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Dianne Feinstein has died

nytimes.com

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Re: Dianne Feinstein has died

#301

Post by dekhn »

hedora wrote: post #183
bhouston wrote: post #6

She was mentally unfit to serve for the last couple years. It was a travesty many countries seem to have no mental bar required to serve or even reasonable age limits (Feinstein was 90!) Any decision "she" was made in the last couple years was made by her aids and not her. This is not how democracy is supposed to work. Details: > Four U.S. senators, including three Democrats, as well as three former Feinstein staffer…

She was also incredibly right wing vs. her constituents and was extremely bought off. She did some civil rights stuff early in her career, but it’s been 100% corruption and destroying the environment for this entire century. She wasn’t senile that entire time. (I’ll quantify right wing: She voted with the Trump administration more than any other democrat, and voted like an average republican senator during his admini…

she wasn't right wing, she was centrist.

Re: Dianne Feinstein has died

#302

Post by [deleted] »

seydor wrote: post #297
toomuchtodo wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The desire for power doesn't disappear at a certain age. More importantly, what do you think would encourage someone with power who covets and/or has it to part with it gracefully?

The justification for that does though afaik she asked to be elected, did not need to part with anything (i mean she did not have property rights to the seat, if i m not mistaken senators do get elected)

[deleted]

Re: Dianne Feinstein has died

#303

Post by namelessoracle »

seydor wrote: post #292

Why does someone want to have power over others at 90

A lot of them can't step down. They have debts that to repay that require them to stay in that position (both financial debts, and political ones), or family members who can only continue doing what they are doing if they stay in that position. Say a small family business that consistently gets works, but only to curry favor with the Senator. They quit, their grandchildren's business takes a dive, so the family begs them to stay on.

In Feinstein's case, its pretty clear she was forced to stay on by her party while they made arrangements for her successor, there is a lot of people and factions in California who want her seat in the Democratic party.

Also the competency crisis is real, alot of them dont have successors. Often by their own actions in an attempt to consolidate power, but they've left the field barren now thats its time for them to leave.

Re: Dianne Feinstein has died

#304

Post by ImPostingOnHN »

SamPatt wrote: post #236
pierat wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Adolescence" was a made-up term to remove personal sovereignty over younger people who know full well, and would do, but aren't legally permitted to do so. They're also subject to our laws. They should have their say as well. And then we see under-18 routinely be charged as adults. And yes, if 15 year olds could vote and run for office, I do think we'd see more issues aimed at the younger generations ALONG WITH long…

I used to believe this - and even advocate for change - then I watched my children become teenagers. There is truth to the idea that, whether due to life experience or brain development, teenagers struggle with proper decision-making. I don't like the arbitrary nature of age cutoffs, but I would no longer support the idea of giving more political power to anyone under 18.

> There is truth to the idea that, whether due to life experience or brain development, teenagers struggle with proper decision-making.

I don't like the arbitrary nature of age cutoffs, but I would no longer support the idea of giving more political power to anyone under 18.

while that's just an anecdote, even if it were the norm, it is also the norm for old people of a sufficient age

if it makes you feel better, we can administer cognitive tests to old people and determine at what point they fall into "teenager" level of mental acuity

Re: Dianne Feinstein has died

#305

Post by mistrial9 »

2devnull wrote: post #289

She really was pretty moderate in many ways, especially when it came to defense/ir. I doubt her replacement will be as moderate, but hopefully she will be younger and more cognitively fit. (We have a competency crisis in our highest ranks, perhaps it’s a feature for certain factions, but it’s a big problem. Generational variation in narcissistic behavior doesn’t explain it all. How many of our current leaders would w…

> She really was pretty moderate in many ways

this is such spin, zero-content and relativistic nonsense.. Artificial polarity of "left" and "right" plays into the "dumbification" of commentary. Second, this is the news of her death so, although a career politician, best to her family and all involved, first to say.

Re: Dianne Feinstein has died

#306

Post by noobermin »

There is a very likely possibility that Feinstein was senile, with reports she couldn't remember which votes she was taking and what she was doing, and thus she was goaded (or coerced) into maintaining her position by her aides who loved their positions, pay, and their power. There has been skepticism in some of the media but most of the mainstream media pundit class (nytimes op-ed pages and the like) won't broach such a topic because those aides are one of their own.

Re: Dianne Feinstein has died

#308

Post by sharadov »

Rip Feinstein! You stayed way longer than you should have.

We have retirement limits but no limits for our leaders who are presiding over the most important political offices and making critical decisions.

Re: Dianne Feinstein has died

#309

Post by sharadov »

noobermin wrote: post #306

There is a very likely possibility that Feinstein was senile, with reports she couldn't remember which votes she was taking and what she was doing, and thus she was goaded (or coerced) into maintaining her position by her aides who loved their positions, pay, and their power. There has been skepticism in some of the media but most of the mainstream media pundit class (nytimes op-ed pages and the like) won't broach su…

She absolutely was, someone else was pulling the strings.

Re: Dianne Feinstein has died

#310

Post by tootie »

2devnull wrote: post #289

She really was pretty moderate in many ways, especially when it came to defense/ir. I doubt her replacement will be as moderate, but hopefully she will be younger and more cognitively fit. (We have a competency crisis in our highest ranks, perhaps it’s a feature for certain factions, but it’s a big problem. Generational variation in narcissistic behavior doesn’t explain it all. How many of our current leaders would w…

I think narcissism is way more prevalent than age-related decline. Feinstein at her worst was still more cogent than Tommy Tuberville. She was pretty moderate by 2023 standards, although she was pretty far left when she joined the senate. She was a personal friend of Harvey Milk while she was working for San Francisco city government and apparently is the one who found his body when he was killed. From the POV of a political liberal, there may be an opportunity to take a little step to the left, but in the short term it will only hurt because the Dems just lost a load of seniority and it a lot of power will shift back to Manchin and Sinema until a replacement is installed.
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