Dianne Feinstein has dementia

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.”

Schumer had several serious and painful talks with Feinstein, according to well-informed sources. Overtures were also made to enlist the help of Feinstein’s husband, Richard Blum. Feinstein, meanwhile, was surprised and upset by Schumer’s message. He had wanted her to step aside on her own terms, with her dignity intact, but “she wasn’t really all that aware of the extent to which she’d been compromised,” one well-informed Senate source told me. “It was hurtful and distressing to have it pointed out.” Compounding the problem, Feinstein seemed to forget about the conversations soon after they talked, so Schumer had to confront her again. “It was like Groundhog Day, but with the pain fresh each time.” Anyone who has tried to take the car keys away from an elderly relative knows how hard it can be, he said, adding that, in this case, “It wasn’t just about a car. It was about the U.S. Senate.”

Time for her to retire and the hypocrites Pelosi, Newsome, and Breed can also resign allowing California to to from Republican lite to progressive.

And take Chuck Grassley with her!

Agree. Feinstein and a bunch of. others, in both parties, need to retire with dignity. This "stay in office until death" attitude iis absurd. Voters keep re-electing them due to name recognition, experience, and possessing boatloads of cash from influential contributors.

Term limits.

Feinstein praising and hugging another demented old lady, the spinster Lindsey, was so unbecoming.

No one over 70 should be elected.

Just give her the Woman~man~person~camera~TV test

Fuck Dementia! I AM NEVER GOING A WAY! THAT'S WHY DEMS ARE LOOOOSERS! SEE YOU IN 2024!

She alsonhad a chinese spy in her employ for decades.

[quote]Time for her to retire and the hypocrites Pelosi, Newsome, and Breed can also resign allowing California to to from Republican lite to progressive.

Breed is a mayor. She has no power on the state level, and is a Berniebot. You're insane if you think anyone further to the left than that is getting elected here. California is not a socialist paradise.

And learn to spell the governor's last name.

These power-mad cunts of both genders just can't stand to give it up. It's been obvious for years that DiFi sometimes didn't know the difference between her underpants and he wig. She, Grassley, Inhofe and Richard Shelby, JFC get them the fuck out. DiFi and Grassley are particularly embarrassing right now, half the time they don't even know where they are.

During the Kavanaugh hearings it was shocking how many people on Senate committee were over 80

Even in academia people that age are not working day to day jobs--at best, they are trotted out to give a lecture here and there

R12 Fuck his name and fuck his hypocrisy.

Would a private company keep these fossils around? Fuck no!

There are 80 year olds who are vibrant. But, they are rare. I also think that often, they don’t relate to the struggles of young people.

R17 that's a very true understatement.

[quote]the hypocrites Pelosi, Newsome, and Breed

Our rightwing trolls never know how to spell Newsom. The bring him up in every thread, even when he's not the topic, then spell his name wrong. Might as well put a flashing "TROLL" sign on their foreheads.

Fuck you Troll at R19. People make typos.

Instead of discussing the fact they are hypocrites you go after a typo. Says a lot about you, that this is your focus.

I don't understand how people think that long term issues such as climate change will be solved by politicians so old that there is a good chance they will expire before the milk in their refrigerator. Politicians can be too old, just like billionaires can be too rich.

Her and Biden.

People win elections based on name recognition. That's partly why Trump got so many votes, incumbents almost always do better in their re-election bids. Feinstein has been around so long that there are probably tens of thousands of people who just vote for her out of reflex.

We need term limits and politicians who have integrity and won't just stay in the job until they're dead. But we've had elderly politicians for decades and sometimes it seems like Feinstein gets attacked more than Byrd or Thurman or others ever were.

Why do these dinosaurs insist on clinging to power?

Cause it feeds the ego...

It's the seniority system. Voters have a material incentive to keep returning the dinosaurs to power, since the longer they stay in the saddle, the more pork they can steer to their district/state.

R19 is the troll. This is serious, and damaging. You don't need to be "a right wing troll" to see that.

We have trolls sent here to derail any discussion and cause chaos. The fact is that Democratic leadership props up people like Feinstein when they should be investing in new and younger talent.

Feinstein sounds like a nightmare to work for. We could do with less of that egomania in our leadership, too.

That's crummy. Dementia is horrible to watch. I hope Schumer and her husband can get her to retire before he has to remove her. Which he should.

That article is a major shot across the bow.

They're pushing her out because she's crackers.

[quote]Why do these dinosaurs insist on clinging to power?

I have no idea what you are talking about.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was mentally sharp until her death. That’s very different.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg should have retired earlier to ensure a liberal successor, as suggested by Obama.

