps prompted by this demand, his office did release a photo of Fetterman sitting in a chair in his hospital room, holding a paper he was supposedly reading. Of course, that photograph really fails to tell us anything about his physical or mental capacities as it could just as well have been staged.