April 6 – Isn’t part of the reason we elect officials to represent us is so that they can SPEAK for us? What happens when they don’t say a word?
One of the tenants of democracy is government that represents the people.
The southern border of this country is an absolute catastrophe. There are now 20,000 minors without parents that have crossed into the US – numbers that are higher than what was first predicted.
The Biden and Harris administration have created those numbers as well as the scramble for what to do with the children, including where to house them, how to feed them and how to pay for it all.
And yet State Senator Bob Casey and Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman have not even MENTIONED this crisis.
Attorney Clint Barkdoll, Pat Ryan and Michele Jansen discussed this almost deafening silence on First News today.
“I want my Senators, who are supposed to be speaking on my behalf, to be speaking to the president going, ‘You’re screwing this up. You better get it straightened out here,’” Ryan said. “But you don’t hear anything out of these two.”
Casey’s silence, in particular, is baffling.
Barkdoll noted, “Certainly he’s in a position to not only have input on this, but to influence where things go. You’ve heard nothing from him about this crisis, which just keeps ballooning.”
Fetterman is making a bid for the Senate in 2022 and yet, hasn’t said a word about the immigration disaster.
“He had blowout fundraising numbers,” Barkdoll said. “In the first quarter he raised almost $4million for the Senate campaign.”
It’s starting to look like Fetterman might be the Democratic nominee for the Senate seat. It’s still unclear who may emerge from the Republican field.
“He’s going to have to start going on the record with some of these national issues,” Barkdoll said. “I have not really seen him craft a tight, cohesive message.
Jansen asked about his qualifications.
“He was not a great Mayor of Braddock (Pa.),” she said. “He’s not demonstrated that he can handle pressure, not demonstrated any unique ability to talk about the issues that we’re going to be facing. He tweets like a madman. I guess that’s the only qualification you need these days.”
People say Fetterman is likeable and gregarious.
“He’s really developed this social media following which, unfortunately, seems to be the new recipe for success in Washington,” Barkdoll said. “You see a lot of these new Congress people it’s almost more like they’re developing a brand than they are developing policy or representing constituents.”
The 2022 Senate race in Pennsylvania will be expensive and high-profile.
You will likely see a lot of John Fetterman over the next 12 to 16 months.
Whether he will actually SAY anything of merit about pressing issues remains to be seen.
