Tangle - John Fetterman's hospitalizations.

Episode Date: February 21, 2023

On Wednesday night, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to receive treatment for clinical depression, according to his spokesperson. The news of the hospitalization came just a few days after Fetterman was released from a prior hospitalization after feeling lightheaded and disoriented during a Democratic retreat.You can read today's podcast here, today’s “Under the Radar” story here and today’s “Have a nice day” story here.Today’s clickables: Quick Hits (2:05), Today’s Story (4:11), Left’s Take (7:10), Right’s Take (11:52), Isaac’s Take (16:17), Your Questions Answered (20:11), Under the Radar (21:54), Numbers (22:40), Have A Nice Day (23:11)You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here.Our podcast is written by Isaac Saul and edited by Zosha Warpeha. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.Our newsletter is edited by Bailey Saul, Sean Brady, Ari Weitzman, and produced in conjunction with Tangle’s social media manager Magdalena Bokowa, who also created our logo.--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tanglenews/message Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Based on Charles Yu's award-winning book, Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. Twas the season of chaos, and all through the house, not one person was stressing. Holla differently this year with DoorDash.

Don't want to holla do the most? Holla don't. More festive, less frantic. Get deals for every occasion with DoorDash. The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported across Canada, which is nearly double the historic average of 52,000 cases. What can you do this flu season? Talk to your pharmacist or doctor about getting a flu shot. Consider FluCellVax Quad and help protect yourself from the flu.

It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages 6 months and older, and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at flucellvax.ca. From executive producer Isaac Saul, this is Tangle. Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, and welcome to the Tangle podcast, the place we get views from across the political spectrum. Some independent thinking without all that hysterical nonsense you find everywhere else. I'm your host, Isaac Saul, and on today's episode, we're going to be talking about Senator John Fetterman and his recent hospitalizations. The Pennsylvania Democrat has been having some health issues and recently announced that he was

admitting himself to the hospital to treat clinical depression. We're going to talk about some reactions to that. We also have a reader question about our quick hits section for the day. to that. We also have a reader question about our quick hits section for the day. I also want to give you a quick heads up that I'm on the road this week. I'm actually in West Texas and rural West Texas building a little Adobe house in the desert. This is a lifelong dream of mine, something I've been putting together for many years. And this week is a big, big part of the push to get it done. So for the last four or five days, I've been out here working all day on this house. It's really tough, grueling work, but it's been super rewarding so far. And going forward the rest of the week, I'm going to be doing Tangle basically all morning and all night. And I'm going to be taking four or five hour

breaks in the afternoon to do some house work with this crew I've got down here. So I have to cut something out of my schedule in order to make that happen. And so I'm probably going to be a bit delayed on reader feedback, emails, people writing in with questions, that sort of thing. Please keep the stuff coming. Don't stop writing in. Don't stop sending me your questions and reactions. I just apologize in advance if it takes me a little bit longer than usual to get back to you. All right, with that out of the way, we'll jump in with today's quick hits. First up, President Joe Biden made a surprise trip to Kiev, Ukraine's capital, and announced $500 million of new aid. Separately,

the United States says it has concluded Russia violated international law by committing crimes against humanity. Number two, Russia says it has suspended its participation in New START, a nuclear arms control pact with the United States. As justification, President Vladimir Putin said Russia must remain ready to conduct nuclear tests if the United States does. Number three, former President Jimmy Carter has entered hospice care at his home in Georgia. The 98-year-old is the longest-living former U.S. president. Number four, aftershocks from an earthquake that has killed over 47,000 people in Turkey and northern Syria hit both countries earlier this week, leaving

hundreds more trapped under the rubble. Number five, Representative David Cicely, the Democrat from Rhode Island, will resign from Congress in June to head to the Rhode Island Foundation. The 61-year-old former member of Democratic leadership serves in a heavily Democratic district, and his retirement will trigger a special election. Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman taking a temporary step back this morning after revealing a struggle familiar to millions of Americans. The lawmaker still recovering from a stroke, checked himself into a hospital after being diagnosed with clinical depression. In fact, Senator John Fetterman was just released from the hospital a few days ago after feeling lightheaded.

