We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) served her constituents for decades so, good on her. But it’s r...
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) served her constituents for decades so, good on her.
But it’s really time for her to go. Really.
As if we needed yet another reason why the 89-year-old Feinstein needs to retire, The New York Times (of all sources) finally reported on an incident from last year that shows just how confused and out of touch the senator is.
A source told the Times that Feinstein had an odd reaction to Vice President Kamala Harris presiding over the Senate (one of the only official duties the Constitution sets out for the veep).
Feinstein turned to her colleagues and said, “What is she doing here?” the liberal newspaper said. In fact, Harris has cast 29 tie-breaking votes as president of the Senate since she took office, so she’s there a lot.
The Times story was headlined, “Feinstein, Back in the Senate, Relies Heavily on Staff to Function.” The piece cataloged all the ways the senator is unable to do her job. She “is surrounded by a retinue of staff members who serve not only the roles of typical congressional aides — advising on policy, keeping tabs on the schedule, drafting statements and speeches — but also as de facto companions to a senator whose age, frail health and memory issues make it difficult for her to function alone.”
Feinstein, 89, missed months of Senate votes after contracting shingles that led to a case of Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which can cause facial paralysis and hearing loss. She also suffered encephalitis, which is swelling of the brain.
When she finally returned to work more than two months after holing up in her California mansion, Feinstein was in a wheelchair. But she and her staff claim she’s just fine — and they’re going to great lengths to shield the senator’s health from public scrutiny.
Last week, a staff photographer for The Los Angeles Times wrote that he was “shouted at” when he tried to photograph Feinstein.
“I photographed the senator as a staff member tried to hide her wheelchair behind a pillar at a low-profile exit last week. A Capitol Police officer shouted at me to move back — despite already being 30 feet away from the senator. Feinstein waved as she was escorted to a waiting vehicle,” photographer Kent Nishimura wrote.
The photographer also claimed Senate security is going to great lengths to protect Feinstein from the press.
“For two days in a row last week, the Senate sergeant-at-arms office has said her arrival at the Capitol ‘is closed press,’ shutting doors and using the Capitol police to chase journalists out of hallways and public spaces. This unprecedented act of restricting press freedom only raises more questions,” he said.
Feinstein’s office denied that it is shielding the senator from the media.
“Our office has not asked photographers to not take pictures of her in her wheelchair,” Feinstein spokesman Adam Russell said in a statement to the Times. “We did ask, and continue to ask for safety reasons, that photographers and reporters give her space, particularly when entering and exiting her vehicle.”
A spokesperson for Feinstein did say: “While the encephalitis resolved itself shortly after she was released from the hospital in March, she continues to have complications from Ramsay Hunt syndrome.”
Feinstein’s mental acuity has been in question since she returned to the Senate. She gave a bizarre answer when asked by reporters about her lengthy absence and how her colleagues reacted upon her return.
“No, I haven’t been gone,” she said. “You should follow the — I haven’t been gone, I’ve been working.”
One reporter asked whether she had been working from home. “No, I’ve been here. I’ve been voting,” she said. “Please, you either know or don’t know.”
More than two-thirds of voters in California think Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) is not fit to serve in the Senate, according to a new poll.
Sixty-seven percent of registered voters in the state say Feinstein’s latest illness, which has left her in a wheelchair, has left her unfit for office, according to the poll conducted by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies.
Poll respondents were asked if they agreed with the statement, “Feinstein’s latest illness underlines the fact that she is no longer fit to continue serving in the U.S. Senate.”
In addition, on the question of whether she should resign, a plurality (42%) said she should. Another 27% said Feinstein should serve in the Senate until the end of her term in 2025, while 31% said they were undecided.
No comments