SF Chronicle: Colleagues worry Dianne Feinstein is now mentally unfit to serve, citing recent

[Celerity]

interactions



https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/dianne-feinstein-senate-17079487.php

WASHINGTON — When a California Democrat in Congress recently engaged in an extended conversation with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, they prepared for a rigorous policy discussion like those they’d had with her many times over the last 15 years.

Instead, the lawmaker said, they had to reintroduce themselves to Feinstein multiple times during an interaction that lasted several hours. Rather than delve into policy, Feinstein, 88, repeated the same small-talk questions, like asking the lawmaker what mattered to voters in their district, the member of Congress said, with no apparent recognition the two had already had a similar conversation.

The episode was so unnerving that the lawmaker — who spoke to The Chronicle on condition they not be identified because of the sensitivity of the topic — began raising concerns with colleagues to see if some kind of intervention to persuade Feinstein to retire was possible. Feinstein’s term runs through the end of 2024. The conversation occurred several weeks before the death of her husband in February.

snip

Four U.S. senators, including three Democrats, as well as three former Feinstein staffers and the California Democratic member of Congress told The Chronicle in recent interviews that her memory is rapidly deteriorating. They said it appears she can no longer fulfil her job duties without her staff doing much of the work required to represent the nearly 40 million people of California.

snip



https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/san-francisco-chronicle/

[2naSalit]

1. Wonder who that was...

The episode was so unnerving that the lawmaker — who spoke to The Chronicle on condition they not be identified because of the sensitivity of the topic — began raising concerns with colleagues to see if some kind of intervention to persuade Feinstein to retire was possible. Feinstein’s term runs through the end of 2024. The conversation occurred several weeks before the death of her husband in February.

[Celerity]

4. they added this, but I have not a clue who it was

“I have worked with her for a long time and long enough to know what she was like just a few years ago: always in command, always in charge, on top of the details, basically couldn’t resist a conversation where she was driving some bill or some idea. All of that is gone,” the lawmaker said. “She was an intellectual and political force not that long ago, and that’s why my encounter with her was so jarring. Because there was just no trace of that.”

[jalan48]

2. These are perilous times. We're seeing an ongoing threat by authoritarians to take over

and change our system of government. We need all hands on deck. Feinstein is incapable of doing her job, what can be done to get her to step down or removed from office?

[bigtree]

11. not concerned enough about 'authoritarianism' to propose ONE man fill her seat

...to have the governor determine who sits in that Senate seat instead of voters in 2024.

[jalan48]

12. I see no reason to bumble along for two years. The Governor will appoint a Democrat and

there will still be an election in 2024.

[bigtree]

14. where has she 'bumbled' her actual job?

....she was a sharp as anyone in the Jackson hearing.

Not seeing how virtuous it is to want one man to decide who sits in her seat, rather than voters, especially based on rumor. It's an anti-democratic political tactic, imo.

[jalan48]

15. No problem. It will be what it is. I'm glad we have a Democratic Governor to appoint a

replacement if she steps down voluntarily.

[kimbutgar]

3. Also she just lost her husband recently to cancer

I think Speaker Pelosi needs to have a serious talk with her since they grew into the same political sphere.

[2naSalit]

5. And that's the thing.

I see this as a whisper campaign to push her out and I think it sucks. An anonymous source recalls a story about a moment when the Senator was in personal turmoil and uses that as an implication that such conditions exist over a long term and that she is constantly unable to do her job at all. Also trying to call into question votes she has cast recently, like for KBJ.

I suspect that the Senator is capable of making a decision to retire and will do so in due time.

A lot of stabbing in the back going on these days, I remain skeptical about this story, it's a little too smelly for me.

[Celerity]

6. I disagree, it is not a new thing, and there have been public displays that show the problem

I voted for Kevin de León in both the 2018 primary and the general, as I could see the writing on the wall. He got the most votes ever (over 5 million) for any losing Senate candidate in US history, but it just was not enough.

Feinstein already conceded, via her own actions, (stepping down as the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee) that there is a problem.