Tonight, we have learned he has checked himself into Walter Reed Medical Center where he's being treated for clinical depression. In a statement, his office says while John has experienced depression off and on throughout his life, it only became severe in recent weeks. I think it's very, very important that people who are in the public eye raise the awareness of mental health issues, depression, and by doing so, reduce the stigma of seeking mental health care. of seeking mental health care. On Wednesday night, Fetterman checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to receive treatment for clinical depression, according to his spokesperson. The news of the hospitalization came just a few days after Fetterman was released from a prior hospitalization for feeling lightheaded and disoriented during a Democratic retreat. Fetterman's health has been a contentious issue since his U.S. Senate race against Republican Mehmet Oz. He had a stroke just

days before winning the Democratic primary in May, and his difficulty with auditory processing has left him using closed captioning throughout his campaign and during Senate work since. At times during the debates, he had trouble clearly articulating his positions or responding to questions, which raised concern about his fitness for the job. Two weeks ago, he was checked in the George Washington University Hospital and spent two days in the stroke unit undergoing MRIs to see if he had suffered a second stroke. His office emphasized that tests showed he had not suffered another stroke but was just feeling lightheaded. This time, his team said the reason he was being checked into the hospital was his mental health, not his physical health. Congress's attending physician, who

evaluated Fetterman on Monday, recommended he be admitted to Walter Reed for treatment of clinical depression. While John has experienced depression on and off throughout his life, it only became severe in recent weeks, his chief of staff, Adam Gentleson, said. Fetterman, who is 53, is expected to remain hospitalized for several weeks or months. Dr. Eric Lenz, the head of the psychiatry department at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, told the New York Times depression after a stroke is very common, often very serious, and maybe most importantly, actually really treatable. Fetterman's wife, Giselle, emphasized that she was proud of him for getting the care he needs,

and his family is solely focused on his recovery. Because Fetterman was hospitalized two different times for two different reasons, some of the commentary about his health refers to either his depression, his post-stroke recovery, or both. Today, we're going to examine some opinions from the left and the right, and then my tape. First up, we'll start with what the left is saying. Many on the left praise Fetterman for checking himself into the hospital for depression and for openly battling all his health issues. Some express concern about his ability to serve but point to reasons for hope. checking himself into the hospital for depression and for openly battling all his health issues. Some express concern about his ability to serve but point to reasons for hope. Others say Fetterman is helping normalize conversations about depression.

In CNN, Peggy Drexler praised the example Fetterman is setting. Figures from the National Institute of Mental Health show that an estimated 21 million adults in the United States, nearly one in 10, has had at least one major depressive episode, Drexler wrote. The incidence of any type of mental health issue is even greater. One in four Americans have suffered from some form of mental illness, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. If we've been lucky enough to not count ourselves among the afflicted, most certainly we've known someone who has. Depression is so widespread that very few of us are not impacted, she said. The good news is that he few of us are not impacted, she said. The good news is that he sought out the help he needs and that, at least so far,

his supporters seem to be compassionate. As they should be. Besides the fact that, statistically, most of us have been impacted by depression in some form or another, many people do not get their depression treated. It's a sign of strength to know when you need help and to get it, she said. Almost immediately, a number of conservative voices callously and prematurely questioned whether Fetterman was fit to serve. The best response, of course, is somewhere in the middle, commending Fetterman for his courage to seek treatment while considering, with sincerity, when the time is right,

whether continuing to serve in a stressful position that impacts so many is in both his and his constituents' best interests. The fact is that it's a fair question to ask, but it's crucial to remember that depression is as common as the common cold. In itself, depression simply isn't prohibitive to thriving in life and career. In Politico, Jeff Greenfield wrote about the historical precedent for what Fetterman is going through. It's impossible not to feel sympathy and admiration for Senator John Fetterman, who disclosed that he checked into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center this week to

be treated for clinical depression. It's also impossible not to worry about how his latest serious health issues affects his ability to serve in the Senate, he said. We also know that depression is treatable. Therapy and medicine can lead to a productive, fulfilled life. Fetterman's office disclosed the information promptly, with no euphemistic evasion. It was his office that described the symptoms as severe. Fetterman is coping with his condition now, at the start of a congressional session where his party has a one-seat advantage. He will be facing questions, fair questions, about how long he will be absent. The questions may well have reassuring answers, and he is hardly the first senator to be sidelined by illness.

Last year, when the chamber was evenly split, New Mexico Democrat Ben Ray Lujan spent more than a month recovering from a stroke. In 2012, Illinois Republican Mark Kirk spent a year and a half in therapy recovering from a stroke, he said. The candor so far displayed by Fetterman and his staff will need to continue. Can he find the conditions he needs to heal from depression as a sitting member of the Senate? Does the combination of depression and the fallout from a stroke pose a special set of difficulties? Or can the advances in treating depression, along with a far more accepting climate, mean that, as his office promised, he will soon be back to himself?