There was no question about her mental acuity, but her body was a cancer factory. And look where we are. She should have gone.

They should all know when the best thing they can do for the institutions and country they love is to act by stepping aside.

I don’t disagree, but RBG and Feinstein are not comparable.

This may prompt a whole discussion that gets very uncomfortable for a number of Democrats of... a certain age.

I'm pretty sure Biden is one and done... but it suddenly removes the taboo... younger Dems can raise it, nomination/primary challenges suddenly look less like attacking the sacred. No one is indispensable. It's a cliche but it's true. Who remembers who was Nancy Pelosi before Nancy Pelosi was Nancy Pelosi. There is a clueless entitlement that envelops even the most effective politicians. There come a time to let the system roll forward... and you can say the voters decide but let's not play cute about name recognition and incumbency. I don't often agree with Bar Bush but she hit the right note when she said enough with the Clintons and Bushes.

[quote]Ruth Bader Ginsburg was mentally sharp until her death. That’s very different.

It definitely isn't different r31. As I said in the other thread we have going about this topic, mental capability has no weight in this argument. When you are this old you can drop dead at any moment, no matter how sharp your mind is. In politics this can have enormous political consequences. Of all her accomplishments, Ruth Bader Ginsburg will unfortunately go down in history with this issue clouding her legacy.

Succession planning is done in all other industries and it needs to be done in politics as well. I dont care how blue CA is Democrats in general need to plan ahead.

And in RBG's defense, very few people thought that Hillary would lose in 2016 and she was likely hoping that Hillary would be able to appoint her successor (a female president replacing a female justice)

So, Hillary and Ruth, two typical women with delusions of grandeur for whom we are now paying a price.

Sorry, the pragmatist would have entertained the risk Clinton did not win and measured that against the state of her health and the good of the country.

Which is a good indicator some level of "but how could they last without me?' played a part.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was 83 in 2016 and had had cancer twice and heart surgery once. Loved her, but here we are as a result of a very bad decision.

R32 SC justices are different topic from congressman, or even other types of politicians. Age alone isn't the main problem though and this can be solved by term limits, since it's they're not starting out as 80 yr olds, being elected for the first time, they've been on the scene for decades. Eliminate never ending terms and these numerous elderly congress members will drop as a natural consequence.

One congressman (a real pos for his entire career) keeps being reelected, even though he refuses to do town halls and has other ways he's disassociated from dealing with the public. His name is so engrained in the public mind though, he is reelected, despite a list of complaints a mile long.

Term limits would actually solve multiple problems, more so than an age cut off. Less build up of corporate funding due to decade long relationships, lower ages in general, and congress people not being able to get too comfortable, therefore too complacent.

This article was an inside job, I am just curious who ordered the hit. Schumer?

LOL, Schumer is sackless so no. I'm sure he's weeping over it though.

Nothing I said derailed the thread, R27, and I'm tired of little shits like you saying anyone who points out an obvious troll "is the REAL troll."

I'd like to see a mandatory retirement age of 75 for all Congressional offices, cabinet members and the presidency. I don't look forward to Biden's next four years.

Gavin has two senatorial appointments to make.

R29, it's a shot across the bow, sure, but it's also a clear indicator of how the press is going to treat the Democratic Party: as something to take down.

This article wasn't written as a cautionary warning for the Dems to do the right thing before there are problems, it was yet another "Dems in disarray" article, and there are few (if any) articles like this written about any of the other ancient Senators and Representatives we've had serve in Congress.

Yes, the Democrats need to do more than they have when a problem like this pops up, but it's also understandable why, in a Trump administration, when there were 10-15 fires a day that they needed to put out, and when the party needed to present a unified front to be able to keep GOP fascism at bay, why they didn't do as much as they could have.

I honestly question why this is happening now, before the GA runoff, just as the GOP tries to get SCOTUS to throw out millions of American voters' votes. Is this article really doing any good? Or is it just giving more ammo to the Repugs and to the anti-Democratic lefties, so they can scream more insults about Schumer and Pelosi on Twitter?

[quote] Ruth Bader Ginsburg was mentally sharp until her death.

Not sharp enough to retire early in Obama’s second term when the Democrats held the Senate.

[quote] Yes, the Democrats need to do more than they have when a problem like this pops up, but it's also understandable why, in a Trump administration, when there were 10-15 fires a day that they needed to put out, and when the party needed to present a unified front to be able to keep GOP fascism at bay, why they didn't do as much as they could have.

