Dianne Feinstein has died
nytimes.com
Dianne Feinstein has died
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Re: Dianne Feinstein has died
#2Re: Dianne Feinstein has died
#3Can someone give a QRD on all of the political ramifications that will come from this? I've heard things about judges being harder to appoint, what else is there?
Re: Dianne Feinstein has died
#4Can someone give a QRD on all of the political ramifications that will come from this? I've heard things about judges being harder to appoint, what else is there?
The governor of California can turn around an interim appointment pretty quickly if he so chooses; there's some static around a prior promise to appoint a Black woman, which most people viewed as effectively a promise to Representative Barbara Lee. She has since declared candidacy for that Senate seat--as Feinstein was not going to run for re-election--and Newsom (understandably, IMO) doesn't want to hand the keys to a running candidate, out of fairness to the also-quite-reasonable alternate candidates.
That said, I wouldn't expect it to prevent a pretty quick replacement if Senate business demands it, so it likely won't be a significant impact from a political or operational perspective.
Re: Dianne Feinstein has died
#5Can someone give a QRD on all of the political ramifications that will come from this? I've heard things about judges being harder to appoint, what else is there?
Not sure where to start with that, but her official bio at least provides some context of the roles she has filled - https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/biography
Re: Dianne Feinstein has died
#6She 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 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 fulfill her job duties without her staff doing much of the work required to represent the nearly 40 million people of California.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/dianne-feinstei...
With our aging population, we need to figure out how to be inclusive of those who can contribute, while identifying those who can not. Hard age limits are likely becoming less desirable as the population ages - retirement at 55 will seem like a joke. But that doesn't mean we should just accept people who are not with it in various positions of power.
Re: Dianne Feinstein has died
#7Let this be a lesson to all. Exit on a high note.
Re: Dianne Feinstein has died
#8Can someone give a QRD on all of the political ramifications that will come from this? I've heard things about judges being harder to appoint, what else is there?
> Feinstein’s current term isn’t up until 2024, so should her seat become vacant before then, it would be up to Gov. Gavin Newsom, a fellow Democrat, to appoint a temporary replacement. Newsom, like most governors, would have no restrictions on whom he could appoint – other than the constitutional age, citizenship and residency requirements that apply to all senators.
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/05/03/how-do-st...
Re: Dianne Feinstein has died
#9She 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…
Between her and McConnell and the other gerontocrats in Washington, I’m really baffled. Why do these people grip the reins of power until their knuckles turn white? What is so important about political horse trading that they have to literally haul you out of office on a stretcher?
Re: Dianne Feinstein has died
#10She 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…
Yes, and she's not the only one who is (edit: was) serving without being functional[1]. We need to start talking about upper age limits for public office. I believe it'd require a constitutional amendment, but I expect there's lots of support for it from all sides. I'd suggest 65 as a maximum age for being elected, which means one could serve to about age 71, for a six-year Senate term.
[1] This article is from six years ago. https://www3.bostonglobe.com/news/science/2017/10/11/congres...