Sen. Dianne Feinstein, an 'icon for women in politics,' dies at 90, source confirms
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, an 'icon for women in politics,' dies at 90, source confirms
Senator Dianne Feinstein's career was filled with firsts, including first woman mayor of San Francisco and one of two of the first women elected to the U.S. Senate from California.
Sorry, to be callous, but good riddance. You should hear what Jello Biafra has to say about the time Feinstein was Mayor of San Francisco:
Jello Biafra: Quentin Kopp was actually very jovial, friendly, kind of a character. He and Feinstein had been on the Board Of Supervisors, but when George Moscone and Harvey Milk were assassinated Feinstein was appointed as Acting Mayor. She ran the city with an iron fist, and the police were completely out of control, which she seemed to get off on. I have never been very fond of her, and any grief I can cause that creature, I’m happy to oblige. But that wasn’t why I ran for Mayor. It was more like: wouldn’t this be a great prank?
Jello Biafra: I had some pretty interesting proposals. Making businessmen wear clown suits was the one the media seized on, but there was a lot more to it than they realised. It was my response to Frankenfeinstein [Feinstein] saying she was going to “clean up” Market Street, by which she meant throwing the homeless out of all the vacant buildings.
In another occasion, he called her the most evil person he'd ever met.
Here's a video of her arguing with children about climate change: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu-VzZ45MwI
Governments across the world need to effectively age down. It's ridiculous that those old clowns who aren't even affected by the consequences of their actions can just continue to do this shit. Yeah, they get voted in, but that's because of the aging populations of so many countries being such a majority while most of those who are going to be affected don't even have a legal say in the matter, since they can't vote themselves. Millennials got already fucked over repeatedly through politics in the past decades and now Gen Z has to face the same bullshit. People will just further radicalize if they don't address this.
God what a cunt. Who argues with children? Just lie to them like every other politician.
Remember that time she gave away a vital clues in the Richard Ramirez case and possibly extended his serial killing career?
I don’t understand why not retire. She held on to that seat till the bitter end, for what?
She could have had time with her family and we could have had a seamless replacement. Instead, she got to die at work (basically) and there is a hole in representation right as the government is about to shut down.
I wonder how this will impact the gov shutdown results
I don't think she had full control of her faculties near the end. Her handlers and power of attorney should have forced her to retire but they didn't.
Yeah, she's been clearly a barely functioning wreck, propped up by people who needed her power. It was quite sad.
The party wanted it controlled, prop her up till a moderate could be appointed, because a progressive can win Cali.
Her handlers were enjoying making all the decisions and running her Senate office for her, wheeling her around and playing weekend at Bernie's. I'd say it was abuse but tbh it's what she deserved and probably what she wanted anyway.
Nancy Pelosi wants someone to replace her, Gavin Newsom wants someone else. Nancy Pelosi wanted her to stay in office until the next election.
It's all just a game to these kinds of people.
Newsom has been clear that he's appointing someone as a placeholder so as not to interfere in next year's Senate race by giving one of the actual contenders (Schiff, Porter, or Lee) the advantage of incumbency. But I'm sure that Nancy Pelosi, being Nancy Pelosi, would prefer the Party put their finger on the scale for the candidate leadership wants (which is probably 77 year-old Barabra Lee)
They didn't want to lose her seat on the judiciary committee. Even if they had to tell her how to vote.
Senators don't work that much. She had plenty of time with her family. She didn't retire because she made lots of money being a centrist senator in a safe seat with enough seniority to do whatever she wanted.
This won't impact the shutdown at all, since the House republicans want a shutdown.
Now Newsom will appoint a moderate black woman who will provide the optics without causing chaos. You might think that sounds cynical, but that's exactly what Newsom already promised to do.
You mention family and smoother governance, but to some people their work connections are more important to them than their families and she could have thought that resigning would have been less smooth than trying to finish out the term.
Those things are possible, but I really think that her identity was being a senator and she didn't want to give that up.
...her identity was being a senator and she didn't want to give that up.
Fuck her then. It's the US Senate, not daddy's law firm. No one should be in the Senate just because it makes them feel important. The job is too important for that.
Because of her senority, she was one of the leaders of the party. I agree these elderly politicians need to retire, but that means at best they get replaced by a freshman senator of the same party with no political power. It's the same reason why McConnell hasn't retired even though he can't finish a speech without zonking out and being whisked away by his handlers.
