I watched the debate between Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz and was appalled by what this debate revealed about the progressive communist democrats and the dishonest media propagandists.
Kudos to the moderators, Dennis Owens (WHTM ABC27 News anchor) and Lisa Sylvester (WPXI anchor), for their well-prepared, superb, fast-paced, hard-hitting, on-point questioning with good follow-ups.
The moderators with their large-screen closed captioning display behind them to compensate for John Fetterman’s communication disability.
(1) The candidates seek to replace retiring U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA). The race is ONLY essential in the context of winning the voting majority of the Senate, where the outcome of the Pennsylvania race may decide the balance of power in the United States Senate and dictate the future of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominations, appointment, and foreign and domestic policies.
(2) Fetterman is a bizarre candidate, from his overall look and behavior to his extreme politics that are to the left of self-declared Socialist Bernie Sanders. And that was before his debilitating stroke, which manifests in his inability to process spoken speech in real-time without the assistance of closed captioning. He received an allowance from his parents into his 40s, and his public service was in meaningless positions -- with little or no record of tangible accomplishments.
(3) His opponent Dr. Mehmet Oz is a self-made man, a cardiac surgeon, and a multi-millionaire. He became a television celebrity -- often hawking expensive products with false or misleading medical claims.
(4) The debate was vicious, with Fetterman openly branding Oz a lying carpetbagger using Pennsylvania as a career stepping stone. Touting the “Oz Rule” -- meaning Oz is lying.
(5) Other than his radical positions, political posturing, and lying, Fetterman did a barely credible job of responding to questions given his disability. His disability is prominent but does not appear to be physically debilitating as he remained standing strong throughout the debate. But, he is painfully and obviously mentally impaired and cannot participate fully in fast-paced Senate debates depriving Pennsylvanians of full representation.
(6) Oz was pretty much what you would expect from a well-credentialed, well-spoken, telegenic, media-trained candidate. His positions were in line with mainstream GOP views.
Huh?
Fetterman opened with a bizarre line, "Hi, Good night everyone."
Confronted by moderator Lisa Sylvester with his own statement on fracking, "I don't support fracking at all," Fetterman seems at a loss for words before claiming, "I've always supported fracking."
Asked, "Has the Biden administration overspent?" Fetterman dissembled and talked about other topics while ignoring the question. “Here’s what I think we have to fight about inflation here right now.”
When asked, "You say that you will hold big corporations accountable for what you call price gouging. How will you do that?" Fetterman responded, "Exactly. Dr. Oz has never seen an oil company he wouldn't swipe right on."
An example of a nonsensical exchange: Oz claims, "Fetterman didn't pay for his own house. He got it for a dollar from his sister." Fetterman responds, "He got his Pennsylvania house from his own in ladies for $1. That's typical."
Fetterman off the rails: "How can a man, you know, with -- with 10 gigantic mansion has am willing to talk about willing wage for anybody? Imagine a signal mom trying with two children trying to raise with them."
Again, responding to Oz's claim that Fetterman has not paid his taxes: "It was helping two students 17 years ago to help them buy their own homes. They for and didn’t pay the bills and got are paid and it has never been an issue in any of the campaign before."
Like President Biden, Fetterman refuses to commit to releasing the medical records about his stroke and cognitive deficits despite being challenged by the moderators multiple times. Fetterman: "My doctoral believes that I’m fit to be serving and that’s what I believe is where I’m standing."
The one inexcusable act of any candidate for office is interrupting an opponent's closing statement, yet there was Fetterman shouting, "You want to cut social security!" during Oz's closing statement.
The Democrats are prepared to defy the law to influence the election...
Despite a Supreme Court ruling that requires Pennsylvania not to count un-dated mail-in ballots, which, by law, must be filled out, signed, and dated in order to be counted, Democrat state officials have sworn to defy the law by providing guidance to counties that they should count un-dated ballots -- and, the election workers are not required to sequester the ballots pending further legal action. Once the ballot is separated from its envelope, it is assumed to be valid -- and there is no judicial post-election remedy because you are unable to know which candidate's vote should be debited.
Bottom line…
There were no debate winners, the citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania lost.
In the final analysis, this race highlights the failure of both political parties, which have presented voters with two flawed candidates. One is likely to become a Joe Biden-like sock puppet manipulated by external political actors behind the scenes and forced to resign for medical reasons, and the other a Susan Collins-like moderate.
There were no clear winners if one discounts Fetterman’s disabilities. Both presented their ideological viewpoints forcefully. If one factors in Fetterman's disabilities, it was a disastrous shit-show highlighting the reason Fetterman has been dodging public appearances and open debates.
Let us not forget to condemn the progressive media propagandists' false impression that Fetterman was a fit candidate deserving of public office -- despite their efforts to lower debate expectations.
Of course, I will support Republican Mehmet Oz over Democrat John Fetterman, if only to provide a check and balance against the extreme and toxic progressive communist democrat agenda.
We are so screwed.
-- Steve