A confused Dianne Feinstein tried to give a speech in the middle of a Senate hearing vote and was told to 'just say aye' instead
A confused Dianne Feinstein tried to give a speech in the middle of a Senate hearing vote and was told to 'just say aye' instead
"Just say aye," Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Patty Murray repeatedly pleaded to Feinstein during the vote. Eventually, Feinstein did just that.
Senator Dianne Feinstein appeared confused during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Thursday. When asked to vote on a proposal, Feinstein began giving a lengthy speech instead of simply saying "aye" or "nay" as requested. The committee chair, Senator Patty Murray, had to repeatedly tell Feinstein "just say aye" and remind her that it was time for a vote, not speeches. After some delay, Feinstein finally cast her vote. A spokesperson said Feinstein was preoccupied and did not realize a vote had been called. The incident raises further concerns about Feinstein's ability to serve at age 90, as she has made other recent mistakes and often relies on aides.
You're viewing a single thread.
I said it for Mitch McConnell and I’ll say it for Feinstein too. People of advanced age whose mental faculties are becoming unreliable should not be in positions of great power. Step down, ma’am.
What happens when that person is in mid- to late-stage dementia and can no longer even make decisions for herself? How can she step down from office given she very obviously struggles to recognize she's in office? How can she be removed from office involuntarily? Ordinary people in her situation would have a guardian by now
She has a caretaker who is acting as a guardian, but that care taker is Nancy Pelosi's niece, and Pelosi want's Feinstein to finish her term, so the seat can go to Adam Shiff, and not be filled by Governor Newsom, who has said he would appoint a Black woman to the seat, likely a progressive. Maxine Waters or Barbara Lee.
As a counterpoint, Feinstein is on the Judiciary committee, and if she were to retire mid-term, Democrats would lose that seat until the next election. So Republicans could then halt any judicial appointments.
As a counter counterpoint, Feinstein hasn't been showing up to that committee, so it's already happening.
Great info, thank you. Regarding your first point, I don't think Schiff has a chance at that seat, but I guess we'll see
I can easily see the DNC having Newsom put Shiff in the seat if Feinstein dies (she's not going out any other way). Then Shiff would be the incumbent and the DNC and Dem voters usually go for the incumbent. Otherwise, they'll end up with Porter. She makes waves and the boys at the top, they don't like waves.
Newsom has already said that he wouldn't appoint Shiff, he quite clearly said a black woman. And his best options there are progressive women, like Waters or Lee.
People shouldn't be continuing to vote her into office.
She's my senator. I vote against her in the past 3 primaries... but not enough people do. I keep voting for her, not because I want her, but because the republican alternative is still somehow worse.
Also I email her office a few times a year asking her to resign and let someone take her place.
Sounds like a job for Ranked Choice Voting
I'd vote for that.
She was last elected 5 years ago and has dramatically declined since then. I'm asking what can be done with her in office right now given her condition. Does CA have recalls?
There is no mechanism to recall a sitting senator, regardless of the state. The only process to remove a senator once in office is if the Senate themselves vote to remove her. (Which will never happen)
The Constitution lays this out quite clearly.
Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.
The way it's supposed to work is voters are supposed to notice and not reelect that person. But not enough voters participate in primaries and then when general elections roll around, we're stuck electing the moderate dinosaur or the fascist. People need to stop asking Congress, a body conposed of grandparents, to outlaw grandparents (and therefore themselves) from running and start just not hiring them anymore. That way when you have an old person who still has their wits and does a good job, you can keep them around instead of it being all or nothing.
If only there was something her family could do. Oh well.
The Senate can remove members, it is in the constitution. I don't know all the details, but it rarely happens.
Feinstein is in a bad way. Her daughter appears to be making a play for control of her trust money her husband left her by making spurious claims that the current trustees are not doing their fiduciary duty.
Archive version: https://archive.ph/h0DXg
The trustees attorneys response seems pretty clear cut, ESPECIALLY for a lawyer.
“My clients are perplexed by today’s filing. Richard Blum’s trust has never denied any disbursement to Senator Feinstein, let alone for medical expenses,” said Klein and Scholvinck’s attorney Steven P. Braccini in an email. Braccini noted that he had not been shown any evidence that Katherine Feinstein had power of attorney for her mother.
“Katherine [has not] made it clear, either in this filing or directly to my clients, why a sitting United States senator would require someone to have power of attorney over her. While my clients are deeply concerned, we all remain hopeful that this is simply a misunderstanding that can be quickly resolved, rather than a stepdaughter engaging in some kind of misguided attempt to gain control over trust assets to which she is not entitled.”
Damn. I hope the end of my days isn’t marked by such rancor.
This is why we vote. People keep voting them in and this is what happens.
The voters themselves are decrepit. Young people say voting won’t change things and bring their own prophecy true.
I know that it's counter to statistics, but all of the most politically active people I have ever known have been the young people. Sure would be nice if my group of friends were more representative of the nation.
Sure. Young people make great activists. If only activism were counted. Old people quietly vote, consistently, many of them just dropping off an envelope at church or whatever. No big noise. No social media posts. And those votes are what gets counted.
Sometimes I think this is driven by basic stuff like the fact that young people move more often. I moved every year from age 18 to 25. That means my registration was usually behind, I didn’t always get my ballot in the mail, and I didn’t know where my polling place was necessarily. I’m old now and have been in the same residence for 10 years. My polling place is 2 doors down. I never miss a ballot. It’s really just that simple.