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🇺🇸 Fetterman Checks In

🇺🇸 Fetterman Checks In

Plus, which spoon would you pick?

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Good morning, and happy Wednesday! Meet the oldest dog ever: Bobi, a 30-year-old Portuguese Pooch

Plus, a viral TikTok stirs up a spoon debate: which one would you pick out of the cutlery drawer?

Also, start giving your four-legged friend food that looks like food.

FLAG POLLS

🐘 Tuesday, February 21: 2024 Kansas Republican Presidential Primary: Trump 30, DeSantis 17, Pence 9, Haley 9, Pompeo 9, Scott 2 (Remington Research)

📉 Tuesday, February 21, President Biden Job Approval: Approve 46, Disapprove 52 (Rasmussen Reports)

📉 Monday, February 20, Direction of Country: Right Direction 33, Wrong Track 61 (Rasmussen Reports)

🐘 Friday, February 17th: General Election: DeSantis vs. Biden: DeSantis 42, Biden 41 (Harvard-Harris)

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QUICK CLICKS

Fiery Speeches, Puzzled Supremes, Pay-Per-Chew

World: Biden and Putin deliver dueling fiery speeches on Ukraine (WaPo) + Putin pulls back from last remaining nuclear arms control pact with the US (CNN)

US: Justices puzzled as Supreme Court hears arguments over internet liability shield (The Hill)

US: New Biden administration proposal seeks to limit access for asylum seekers at southern border (USA Today)

US: EPA to take control of Ohio derailment response (WaPo) + Buttigieg Bashing Over Response to Ohio Derailment Turns Bipartisan (Bloomberg)

US: Grand Jury In Trump Georgia Probe Recommends Multiple Indictments — ‘It Is Not a Short List’ (Mediaite)

US: DeSantis unveils 2024 school board target list to block 'woke' ideology from Florida classrooms (Fox News)

US: Pay-Per-Chew: More restaurants trying subscription programs (Fox5)

US: Upper Midwest braces for blizzard, nearly 2 feet of snow (AP)

US: Conservative entrepreneur and 'anti-woke' crusader Vivek Ramaswamy launches GOP presidential campaign (Fox News)

HEALTH

Fetterman Checks In

Image Credit: Governor Tom Wolf. CC BY 2.0

Last week, US Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania (D) checked himself into Walter Reed in Washington, DC to receive treatment for depression. His office says Fetterman has battled depression for many years but that it’s gotten worse in recent weeks.

Reporting from the Right: Biden praises Fetterman's 'brave and important' example of getting medical care; hospital stay may last weeks (Fox News)

Reporting from the Left: Fox News Pundit Seem Hell-Bent on Punishing John Fetterman for Having Depression (Vanity Fair)

From the Flag: Fetterman’s hospital stay follows a separate visit earlier this month, where he was evaluated amid lightheadedness. This past summer, he suffered a stroke while campaigning. Some have praised Fetterman’s willingness to seek help, while others question his fitness to serve. Here’s more from both sides.

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Fetterman Is Right To Seek Help, but Shouldn’t Be Serving

It’s tragic that Fetterman’s health was made secondary to the perceived importance of maintaining a majority in the US Senate.
As the extent of Fetterman’s health problems come into focus, it’s also clear the media effectively hid his condition from the public.
Similar to how Biden uses age to engender sympathy, Fetterman’s political record can be ignored due to a focus on his health.

“The Fetterman Dilemma” Byron York, Washington Examiner: “Fetterman's problems, of course, include the after-effects of a stroke… (He) stayed in the race, won his party's nomination, and moved on to the general election campaign. … Fetterman's wife Gisele called the stroke ‘a little hiccup’ … In contemporary accounts, the event was often called a ‘minor stroke.’ Now, however, it is widely recognized to have been life-threatening. Worse, there are fears that Fetterman, by focusing on his campaign rather than his recovery, permanently damaged his health. … All in all… It seems obvious now that Fetterman was in no condition to begin a six-year term as a United States senator. Of course, that was obvious, at least to some people, before the election, too. But in 2022, one man's health was so caught up in politics that reasonable concerns were overwhelmed by the partisan fray.”