Hey can we stop normalizing dying in office? This shouldn't be normal.
We need a complete overhaul of our political party system.
Both parties decided that seniority = power, and if you'll always have more next year, it's never a good time to step aside.
With a "bonus" that younger generations never get the experience till they're also old as shit. The parties have no reason to change, because they're ran by the most senior people.
Parties have far too much influence considering they're not officially part of the government. And the current state of shit is why a lot of founding fathers were against them. I think Jefferson or Franklin wanted to explicitly forbade them
I think the reason why US went with officials can still "serve" even dead is to avoid political killings (or to avoid a loophole in "justice system", just like mitch mcconnell who is probably acting having a seizure on his live speeches to avoid heavy charges because he knows the fed knows he has a huge role with trump shenanigans annnnnd unfortunately, it is challenging to press charges against persons who has "mental" illness and stroke can be considered as one).
Women need better icons.
Her and RGB staying on too long, very iconic.
Proving that it's not only old men that cling to power! Bad equality is still equality.
RGB stays on forever, or else the hardware isn't cool anymore
Future President Elizabeth Warren
Can we get some of the clipart Style with the glossy glass rounded rectangle
Yeah that was like 30 years overdue. She's not an "icon for women in politics", she's an obstructionist sack of shit whose stubbornness left her own constituents with nothing to hope for other than her death.
GTFO before you become useless.
Good riddance.
Mitt Romney's politics suck, but he did the right thing by announcing his retirement.
And what a timeline we live in, when Mitt Romney gets commended for not being a total piece of shit.
Truly an icon. And not only for women, but for everyone that overstays their welcome.
Somehow still running for re-election.
I feel bad that she spent her final few years Weekend At Bernie's-ing for her staff instead of getting to retire + relax a bit.
Dementia patients rarely admit they have dementia, even when they struggle to put a full sentence together. It's depressing to watch.
This is my grandma. She got tested a few years ago, but refused to tell anyone the results. It's so sad. Now then though my mom wants to move she's stuck taking care of her and grandpa.
Watching my parents age, now into their 80s, they're only just now starting to admit that, maybe, they're not as smart, agile, and capable as ever. Chronic kidney disease, COPD, metastatic cancers.... No blatant signs of dementia, but it's a struggle to explain new concepts or devices to them. I think it's just hard for people who've been strong, independent people all their lives to accommodate a world in which they can't carry 25 pounds or deviate from habits engrained over 20 years. It's got to be even harder for a politician or oligarch surrounded by sycophants. Harder still when the brain loses its capacity for logic.
I know you didn't mean it to be funny but I got a chuckle at that image.
She died? How could they tell?
Diaper didn't get wet all day.
May all the 80+ year old senators and congress members take note at how many people are celebrating Feinstein's death today.
"idgaf, fuck you got mine"
the American mantra
This just in: It appears that while Laying in State, the deceased senator was seen rising from her coffin and returning to her seat. Sources in her office say this is a sign she has successfully completed her ritual to transform herself into a Lich.
Per congressional bylaws, the only one who can permanently destroy the phylactery is the Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives, wielding the Mace of the Republic.
Thank you for teaching me something really cool today!
Way to die on n office. Straight up Ruth Bader Ginsburg-ed that shit.
She's a dem in California. Her whole legacy isn't going to be erased because she refused to retire.
She was a slightly left of center moderate dem, and for better or worse modern-day America is highly polarized politically. So she was out-of-step politically with both right and left. Her legacy was already in the dumpster. Going out like this just ensures that this is what she'll be remembered for.
I mean, Supreme Court appointments are for life, what RBG did was not at all unusual. Age is also not nearly as much of problem on the court, because the whole point of it is to be stable, not rotating constantly like Congress.
It's that she didn't retire during Obama's tenure when she could be safely replaced by someone other than a white male rapist that people generally criticized, not that she served on the court until death.
You are correct. My main concern is that this is contributing to the overall concern with voters that our aging political figures are holding onto their stations of power to the bitter end.
SENATOR?!?! Woman is 90 and is a Senator?! Jesus Christ can we stop voting these dinos
She was incoherent while "working" just a few weeks ago if that. The video was online.
Maybe she could have been an icon. But instead her legacy is that of a greedy asshole who made shady stock deals and held her political power far too long - to the detriment of her constituents.
I thought it would never happen. I'm excited to see the race for her seat.
