In the past two months, since Hamas attacked Israel, the Democratic now–junior senator from Pennsylvania has pulled off something that few, if any, of those at the highest echelons of the national power structure are capable of: he surprised everyone.

He has done this by rising above the crassness and confusion of the mob—by stating plainly that which should be clear; by staking out a moral turf; by refusing to buckle. …

We have become so overwhelmed by uncertainty, so incapacitated by our moral relativism, that we’ve been rendered mostly impotent. Incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong, or defending our values. Or forgetting what those values were in the first place.

Then, unexpectedly, along comes John Fetterman, who was supposed to be a ruse, a sleight of hand manufactured by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, but who turns out to be his own man.

[I got that wrong about Fetterman, too. I still would prefer a Republican in the US Senate, and I’m still concerned about Fetterman’s cognitive capacity. But I have a lot more respect for his moral capacity than I ever expected to have, and his toughness reminds us just how dangerous moral relativism is when unchecked. — Ed]