r/politics • u/masterchief6913 • Jul 15 '26

No Paywall Fetterman warns he would leave Democratic Party if it turns its back on Israel

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5970730-john-fetterman-democratic-party-israel/
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405

u/jwely Jul 16 '26

Dems should not allow people to campaign on one thing and act wildly differently even to the extent they have, let alone the way Republicans do.

Recall the fuckers.

185

u/Dineology Jul 16 '26

Unfortunately, there’s no recall mechanism for Senators. Nearest would be if they were expelled from the Senate and that requires a 2/3 vote.

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u/diefreetimedie Jul 16 '26

States should have ballot initiatives to implement a recall measure for sitting representatives that lost the confidence of the voters. It should be a high bar but it should exist.

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u/rlovelock Jul 16 '26

Easy. Two thirds of voters. Same threshold that the senate would need to reach but it would be up to the voters that person represents, not the other senators.

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u/diefreetimedie Jul 16 '26

Yep. I'm good with that, prevents sore losers from causing chaos unnecessarily. Let's get it done. I'm going to need to look up how to get a ballot initiative going. Direct democracy might be the only way to fix things, assuming there's anymore democracy to squeeze out of the tube.

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u/Coolegespam Jul 16 '26

Fetterman would almost certainly pass that. Enough Republicans would vote to keep him in, if for no other reason then liberals want him out.

Independents probably won't vote at all.

Many democrats would, but probably less than would vote in a normal election.

Not saying it wouldn't be a bad idea, but getting 2/3 of the population to agree on anything is hard. Even if we agree in principle, the details end up killing us.

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u/IDigRollinRockBeer Jul 17 '26

Would never happen

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u/Smaynard6000 Florida Jul 16 '26

I think this is the sort of thing that requires an amendment to the US Constitution. States would only have the ability to have ballot initiatives or make laws concerning the recall of representatives in their own state legislatures

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u/H3llblender Jul 16 '26

We should be able to have no confidence votes period. We could vote out the entire admin.

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u/Kind_Demand_6672 Jul 16 '26

Almost as if people in their 20s, 250 years ago, didn't know how to fix everything but left mechanisms for us to keep trying. We broke it.

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u/Current_Ranger_7954 Jul 16 '26

Trying, and showing that only republicans support him, would be a strong symbolic move. Make it official that he's a plant

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u/Basic_Chemistry9499 Jul 17 '26

Keep at your representatives until they allow that mechanism to exist.

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u/jumbohiggins Jul 16 '26

To my knowledge there isn't a way to recall sitting senators, which is ridiculous

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u/Kerblaaahhh Colorado Jul 16 '26

Everything about the Senate is so undemocratic. Which is the point, I know, but damn is it frustrating.

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u/greg19735 Jul 16 '26

I mean, what would the process even be?

Parties are a group you join, not the controller of your position. If we could vote out Fetterman then the DNC or RNC would be all powerful. It'd be a terrible solution.

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u/GaimeGuy Minnesota Jul 16 '26

pretty much every other democracy on earth has a way to trigger elections. America literally modelled its democracy after a failed state.

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u/willargue4karma Jul 16 '26

the same way other positions do? special elections or recall votes?

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u/MisterPuppydog Jul 16 '26

There are some serious traitors in Democratic leadership.. The republicans don’t have this issue for some reason, but fetterman isn’t alone in his position.

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u/WilliamMButtlickerIV Jul 16 '26

Because they value money more than morals. They get in a position of power, and then they are bought.

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u/joeyfosho Jul 16 '26

Bought cheaply too…. 😭

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u/GotSomeUpdogOnUrFace Jul 16 '26

Well when they keep you poor their crumbs look good.

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u/OfficialDCShepard District Of Columbia Jul 16 '26

That and the Republicans in particular are cowed by their cult of personality.

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u/PacificNorthwest09 Jul 16 '26

Being generous on the math you could say half of democratic politicians want what’s best for their constituents, the other half prefer the best for constituents, but money talks and can be bought. Republicans just like money and want to grift everyone else.

That full force of all the Rs actively voting together to make more money is stronger than the mix Dems get per election.

It’s getting old boss.

(Don’t forget the few dems per vote that side with Reps for the money on votes when we are already split on a goal)

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u/NeonArlecchino California Jul 16 '26

Greed Over Patriotism

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u/Snakend Jul 16 '26

They do have this issue. Many Republicans are against Trump but can't so say outloud. The ones that voted against Trump in the impeachments were all voted out of office.

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u/auandi Jul 16 '26

Democratic leadership didn't want him!

He got the nomination by running against democratic leadership's choice of Coner Lamb

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u/WordWordNvmber Jul 16 '26

May I remind you who endorsed and pushed for Fetterman? Bernie Sanders and AOC.

The "establishment" pick was the still-reasonable Connor Lamb.

The online left's MO is the "Who Shot Hannibal?" meme.