It would take a special level of malevolence for anyone of any political persuasion not to root for Fetterman's full recovery, but neither can reasonable questions be dismissed by charges of ableism. In Vox, Li Zhu said Fetterman was normalizing conversations around depression. Fetterman's open discussion of depression is significant, given how rarely lawmakers talk about their own mental health. His willingness to both disclose his medical condition and the treatment he sought is also a major step toward normalizing such conversations. While the discourse about mental health has become more transparent in recent years, experts say statements from high-profile figures like

Fetterman play an important role in continuing to destigmatize these issues, Zhu said. Fetterman joins lawmakers, including Senator Tina Smith, the Democrat from Minnesota, and former Representative Katie Hill, the Democrat from California, Smith, the Democrat from Minnesota, and former Representative Katie Hill, the Democrat from California, in candidly addressing mental health. Smith previously spoke about her own experience with depression in college and as a parent, emphasizing that depression should be destigmatized and demystified. A 2019 study from the National Institute of Health previously found that men, in particular, have been less likely to seek out mental health treatment due to societal expectations. Fetterman, a politician famously known for projecting more of a tough guy image

with his tattoos and hoodies, could help dismantle stereotypes and preconceived notions that people may have, she said. His willingness to talk about this issue could demonstrate to others dealing with their own experiences that lawmakers have an understanding of what they're going through and serve as a reminder of just how common depression is. All right, that is it for what the left is saying, which brings us to the right's take. Many on the right express worry about Fetterman's health and argue that he does not appear fit for office. Some criticize the media's overly sympathetic coverage of Fetterman. Others say Fetterman needs to recover and the people pushing him to serve in the Senate should be

ashamed. In Newsweek, Jonathan Tobin said the hospitalizations are a reminder the media lied to get Fetterman elected. Senator John Fetterman deserves the sympathy and the well wishes of the nation. The announcement by a senior aide that Fetterman is likely to remain hospitalized for severe depression for more than a month is sad news, Tobin said. But we must scrutinize the way all but conservative media outlets have run interference for Fetterman throughout his successful 2022 Senate campaign and since he took office in order to prevent the public from knowing the full extent of his impairment and ability to serve. Fetterman's appalling performance during his sole debate with Republican Senate candidate

Dr. Mehmet Oz raised serious questions about his health, but it had little impact on the outcome of a race that he wound up winning by a fairly comfortable 51 to 46 percent margin. Based on Charles Yu's award-winning book, Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. and help protect yourself from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages six months and older,

and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at flucellvax.ca. Nearly 700,000 votes had already been cast before the debate, and in the current hyper-partisan environment, it's far from clear that anything would have deterred Pennsylvania liberals from backing

Fetterman, he said. Another impediment to inquiries about Fetterman's fitness was the Democrats' success in spinning him as a poster child for acceptance of those with disabilities. There's a difference between a senator who is fully capable of serving but requires a wheelchair and one who is ambulatory but mentally diminished. While Fetterman's apologists claim these disabilities are temporary, his recent hospitalization for what some feared might be a sign of a second stroke, and now his diagnosis of depression, severely call into question the widespread celebration of his presence in the Senate as an ostensible rebuke of ableism. In the Washington Examiner, Tiana Lowe said, shame on those who push Fetterman to run for the Senate.

Here's a quick refresher of how Pennsylvania Democrats and Fetterman's wife Giselle so cleverly conned a stroke victim's way into being hospitalized for depression, she said. Fetterman had his stroke in May. He didn't make a campaign appearance until August, and then he didn't give an in-person interview until October. When Dasha Burns accurately reported on Fetterman's evident cognitive dysfunction, the press piled on the NBC News reporter. Giselle, since her husband's stroke inexplicably the face of the campaign, demanded that the journalist issue an apology towards the disability community from her and from her network for the damage they have caused.