Are you suggesting we should put Party before Country? Are you a traitor?

Obama didn't suggest Bader retire, as mentioned above, he begged her to so he could he could appoint her replacement. Bitch wasn't having it and here we are with a conservative, right wing court and it hasn't been long enough for the consequences of that to sink in for most of you. Just wait.

so what else is knew? you can tell decades before, just look at estelle getty or rita hayworth.

Replace her with Katie Porter!

[quote]Are you suggesting we should put Party before Country? Are you a traitor?

No. Also, neither "party" nor "country" are capitalized, and you clearly don't even know what a traitor is.

But you've spent the entire thread bitching about every female politician you can think of so it's pretty clear what your end game is.

[quote] Fuck his name and fuck his hypocrisy.

R15/R20 = Rightwing scum. He’s been trying to make people dislike Gov. Newsom all over DL. Repeating rightwing faves like Pelosi is deep state, socialism, or California should stop voting Democrat. Block him.

S.C. voters reelected Strom Thurmond at age 95. He retired from the Senate at the age of 100.

There will be NO term limits for the Senate unless the Constitution is amended. That'll be easier to pass than ending the electoral college or limiting the President's power to pardon. But it still won't happen.

[quote] So, Hillary and Ruth, two typical women with delusions of grandeur for whom we are now paying a price.

Hillary ?? Her age and ability were never in question asshole. 2016 was a stolen election.

When she yelled at a bunch of 12 year old climate change activists is when senate democrats really soured on her. She was completely out of line and it was not a good look for the party.

[quote] 2016 was a stolen election.

Guaranteed that H-Hivers like R55 will be hissing the loudest in 2024 when MAGAts are still claiming that 2020 was a "stolen election"

Gosh, I can't imagine why people think someone who spends all their time in a thread about Dianne Feinstein trashing Hillary Clinton is a troll. 'Tis a mystery.

[BOLD] H - H I V E S W A R M ! ! !

THEY ARE ATTACKING OUR QUEEN!!!

R58 gets WW just for the 'tis. 'Tis the season.

I don't see the problem here.

This has been apparent for quite some time now.

Thank you, Senator Feinstein, for your service -- now kindly step to the side and let somebody else have a crack at it!

I don’t necessarily agree with term limits but mandatory retirement age? You bet. The problem with term limits is it takes most of them a year just to find where the bathrooms are located and the House runs for re-election every two years. They spend most of their time fundraising for their next run. There’s a war room with a bank of phones and they are expected to put in a lot of hours calling donors.

Since the Senate is 6 year terms, maybe a max of 4 terms for them?

[quote]Why do these dinosaurs insist on clinging to power?

Because we keep voting for them.

I believe they will wait until after the inauguration and then she'll step aside. It will be a very low-key retirement. They don't want to put too much of a spotlight on the fact that she had such a high visibility role and everyone knew she hasn't been up to it for a while.

Me neither, r61.

r53 His Newsomeness is a jerk. He has different rules for himself, because he is rich.

It's OK for him to cheat and lie and not follow the rules he made, but somehow anyone who dares to point this out is wrong?

I honestly do not know why ANYONE would want to work beyond age 70 - especially in a high demand role. I do get the value of having structure, but want out of the rat race much sooner.

When she said the handmaiden’s rushed confirmation was the best she’d ever seen and ran up to Bitch McConnell I wanted to slap the old cow. GET HER OUT.

She should've retired at the same time as Boxer.

Term limits and/or mandatory retirement by age 75. Three terms @ six years each for a maximum of eighteen years is enough.

McConnell is still clever and has his wits, though he is partisan as hell and blatantly corrupt. Corruption often grows with obsession for power and longevity. His health doesn't look so good either.

I have enjoyed this thread. I can't tell you how many people turned on me, like a pack of snarling dogs, when I said that RBG had destroyed her legacy by hanging on at the SC, because she couldn't give it up when she should have done so. RBG will go into the history books as the justice who gave the country a conservative court for a generation. For somebody whose career was based on the legal marginalization of women, her grandiosity was infuriating, and the consequences will last the rest of my life. The Handmaid will live long, what with God behind her every step.

[quote] Would a private company keep these fossils around? Fuck no!

It's thousands of voters who won't "fire" someone who is no longer competent.

Just found this factoid:

The average length of service for Representatives at the beginning of the 116th Congress was 8.6 years (4.3 House terms); for Senators, 10.1 years (1.7 Senate terms).

[quote] I honestly do not know why ANYONE would want to work beyond age 70 - especially in a high demand role. I do get the value of having structure, but want out of the rat race much sooner.

