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**JUNE 8, 2022**
Kuttner on TAP
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**** Bad Doctor vs. Bad Patient
The race for the Pennsylvania Senate seat will be the ultimate in fake
versus real populism and sheer entertainment. It will be hard for SNL to
parody.
With the formal certification of TV celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz as
Republican nominee, we now have a weird matchup of bad doctor versus bad
patient. Oz is infamous for endorsing quack treatments. He isn't even
from Pennsylvania, and a lot of MAGA voters see through him despite
Trump's belated endorsement.
Seemingly, his opponent John Fetterman is the ideal Democrat. He is 6'
9'', shaves his head, and has spent two decades fighting to revive
Pennsylvania's collapsing blue-collar communities.
Except, on the eve of the Democratic primary Fetterman had to have
emergency surgery to get a pacemaker. And he later disclosed that he has
long suffered from A-Fib, but failed to follow doctors' orders.
In statements released by the campaign, Fetterman's doctor pronounced
him healthy, but added: "I had prescribed medications along with
improved diet and exercise and asked him to follow up again in the
following months. Instead ... John did not go to any doctor for 5 years
and did not continue taking his medications."
Fetterman added, "As my doctor said, I should have taken my health more
seriously ... Like so many others, and so many men in particular, I
avoided going to the doctor, even though I knew I didn't feel well. As
a result, I almost died. I want to encourage others to not make the same
mistake."
You can just imagine Dr. Oz's TV spots:
I'm a cardiac surgeon. John Fetterman's condition is far more
serious than he is divulging. If we can't trust Fetterman to do right
for his own body, how can we trust him to do what's right for
Pennsylvania?
Compared to the multiple flaws of Dr. Oz, I'm guessing that this pitch
would not move many voters. But Fetterman's was an unforced error, to
say the least.
Fetterman did turn his medical misadventure into a teachable moment. The
failure of men to pursue good health is particularly true of
working-class men, who often don't have access to decent care in the
first place-another hidden injury of class.
Though Fetterman has relentlessly fought for the working class, he is
far from working-class himself, having grown up the son of an affluent
insurance executive. Oz might say that's another kind of fakery. But
Fetterman is in good company, with Ted Kennedy, Sherrod Brown, and the
sainted FDR. All of these, despite their origins, earned working-class
affections.
Granted, none of these sported shaved heads, tattoos, or hoodies. But
Fetterman has walked the talk for two decades and he's entitled to his
tattoos. Oz is by far the bigger faker.
As FDR said in accepting his party's renomination in 1936, "The
immortal Dante tells us that divine justice weighs the sins of the
cold-blooded and the sins of the warm-hearted in different scales."
~ ROBERT KUTTNER
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