I assumed it would be a little like New York’s junior senator, Kirsten Gillibrand? She was someone most New Yorkers had never heard of, but when Senator Hillary Clinton vacated the seat, Gillibrand was assigned to it by then-governor and thus has never, and will never, run in a competitive election.
No, Newsom has said two things about the appointment: It's going to be a black woman and it's going to be someone intended to be a placeholder so as not to advantage one of the actual contenders (Schiff, Porter, or Lee) with incumbency.
I thought you were going to talk about when Clinton wanted that seat so the party wouldn't let any serious competitor run...
The people running the parties in America don't seem overly concerned with democracy or voters getting choices
Does this mean we could finally have a representative under the age of 1000? No we’re just going to elect another dinosaur that thinks homes still cost a nickel? … okay
The front runners in the primary are Katie Porter (49), Adam Schiff (63), and Barbara Lee (77). All three are currently in the house of representatives.
So long as people retire when they start to go downhill mentally, peoples positions are much more important than their age. Most progressives would much rather have President Bernie (82) than President Tulsi Gabbard (42).
Lee has been pretty consistently progressive. She was the only vote against the authorization of force after the September 11th attacks, she was a founding member of the congressional LGBTQ+ equality caucus, and volunteered with the Black Panther Party’s Community Learning Center in Oakland as a teen. She's one of the most progressive Democrats in the House.
Turtle next please.
Then Kissinger
Both of them at the same time, right now.
Then we'll get conspiracy theory woman or the dude who dates minors as minority leader as his replacement.
Pretty sure neither Perjury Greene nor Gaetz are senators..
So has she finally retired from Congress?
Because with how adamant she was at staying in her seat despite being unable to do the job, I would not be surprised if they tried to go full Weekend at Bernie's here.
The Lich is dead.
she voluntarily spent time with the likes of Ron Johnson and Ted Cruz rather than her grandchildren, for decades..... So question is, how terrible are her grandchildren?
Spolt little shits probably.
Forced Retirement
Everyone is like, she should’ve retired… But WHY!? People kept voting her in, she has all this power, all this money/control, top of the line health care, etc., etc. Who would ever leave that!? Unless you’re not a psychopath narcissist after knowing how freaking different the “1%” live?
Same thing with RBG.
Only thing that will change are the rules. And good luck with that…
Legend at gatekeeping. Good riddance loser.
I kind of wish it was at least normative to groom your successor and bow out if you're a ground-breaking leader as you advance in age
I especially wish that was the sort of thing had been the case with (for example) RBG because let's face it, it really hurt us for her seat to go to ACB
So... how is the Gop weaponizing this?
They will not approve committee assignments for her replacement leaving the judicial committee deadlocked and unable to confirm judges.
They only said they'd do that if she took a leave of absence. The next 4 oldest Senators are Grassley (90) - who's on Judiciary, Bernie (82), McConnell (81), and Risch (80 - Republican from Idaho); if they start playing the "no committee replacements for dead senators" game it's likely to come back and bite them in the ass very quickly.
Who put someone that age on committees anyway?
There will be a power vacuum on several committees in the Senate, and they probably have already written their editorials criticizing Newsom's choice as a replacement Senator, they are just waiting to fill in the name.
Fuck off, that shit is old as hell
No democrat hated Feinstein because she was a woman, pretending that's the only reason just makes you look like your completely ignorant of American politics.
What bizarre white-knighting.
It could just be that an abhorrent politician has earned her reputation by her own merit rather than by gender.
Nah, McConnell is a bitch too.
Sad for her family but it was in the best interest of the Country.
Bruh, her family was the ones who should have explained why she should retire over a decade ago...
I don't feel sorry for them at all, they're probably the only ones who could have talked sense into her
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Reminds me of someone else:
BREAKING! Ruth Ginsburg R.I.P. Democrats Posturing Begins!
Ginsburg was worse; Feinstein at least was doing this in a situation where if she did keel over, a Democratic governor would replace her with somebody whose politics were broadly similar to her own, but Ginsburg knew perfectly well that her replacement might undo everything she accomplished and she refused to retire despite that.
🥳
Dianne Feinstein dies at age 90
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4229697-dianne-feinstein-dies-at-age-90/
Not to celebrate her death, but fucking finally. The woman was literally older than the Golden Gate Bridge and had no business being in government at her age. She should've retired with some dignity decades ago.
I don’t think she’s gonna give up her seat still