“Stop Making Sense” is an album and a documentary by the band Talking Heads. It’s also a phrase that comes to mind every time Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman (D) opens his mouth these days.
It’s not that I want him to stop making sense, it’s just that I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that this is the same guy who on the campaign trail was barely coherent due to complications from a massive stroke and who came off as someone who would end up on the AOC wing of the party. As if to emphasize that impression, he returned in April, 2023 from a hospital stay for depression and showed up for duty at the Senate wearing workout clothes.
But since then, he’s been a remarkable voice of reason on a variety of subjects, from his strong support for Israel to his calling out the corruption of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) to the border crisis.
See:
Common Sense: John Fetterman Says Border Crisis Threatening the American Dream
Fetterman Unloads on Dems Refusing to Condemn ‘Rapists and Cowards’ of Hamas
Sen. John Fetterman Takes Another Shot at ‘Sleazeball’ Bob Menendez With New Resolution
During an interview with the New York Post—conducted at a vegan restaurant, of course—Fetterman blasted squatters:
“Squatters have no rights,” Fetterman said, adding that the issue was one he often dealt with when he was mayor of working-class Braddock, Pa. “How can you even pretend that this is anything other than you’re just breaking the law?”
“I am not woke,” he warned.
“We always tried to push back against that,” he said, adding that he had been horrified by what he’s read in The Post’s extensive coverage of the squatting issue.
Squatters, those who sneak into people’s vacant homes and refuse to leave, have been in the news a lot lately as the practice has risen and illegal aliens have joined the party.
“It’s wild, that if you go away on a long trip, for 30 days, and someone breaks into your home and suddenly they have rights,” he sad. “This is crazy. Like if somebody stole your car, and then they held it for 30 days, then somehow you now have some rights?”
But it’s not just squatting that ticks off the Pennsylvania senator—it’s crime in general and his fellow Democrats soft approach to the problem. In fact, he opines that soft-on-crime policies helped lead to the tragic murder of NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller.
“I have gone to police funerals,” Fetterman said. “If this individual is convicted, then he should spend the rest of his life and in prison, and never have an opportunity to get out…”
Fetterman said he still believed in second chances — but not 20.
“If you have those kinds of established records, It doesn’t serve any greater goal to allow people that are offending, offending, offending and allow them to not be held accountable,” Fetterman said.
“We have to be very smart and aggressive on crime,” said Fetterman who has taken heat by critics who accuse him of being soft on crime.
Fetterman also reiterated his staunch support of Israel during the sit-down.
Now while I’ve been impressed by many of Fetterman’s comments recently, I am not naive enough to believe he’s suddenly on the conservative side or has completely changed his spots. Many Democrats I know express dissatisfaction with the way things are going but then trot off to vote for the very same people who are tearing down the country (this partially explains the Gavin Newsom phenomenon). While Fetterman may have some common sense, he’s still a staunch supporter of President Joe Biden, which tells me he’s still a long way from reality.
Nevertheless, with most congressional Democrats sounding like they recently escaped from the loony bin, it’s nice to hear from one who actually talks common sense once in a while.