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u/yikesssss_sssssss Jul 16 '26

It's pretty clear his political outlook/behavior changed after the stroke and related complications. No one could've predicted that 

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u/Coolegespam Jul 16 '26

No he didn't. This is the same guy that went after someone with a shotgun, before the stroke. He's always been pro-Israel.

He didn't change. People didn't pay attention or listen the DNC. Here we are. This because people wanted populism, this is the other edge of that sword. It is very easy to manipulate people when using it.

Same thing happened with Sinema in AZ. Same thing with Platner. People were warned about them. But people don't listen because populism.

The left want change no matter the cost. This is what that looks like. You see the same thing in business, move fast, break things, fail fast. Etc. Same concept. It just doesn't work in government.

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u/EuphoricAd3824 Jul 16 '26

Because its easy to go from being good to turning evil but not vice versa.

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u/[deleted] Jul 16 '26

[deleted]

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u/yikesssss_sssssss Jul 16 '26

Manchin isn't a Republican though (officially) 

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u/ProtectionVirtual225 Jul 16 '26

It’s a feature, not a bug.

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u/wagwa2001l Jul 16 '26

That is because his position had been the position of the Democratic Party since 1948 and just under half of its members still support the position.

Truth is this is not an example it Fetterman being out of touch- more of a showing of the giant fracture in the party that goes a lot deeper than this one issue.

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u/MisterPuppydog Jul 16 '26

I think the Israel issue is really a litmus test for your moral compass. 60% of Americans have an unfavorable view of Israel. If we look at Americans under the age of 50 it’s probably closer to 80-90%. We just watched Israel murder and genocide an entire country. They ethnically cleansed Gaza. Bragged about it too. They hid bombs disguised as food cans in rubble for starving kids to pick up ffs honestly, history be damned, anyone that still supports Israel in spite of what we just watched over the last 2 years is a genuinely bad person. The Democrat party has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to public opinion, I think they know that in 15 years time that you can’t win an election as a pro-Israel candidate. US support for Israel is in the toilet, and Israel knows this too. Hence them striking while the iron is hot and getting their regime changes and their greater-Israel project done while they can. As soon as the boomers are dead I think we’re gonna see a drastic change. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. There will be many dinosaurs standing firm just like we saw with the gay rights movement in the 90’s.

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u/chinadonkey Jul 16 '26

Schumer and Jeffries refuse to whip votes for things they don't like. I don't actually know if either are capable of whipping votes.

Jeffries has always been in the minority, but his caucus still votes for stupid shit like the Charlie Kirk memorial and gestapo funding.

Schumer's one "accomplishment" was a convoluted, confusing infrastructure bill that most voters didn't understand and Republicans successfully used to campaign for reelection. Neither he nor Biden, who ran for president based on his experience in the Senate, were able to successfully lean on Manchin or Sinema and govern like they had a majority.

So yeah, a pair of evil, incompetent men who are happy to drag the party down with them if it means they get to hold onto shreds of meaningless power.

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u/auandi Jul 16 '26

He has always been a defender of Israel, it just wasn't a topic anyone brought up back in 2022.

The Democrats wanted Conner Lamb, a normal dude who has joined anti-war demonstrations since the war and called Israel's actions both terrorism and a war crime. We could have had him, but he is who the state party wanted, and Fetterman was backed by Bernie and other progressive groups.

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u/Colbert2020 Jul 16 '26

In another vain attempt to teach history, here I am explaining how we got Fetterman.

Fetterman was not a DNC plant or backed by AIPAC. He was a the mayor of a town called Braddock in PA and lefties/progressives backed him. They liked the cut of his jib and turned a blind eye on obvious red-flags that were popping up. (Yes, Platner was the second time they've done this) They rallied around him instead of the more moderate candidate. (I think their name was Lamb) This was back in the ancient times of 2022 where being a "progressive" meant talking about worker's rights, legalizing marijuana, abortion rights, and economic populism. (Bernie-lite)

The main thing that caused the breakup between Fetterman and the left was Oct. 7. It turns out Fetterman is a supporter of Israel and this was a big deal-breaker. So from that point on, he was no longer "their guy" even though they got him elected: Now he was a moderate of the DNC.

The lefties had buyer's remorse. This was their guy. You saw the same shit almost play out with Platner.

There's a reason that people usually vote candidates into the Senate after they've spent a few years in the House. You get to see how they vote on a wide range of issues. If you fall in love with these populist candidates, you're going to get your heart broken eventually. The story about "Fetterman got a stroke and became Republican" is just bullshit. The left hate him for his support of Israel that they were too stupid to test for and they are furious they got him elected. That's it.

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u/TheFeedMachine Jul 16 '26

Fetterman was also unabashedly pro-Israel all throughout his 2022 campaign. It was just a minor issue in 2022 when everyone was concerned about inflation and worker's rights. It wasn't until October 2023 that Israel became a make or break issue for progressives. Fetterman is really a throwback Democrat from the 90s-early 00s where he is very pro union, protectionist, and hawkish on foreign policy.