In the process of securing Biden a 51st vote in the Senate and Giselle a series of glowing magazine features, Fetterman's friends and family sacrificed the mental, physical, and emotional well-being of Fetterman, the man. For stroke victims, the immediate aftermath of the incident is the most important time for recovery, Lowe said. If you skimp on the rest and therapy required, then the known consequences, including devastating critical depression, will obviously follow. Even Fetterman's

chief of staff conceded that this Faustian bargain had been struck. God willing, this latest event is a wake-up call for Fetterman's loved ones, but considering their behavior thus far, it's questionable how much they love him in return. In National Review, Charles C.W. Cook said, we all knew this was going to happen to John Fetterman. A few months ago, I wrote an open letter to the American press in which I proposed that nobody really believed its pretense that John Fetterman was mostly fine, that nobody really believed that there would be no significant effects on his health if he were to run for office during his recovery period, and that nobody really believed it was ableist to suggest that he should not be elected as a result of his condition, Cook said. Was it

perhaps the case that running for office made Fetterman's health permanently worse, as some suggested it inevitably would? Yes. Yes, it was. What should have Fetterman done? Well, what you're supposed to do to recover from this is to do as little as possible, said Adam Jentleson, his chief of staff. Instead, Mr. Fetterman was, quote, forced to do as much as possible. He had to get back to the campaign trail. It's hard to claw that back. Forced? By whom? Cook asked. At the time, I wrote that John Fetterman ought to drop out of the Senate race on the grounds that he is unable to do the job for which he is running. Many others said the same. Nobody forced John Fetterman to stay in the race and declined to do what he was supposed to do. Nobody could have forced John Fetterman to do that. Fetterman's doing so was a choice, a choice that was defended on the grounds that his ailment was merely temporary

and that by the time he got to the Senate, it would be better. All right, that is it for what the left and the right are saying, which brings us to my take. All right, that is it for the left and the right are saying, which brings us to my take. So I think there are two separate issues to address here. One is the example of Fetterman checking himself into the hospital for his depression, and the other is considering his fitness for office. When you take a look at all the information we have about his post-stroke recovery, let's tackle the first one first. I think it's refreshing that Fetterman is being straightforward about this part of his health journey. As many of the commentators on the left noted, there are no limits to the good he is doing by directly and publicly displaying his battle with depression and setting the example

of treating it. Depression, even the most severe kind that requires hospitalization, is extremely common. I imagine it is far more common than most people think, simply because so few people discuss it openly. Nearly 1 in 10 adults have had a major depressive episode, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. That's roughly 21 million people, and those are just the people who address it. I'm impressed by the frankness of Fetterman's staff and believe he is setting a healthy example. As someone with even a tiny public-facing persona, I can't imagine what it's like for Fetterman or his team to tell the world he is being hospitalized for clinical depression. I often find it difficult to be vulnerable to the 55,000 people who read this newsletter and can only imagine doing so

for an audience of millions and the national media. He's doing it, though, and I commend him. Then there are the larger questions about his health, or as politicos often put it, his fitness for office. These questions are much more difficult to suss out. When Fetterman was campaigning, I was one of the voices who questioned how well he'd be able to serve. In attempting to answer these questions, I arrived at a few main takeaways. For one, deliberating, debating, and discussing is part of a senator's job, and we had good reason to believe Fetterman could accomplish those tasks with assistive technology. Two, many experts expressed optimism he would improve, which was a good thing. Three, his campaign had been somewhere between cagey and wholly dishonest on his health, so it was hard to

know with certainty what was going on. Lingering over all of this was his debate performance, which was difficult to watch and lent credence to the idea that even with assistive technology, he'd struggle in his new job. The good news is that his team seems to be acting straightforwardly about his mental health challenges now. The bad news is that he does not seem to be improving as well as his team had hoped. The New York Times published a profile two weeks ago that covered all the challenges Fetterman is facing in the Senate and raised serious questions about his capacity to accomplish the work. He is incapable of getting the rest that doctors want patients like him to get. And even with the accommodations being made for him

in the Senate, he is having trouble. The Times profile describes his auditory processing issues as being worse, quote, when he is in a stressful or unfamiliar situation, end quote, which are essentially routine for a freshman in the Senate. Of course, fundamental to the job is being present for it. Fetterman may be hospitalized for several weeks or as many. Of course, fundamental to the job is being present for it. Fetterman may be hospitalized for several weeks or as many as two months, which is precisely what he should be doing. He needs to take care of himself and get well. But not being in the Senate means he can't vote, debate, lobby for bills, or do any of the work that his constituents put him there to do. This raises obvious doubts about his fitness or whatever else you want to call it.