Dianne Feinstein's Missteps Raise a Painful Age Question Among Senate Democrats.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/dianne-feinsteins-missteps-raise-a-painful-age-question-among-senate-democrats

In a hearing on November 17th, Dianne Feinstein, the senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, who, at eighty-seven, is the oldest member of the Senate, grilled a witness. Reading from a sheaf of prepared papers, she asked Jack Dorsey, the C.E.O. of Twitter, whether his company was doing enough to stem the spread of disinformation. Elaborating, she read in full a tweet that President Trump had disseminated on November 7th, falsely claiming to have won the Presidential election. She then asked Dorsey if Twitter’s labelling of the tweet as disputed had adequately alerted readers that it was a bald lie.

It was a good question. Feinstein seemed sharp and focussed. For decades, she has been the epitome of a female trailblazer in Washington, always hyper-prepared. But this time, after Dorsey responded, Feinstein asked him the same question again, reading it word for word, along with the Trump tweet. Her inflection was eerily identical. Feinstein looked and sounded just as authoritative, seemingly registering no awareness that she was repeating herself verbatim. Dorsey graciously answered the question all over again.

Social media was less polite. A conservative Web site soon posted a clip of the humiliating moment on YouTube, under the headline “Senator Feinstein just asked the same question twice and didn’t realize she did it,” adding an emoji of someone covering his face with his hand in shame, along with bright red type proclaiming “Time to Retire!!” Six days later, under growing pressure from progressive groups who were already outraged by her faltering management of Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing, Feinstein released a statement announcing that she would step down from the Democrats’ senior position, while continuing as a non-ranking member of the committee. Feinstein’s office declined to comment for this article.

snip

But many others familiar with Feinstein’s situation describe her as seriously struggling, and say it has been evident for several years. Speaking on background, and with respect for her accomplished career, they say her short-term memory has grown so poor that she often forgets she has been briefed on a topic, accusing her staff of failing to do so just after they have. They describe Feinstein as forgetting what she has said and getting upset when she can’t keep up. One aide to another senator described what he called a “Kabuki” meeting in which Feinstein’s staff tried to steer her through a proposed piece of legislation that she protested was “just words” which “make no sense.” Feinstein’s staff has said that sometimes she seems herself, and other times unreachable. “The staff is in such a bad position,” a former Senate aide who still has business in Congress said. “They have to defend her and make her seem normal.”

snip

[kimbutgar]

22. I forget I think I also voted for de Leon.

[bigtree]

21. Speaker Pelosi quoted

Calling Feinstein “a workhorse for the people of California and a respected leader among her colleagues in the Senate,” Pelosi stated that the attacks on her fellow San Francisco Democrat are “unconscionable” and “ridiculous.”
https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/pelosi-responds-to-report-questioning-feinsteins-mental-fitness-to-serve/

[Raven123]

7. If this is true, they need to address this with her privately and directly. Media leaks are cowardly

[2naSalit]

9. That's why I question it.

I'm not saying she's at the top of her game but she's being kicked while she's down, in my view. It is certain she should not run again and it probably would be good if she did resign but I don't think the whisper campaign is appropriate and is harmful to her personally.

Suppose she may choose to step down soon, two more years is a long haul if you're getting tired.

[Celerity]

10. this has been going on for multiple years now, and I am sure there have been private attempts

[BradAllison]

18. What if people have addressed it and it's not getting thru?

[Celerity]

19. that likely is happening, look at the large pushback (mostly from her staff)

[Arazi]

8. Beyond the fair discussion of ageism, is the FACT we need sharp Dems fighting atm

Is the next Pete Buttigieg being stymied by Feinstein holding on?

A Cory Booker waiting to tackle our issues and fight HARD, and prominently for them.

A Lauren Underwood who can effectively drive policy.

We can’t afford placeholders atm. We need dynamic leadership.

Stat

[Spider Jerusalem]

13. It's not a fair dscussion because it isn't ageism

it's concern that she's medically unfit. If she weren't exhibiting obvious symptoms of cognitive decline then we wouldn't be having this discussion (for anyone asking "what obvious symptoms?" see for instance her asking Jack Dorsey the exact same question, two times in a row, totally oblivious to the fact that she'd done so).

[Celerity]

17. +1

[Arazi]

20. Yup, good distinction

[Sneederbunk]

16. We are going to be busy if we are worrying about senators mentally unfit to serve.

[kskiska]

23. Probably from the party of Strom Thurmond

who at 100 years old lived at Walter Reade Hospital and was wheeled into congress on occasion to vote.