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u/PixelScuba Jul 16 '26

Stick to your day job and leave the attempted history to the real historians. 

Fetterman was the Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania for four years, so he was not just "the mayor of a small town and lefties/progressives backed him."

It's also absolutely incredible and downright insulting that you handwaive Fetterman's stroke as a "bullshit" excuse to grow sour on him when it has been documented numerous times in many different articles from several different outlets that Fetterman's staff and even his own wife are all deeply concerned about him; his behavior has become erratic and dangerous and there have been drastic changes in his decision making since his stroke. There's something fundamentally wrong with John Fetterman's brain and that was not true before the stroke.

It's also a complete failure of your ability to recant history if you don't give context to what happened to the Democratic electorate by 2024 (arguably the electorate at large.) By mid 2024 the Democratic base had completely flipped and was now more sympathetic to Palestinians than Israelis (a stat which continues to increase.) Fetterman's support for Israel wasn't a big deal in 2020... Because it hadn't exploded as a party issue. But now that it has, of course it's made him less popular. If Obama had continued to be against gay marriage long after it became popular, wouldn't it make sense he would lose his popularity? 

I get the sense you really want to browbeat "lefties" about Fetterman, but you don't even know the history of events... let alone current events. There are simply no real similarities between Fetterman and Platner that any halfway educated person could draw of you actually understand history and politics.

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u/Colbert2020 Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26

I'm not browbeating the "lefties." This. Was. Their. Guy. PERIOD.

And you're not even disagreeing with what I said. Israel became the issue, and that's the issue the lefties lost their minds over. Progressives decided Fetterman had "flipped" was precisely on Oct. 8th, 2023.

Oh, Fetterman "became" erratic and dangerous? The man fucking CHASED SOMEONE DOWN WITH A SHOTGUN PRIOR TO THE STROKE. Red flags ignored though, just like Platner because these losers are so addicted to their populists. "Say the line, Bart!"

The man had no real voting record. Nothing on foreign policy with any of his previous jobs. If you don't want to be surprised, then vote for someone that was in the House first. Otherwise, stop with the SurprisePikachu face when they do something you don't expect. I'm actually shocked the lefties didn't drag Platner over the finish line like they did with Fetterman.

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u/[deleted] Jul 16 '26

[deleted]

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u/Colbert2020 Jul 16 '26

This is legitimately so boring. Do you think the Mayor or Lieutenant Governor is going to have to vote on things like foreign policy, like funding for Israel, which is EXACTLY what made the lefties turn on him?

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u/Colbert2020 Jul 16 '26

The classic Reply and Block. Stay mad.

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u/bgthigfist Jul 16 '26

Personally I think that his stroke did some brain damage. I've heard that people with head injuries sometimes have a change in their personality.

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u/Gavorn Jul 16 '26

I mean a stroke and brain damage explains that.

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u/SimpleNovelty Jul 16 '26

Do you even understand how the US's political system works?

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u/Rackem_Willy Jul 16 '26

Dude chased a random totally innocent black kid with a shotgun when he was mayor. They knew exactly who he was too.

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u/Basic_Improvement135 Jul 16 '26

There have been Republicans who have switched too. I think the problem is the current easy money is with maga so they switch that way. Lots of money in stupid people. If graham plattner had run as a republican they'd be embracing him right now.

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u/permalink_save Jul 16 '26

In Dallas we had a guy go from being dem in state house to getting elected governor on dem policy to getting reelected and only a few months later declare he was suddenly republican and that Dallas is now "a republican city" (it's not.... by far)

"This party does not represent me anymore" should be automatic recall fed and state wide

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u/Ironlion45 Jul 16 '26

Dems should not allow people to campaign on one thing and act wildly differently

Who's doing the allowing? "Dems" aren't the people, my fellow citizen. We are the people who make that decision. It's just that, unfortunately, we chose poorly.

If we held politicians actually accountable to do as they say we'd...have a lot less of them.

Come to think of it, there's really no downside to that idea.

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u/skrid54321 Jul 17 '26

Keep in mind, in Fettermans case there is a reason. The man 180'd after a stroke.

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u/Redditthedog Jul 18 '26

With that rule John Mccain is kicked out and Obamacare is repealed by a single vote

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u/TinKnight1 Texas Jul 16 '26

PA law does not allow for recalls of elected officials.

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u/Traditional_Sign4941 Jul 16 '26

US politics needs a fundamental restructuring.

There needs to be a part of the process where citizens set specific goals on big policy changes that elected officials are required to meet. If they fail to meet milestones towards those initiatives, the whole government gets dissolved and new elections are held.

No more of this crap where once someone is elected they're free to do whatever the fuck they want for 4-6 years. They have to do what they are contractually obligated to do, or they're out of a job.