Having suffered a stroke, and then subsequent psychiatric ailments that led to his brief hospitalization, John Fetterman’s time in the Senate has not been especially smooth. Yet now that he seems generally recovered, there has been a spate of dubious pieces in left-of-center publications suggesting that the Pennsylvania Democrat is mentally unstable and possibly unfit for office. Fetterman, incidentally, has been one of the most persistent defenders of Israel on Capitol Hill.

The story put Meir Soloveichik in mind of another Pennsylvanian, Warder Cresson, whose wife had him declared non compos mentis after he returned from serving as the first American consul to Jerusalem in 1846:

The application of lunacy to Cresson seemed solely based on his conversion to Judaism; in contrast to his many other previous conversions, it was only a love for the Jewish people that was considered crazy.

Meanwhile, as I type, a new hit piece on Fetterman has just dropped—a report issued by Axios noting that Fetterman has missed votes on the floor. The article runs under the hysterical headline “Fetterman Doubts Explode into Capitol Hill Firestorm.” To paraphrase Cresson’s attorney, the only charge left with which to accuse the senator is that he cares about murdered Jews.

Yet there are millions of people who are utterly unperturbed by Fetterman’s embrace of Israel and his present political persona. This multitude happens to be . . . the Pennsylvanians who elected him in the first place. The senator continues to enjoy high poll numbers among his own constituents; apparently, if Fetterman is crazy, then they don’t want their senators to be sane.

Warder Cresson and John Fetterman represent uniquely American stories, both highlighting the special history of the relationship between this country and the Jews. . . . It is just this that Fetterman’s critics cannot stand about America. That is why, ironically, Fetterman’s choice to stand with the Jewish people is driving them crazy.

Yesterday, the Iranian foreign minister flew to Geneva to meet with European diplomats. President Trump, meanwhile, indicated that cease-fire negotiations might soon begin with Iran, which would presumably involve Tehran agreeing to make concessions regarding its nuclear program, while Washington pressures Israel to halt its military activities. According to Israeli media, Iran already began putting out feelers to the U.S. earlier this week. Aviram Bellaishe considers the purpose of these overtures:

The regime’s request to return to negotiations stems from the principle of deception and delay that has guided it for decades. Iran wants to extricate itself from a situation of total destruction of its nuclear facilities. It understands that to save the nuclear program, it must stop at a point that would allow it to return to it in the shortest possible time. So long as the negotiation process leads to halting strikes on its military capabilities and preventing the destruction of the nuclear program, and enables the transfer of enriched uranium to a safe location, it can simultaneously create the two tracks in which it specializes—a false facade of negotiations alongside a hidden nuclear race.