“Reminder: The Media Lied To Get Fetterman Elected” Jonathan Tobin, Newsweek: “Fetterman… deserves the sympathy and the well-wishes of the nation. … But now that the extent of his health problems can no longer be entirely concealed, the questions to be raised about this broader saga should not be confined to those about his clinical treatment and if and when he will return to his senatorial duties. Rather, 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. … It's also an apt moment to remember the way the corporate media covered for him during his campaign last year. A number of prominent liberal reporters interviewed Fetterman in the months after his stroke and then reliably assured the public that he was fine.”

One more opinion piece from the Right: John Fetterman’s Bizarre Apotheosis Matthew Boose, American Greatness

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

The Senator’s Health: An Evolved Reaction and a Call for Patience

This marks a significant change in discourse regarding mental health and the ability of national figures to admit they’re struggling.
Rather than turning Fetterman’s health into a partisan test, it’s best to let him get treatment, then evaluate his ability to stay in office.
Fetterman’s story could end up closely linked to another politician who saw his career effectively ended due to a depression diagnosis.

“John Fetterman and the Performance of Wellness” Jennifer Senior, The Atlantic: “Senator John Fetterman… announced that he was checking into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to treat a case of obdurate depression. The discussion since then (at least in the mainstream press, and among his Democratic colleagues) has focused, rightly, on what a sea change this is—how it is now possible, as a national politician, to openly declare your mental suffering and do something about it without fear of calamitous repercussions. The benighted days of secrets and shaming are gone; the experience of Senator Thomas Eagleton, who for 18 days in 1972 was George McGovern’s running mate until it was discovered that he’d undergone electroconvulsive therapy years earlier, is now unthinkable. In fact, Fetterman’s office could have blamed his depression on his stroke, which is a common cause of depression. Instead, it made a point of saying that Fetterman had had depression in the past.”

“The Example John Fetterman Is Setting” Peggy Drexler, CNN Opinion: “The good news is that he sought out the helps he needs—and that, at least so far, his supporters seem to be compassionate. … And yet: Almost immediately, a number of conservative voices callously and prematurely questioned whether Fetterman was fit to serve. (Of course, more liberal readers may also have political motives when unquestionably backing Fetterman.) The best response, of course, is somewhere in the middle—commending Fetterman for his courage to seek treatment while considering, with sincerity and 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.”

One more opinion piece from the Left: What Fetterman Should Know About Thomas Eagleton Jeff Greenfield, Politico Opinion

FLAG THIS

9 in 10 Say America Has a Mental Health Crisis

Data indicates 1 in 5 adults live with a mental illness of some form. Depression is the most common affliction at 8% (National Institute on Mental Health).

A poll conducted last year found 90% of respondents feel the US is experiencing a mental health crisis (Kaiser Family Foundation/CNN).

In 2020, a survey presented participants with descriptions and information concerning fictional patients. Republicans were more likely (49%) than Democrats (41%) to feel as though factors impacting depression were within the fictional patient’s control.

Asked about insurance coverage, 57% of Democrats said care costs should be fully covered for the fictional patient’s depression treatment, while just 38% of Republicans felt the same way (American Sociological Association).

What do you feel is the best course of action for Senator Fetterman?

FLAG FINDS

Real Good Food, Bacteria-Free Bottles, Talk the Talk

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WATERCOOLER

Washington Born, Nonlinear Workday, Ocean Hedgehogs

Ferry Farm, the Washington family's residence on the Rappahannock River in Stafford County, Virginia.

On This Day in 1732: George Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, the first of six children of Augustine and Mary Ball Washington. An initially loyal British subject, Washington eventually led the Continental Army in the American Revolution and became the new nation's first president.

Fast Company: How a nonlinear workday might help you get more done

Afar: 11 Lost Cities You Can Actually Visit

Vice: The Death of Office Culture Leads to Boom Times for Used-Chair Salesman

Today I Learned sea urchins are called "sea urchins" because hedgehogs used to be called urchins until about the 15th century. Sea urchins are ocean hedgehogs.

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