This x 
Thank you. And don’t forget their tiny hearts, too. What has happened to compassion in this country?
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Having any heart is a fact not in evidence.
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I love that the Senator received the finest care the world has to offer, that seems to have addressed the problem.
I hate that there are maybe 2 or 3 psychiatrists in my whole area code. I hate that if a person has primary care at all, they might Maybe get a pill to try and see if it helps. No counseling. No behavioral therapy. No coping strategies or any other intervention that’s been proven to help and been proven to work better if combined with medication than either meds or counseling alone.
I hate that the politicians first in line to say school shootings are a mental health problem, are the party of suing in court to take people’s health insurance away.
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Even in areas with plenty of providers there is often a lack of in patient beds and certainly a lack of emergency beds.
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I hate to be a wet blanket on this issue (and if I had been a PA voter, I would have voted for Fetterman over the medicine show asshole), but if I were a PA voter, I would be leery of what the pressure of being a Senator would have on a post-stroke, post-manic depressive with some communication problems and possible mental health issues. I’m sorry, but I believe Fetterman should work with the PA Governor to select a Democratic Party replacement and then resign.
I wish Fetterman nothing but good in his recovery, but I question if he can currently do his job.
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I don’t think they said manic depressive, unless I missed that in the story. Plenty of people lead regular, even high pressure, lives with proper on going therapy as needed. That might be counseling and/or medication. If his medical team thought that he was not able to continue I’m sure they would recommend that he resign.
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Thank you for sharing the depth of your insight and compassion.
I fear too many Americans have forgotten how to walk each other home.
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Hey, you just have to be aware of Everything, Everywhere, All At Once and it’ll all start making sense…
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All of us need to be reminded once in a while what “being human” means…
With humility. 
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You are entitled to your opinion, but you would do well to inform yourself of what manic (or bipoloar) depressions are, and whether Sen. Fetterman actually had that diagnosis.
A diagnosis of a “mental illness” usually does not preclude your ability to do hard, important, stressful work. It’s like when you have had a heart attack, or multiple amputations, or a neuromuscular disorder. Do you question the ability of people with those conditions to serve in government?
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@Hatmama. you said it perfectly! “Mental illness” is another condition that the body is subject to. We’re so used to seeing bodies as parts we don’t recognize how the whole functions.
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As a Pennsylvania voter (who voted for Fetterman in the general election, but not in the Democratic primary), I think what you are suggesting would cause instability.
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TY 
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First I’ve ever heard of it, and I’ve lived in Virginia all my life.
Booth was no real friend of the South; Lincoln might have been able to handle the aftermath of the war to minimize hard feeling on both sides. Removing Lincoln left things in the hands of Andrew Johnson, who was no conciliator, and no friend of the newly freed slaves. He squandered the chance (a small chance, admittedly, but a chance) to repair some of the damage that slavery, and 80 years of fighting about the issue had done to the country. All of us are still suffering from that failure.
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If “mental illness” was a disqualifying condition for Congress, far more people than Fetterman would need to resign.
The difference is that Fetterman recognized his problem and sought proper medical help. That’s the type of self-awareness I wish all our members of Congress possessed.
Rather than being disqualifying, that is a positive in my opinion. If we want Congress to be representative of Americans, we can’t ask them to quit when they have normal American medical problems.
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There are other senators you could and should worry about far more than Fetterman, those who are aging out and are down to collecting a salary and voting no occasionally.
The other TPMers who’ve responded to your post are all correct in their assessment of what Senator Fetterman will be able to do as he returns to work. Get on board with optimism and a better tomorrow.
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Lincoln did a pretty good job. But not everyone is Lincoln. But I think Fetterman’s a fighter in his nature. I hope they’ve provided him with post-release resources to lean on.
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For the MAGA crowd it only exists for their fellow MAGAts.
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I truly believe it is worse than that. It has gone beyond “tribal.” It is actually all “transactional.” If they all walk the “right” path, they support each other. If you have a trans kid, fuggetaboutit. And fuggetabout U.
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About 10 days ago one of our dearest friends died from a fall.
“He could have been anything he wanted”. One hears that about people, but it’s seldom true,
It was true of our friend. He had a 5-yr engineering degree, but could have been a lawyer, physician, physicist, you name it. But he struggled. Bi-polar nearly destroyed him. He was given the whole rage of drugs over the years. The later ones seemed to help.
He went from one unglamorous job after another, ended up on social security with his wife.
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