Fortunately for Fetterman's job prospects, he's on a six-year term with a Democratic governor. If he needs to take time to get well, he has it, though Democrats will be short a crucial vote while he does. If he decides to leave the Senate, he'll be replaced by a member of his own party who probably shares much of his politics. Still, less than two months into his Senate term, the questions about his ability to perform the questions about his ability to perform the job are now at a fever pitch, and his team faces the monumental task of prioritizing his health while trying to get him back to work. This is what many of the folks who questioned Fetterman's ability to serve in the Senate after suffering a serious stroke worried about. Some of

those people were pilloried for expressing those doubts. Now, it's crystal clear that Fetterman has an uphill battle, and many of those doubts have been validated. We should all be wishing him a speedy and healthy recovery, but we can also legitimately wonder whether that's possible while he's in the Senate. All right, that is it for my take, which brings us to your questions answered. Today's question is from Mary in Clemens, North Carolina. Mary said, how do you choose the quick hits news you do before the main topic? This is a great question, Mary, and one I actually get every now and then. Honestly, the quick hit section is one of the hardest parts of my job.

There is so much news out there that picking five stories I think my readers should be aware of at the top of the newsletter or the podcast is truly difficult. Generally speaking, though, the quick hit section is supposed to include front page news items. These are stories that I'm seeing pop up everywhere related to politics that major news outlets are dealing with and that I think are critical for my readers to know to understand the current state of things. Oftentimes, they're stories we might cover in a full tangle edition later that week. I imagine it like a collection of five major news stories every outlet is covering in some capacity. But narrowing that herd is challenging. I usually have eight or nine stories I want to include in that section and struggle to get them

down to five. I try to keep them timely and relevant, and if I can, I will move them to another section to include as much in one newsletter as I can. For instance, if someone asked a question about something I was going to put in the quick hit section, I'll move it out and address the story and your questions answered. And that way I can add something else to the quick hit section. I try to keep the under the radar story, something that folks may not have seen, a story that is quite literally going under the radar. All this is to say the quick hits should be the five biggest stories out there, which is obviously subjective, which makes it really, really hard to do. If you have a question you want answered in the podcast,

don't forget you can email me anytime, isaac at readtangle.com. All right, next up is our under the radar story. The United States is planning to more strongly enforce its sanctions against Russia and is threatening to hit companies it believes are helping the Kremlin avoid those sanctions. Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adiemo is planning to call on the European Union to help the U.S. crack down on companies doing business with Russia, giving them a stark choice. To do business with a coalition representing half of the global GDP or to provide material support for Russia. The plan is both a tacit admission

that Russia is successfully evading many of the current sanctions and a warning of a far more hardline approach to them in the future. The Wall Street Journal has the story and there is a link to it in today's episode description. Next up is our numbers section. One-third is the approximate fraction of stroke survivors who suffer depression. 51 to 49 is Democrats' current majority in the Senate. The current Senate makeup, with both Pennsylvania senators currently recovering from health issues outside the Senate, is 49 to 49. The number of Americans who have strokes every year is 795,000. The percentage of people with a similar health profile as John Fetterman who make a full recovery is 70 to 90 percent, according to the Washington Post. And last but not least,

our Have a Nice Day section. A fifth person has been cured of HIV. Researchers have announced that a 53-year-old man in Germany, dubbed the Dusseldorf patient to protect his privacy, has been cured of HIV. The man's cure was first announced in 2019, but researchers hedged that they were unsure if the virus would reappear. Four years later, they say the man still has no detectable virus in his body, even after stopping his HIV medication four years ago. It's really cured and not just, you know, long-term remission, Dr. Born Eric Oljensen, who presented the details of the case, said. The Dusseldorf patient joins a group of others

who have recovered under extreme circumstances after a stem cell transplant. ABC News has this hopeful story, and there's a link to it in today's episode description. All right, everybody, that is it for today's podcast. Like I said at the top, I'm on the road this week. So I apologize for being a little late replying to your emails. I'm recording this from a trailer in Texas, having a pretty good time out here. We'll be right back here same time tomorrow. Have a good one. Peace. Our podcast is written by me, Isaac Saul, and edited by zosia warpea our script is edited by

sean brady ari weitzman and bailey saul shout out to our interns audrey moorhead and watkins kelly and our social media manager magdalena bakova who created our podcast logo music for the podcast was produced by diet 75 for more from tackle check out our website at www.tackle.com you We'll see you next time. to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported across Canada, which is nearly double the historic average of 52,000 cases. What can you do this flu season? Talk to your pharmacist or doctor about getting a flu shot. Consider Thank you.