In the legal field, there are older people who cling to their jobs. I've seen it myself. Had two older, male coworkers, both of whom were not performing. One of them didn't know how to copy and paste on his computer and was typing out his briefs, letter by letter (e.g., when quoting from a case source). The other guy was showing up significantly late every day and, when he was in the office, was doing all kinds of puttering and personal things.

The secretaries were a bunch of middle-aged women who coddled these guys, felt sorry for them.

I don't know her.

A lot of it is how all-consuming these jobs have become. These people have no life apart from their job and they're at an age when even their grandchildren are likely in college or older and so there's nothing to keep them occupied. They would not know what to do with themselves if they were not in office or campaigning, raising money, etc.

I am a consultant and one big issue I see is something you sometimes find in the corporate world--senior management is set in place and stays put, anyone with any ambition eventually leaves because they realize there's no opportunity and then the company has a bunch of 70 years olds who are looking to retire and a bunch of 30 year olds who don't have enough experience to replace them and have not been mentored or given any experience that might have ameliorated the situation some.

It seems like the GOP has a slew of senators in their 40s and 50s, but on the Blue Team, we've mostly got a bunch of Congresspeople, not Senators.

We have a person at my work nearing 80. She finally retired a little over a year ago. She's sort of a pain in the ass in ways unrelated to actual work issues. I said thank God I'll have few years before my retirement not dealing with her. But no, the boss is her friend and brought her back part-time at hefty salary. She's slow but decent and competent at her job. I would have also liked to have seen new blood and new ideas also.

It’s the same thing with tenured professors in their 70s (or 80s even) who absolutely will not retire. I worked for one who was 82 and still teaching classes and writing journal articles. He ended up dying in the middle of the spring semester and it was a scramble to get someone to cover the seminar in his niche subject area that he was teaching. He was very smart and has been a great asset to the school for many years, but he would not accept that he was past his prime and it was time to “move it along, toots.”

I don’t care if they all drop dead, where’s our stimulus?

R47, Obama didn’t have a Democratic majority in the Senate in his second term.

R81, during the 113th Congress (Jan 3, 2013 to Jan 3, 2015) the Senate had a Democratic majority, while the House had a Republican majority.

R69 I agree. When DF hugged that piece of human excrement I puked. WTF! She fucked up the witness in the Kavanaugh hearings. Her sell by date has long past. Once she was effective but those days are long gone. Sadly, RBG met the same fate. RBG was physical health and I'm not sure that fuckwad Mitch would have allowed Obama to replace her. And that's another thing-why the fuck did Obama let Mitch run roughshod over him-he should have raised holy hell and taken the case every day to the people. I am so sick of the ruthless GOP and the gutless Dems.

Term limits and mandatory retirement-Mitch needs to go first. He's as rotten on the outside now as he is on the inside. '

Chuck Schumer spoke to her about stepping down and then, by the time he had to speak to her again about it she had completely forgotten the first conversation they had.

It's getting worse faster now.

Link, R84?

Where’s Feinstein’s husband? He knows what’s going on. The only reason this is being leaked is because the family isn’t stepping up. This is a worst case scenario.

The trouble is now she's almost too far gone, it sounds like. She's probably past the point she can be convinced (or recall) that anything is wrong with her. The only option is to get her under a conservatorship or something and resign on her behalf. Dementia moves reasonably swiftly, there is a window between the diagnosis and too far gone. Both my parents had it... it's tricky to time, especially if too much denial goes on, which is likely because who wants to embrace the facts?

Here's the link R85

I agree the family may not be helping her make the right decisions. I think Schumer is doing the leaking. He may have already talked to Newsom about who will replace her.

Where is all this dementia coming from? Twenty years ago there was less it seems.

We’re all living too long. Well past our sell by date.

Yeah I'll be damned if I want to live to 86. Jesus.

R90nis spot on. We’re living into our 80s and beyond.

Maybe they could set up a pretend Senate for her to be in like those Dementia Villages in Dutch care homes for Alzheimer’s patients.

So per the WaPo Grassley is considering seeking another term.

Gramps would be 95 at the end of his next term. And he's still has sharp as a cotton ball!

I just weep inside when I imagine how the Kavanaugh and Barrett hearings, and all the 385760 Trump judicial nominations would have been handled with a Chairman Sheldon [bold]FUCK You I Ain't Playing[/bold] Whitehouse, or a Chairwoman Amy [bold]Call Me a Trembly-Voiced Cold Bitch; I Give Nary a Fuck[/bold] Klobuchar.

well so far Coney Barrett has delivered