is John Fetterman... a changed man?

Headline:

What Is Happening With John Fetterman Right Now?

Is it a Christmas miracle? Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), who drew the ire of conservatives for being mentally unwell to serve and altering the Senate dress code to accommodate his gym leisure attire, appears to have had a political epiphany: he’s not a progressive. You read that right. He’s not a conservative, but he’s now channeling common sense liberalism, wanting to address the porous southern border while standing firm with Israel. It may not sound like much, but to the far left, being to the right on these topics could warrant a death sentence. Who is this man, and what has he done with John Fetterman?

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., is breaking with progressives on hot-button issues with his fiery support for Israel and calls for Democrats to engage on tougher immigration laws, disappointing some on the left as he shows an independent streak. 

He’s also continually scolding Democrats for not pushing Sen. Bob Menendez out of office after he was indicted on federal charges of taking bribes and acting as a foreign agent for Egypt, which the New Jersey Democrat denies. 

[…] 

“I’m not a progressive,” Fetterman told NBC News. “I just think I’m a Democrat that is very committed to choice and other things. But with Israel, I’m going to be on the right side of that. And immigration is something near and dear to me, and I think we do have to effectively address it as well.” 

Fetterman insisted he can be pro-immigration while also favoring policies to restrict the flow of migration to manageable levels, disagreeing with progressives who oppose new limits on asylum and bash some of the ideas in the negotiations as cruel. 

“It’s a reasonable conversation — until somebody can say there’s an explanation on what we can do when 270,000 people are being encountered on the border, not including the ones, of course, that we don’t know about,” he said. “To put that in reference, that is essentially the size of Pittsburgh, the second-largest city in Pennsylvania.” 

Color me skeptical. The truth of a person's character comes out only over time. This is why, when Kevin McCarthy was still Speaker of the House, the best I could muster was a weakly cautious optimism. McCarthy talked a good game, but he folded on several crucial issues—and this was after all the heedless excitement about voting him into the speakership. Over time, though, we began to see he was just another RINO, and the current speaker, Mike Johnson, isn't turning out to be much better. So if time is the true test of character, then I'd say the jury is out on John Fetterman. I'm glad he seems to be recovering his marbles; as a fellow stroke victim, I do harbor some level of sympathy for him, especially since his stroke was so much worse than mine. But we'll see what kind of man he really is over the coming months.