I’m an ordinary voter who votes in San Francisco and I have a lot of respect for Feinstein and I’ve described it in other posts, but that does not mean I don’t agree with the notion of her leaving.
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Ah, the white board. It can put you on the road to success with accompanying smarts.
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Have you ever dealt with someone who has dementia? And by dealt with I mean on a daily basis.
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Is Porter pushing Newsom to put in a place holder black woman, not Lee, to open the primary?
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I urge Dems not to get hung up on this CA Senate race. Whether it’s Schiff, Porter or Khanna, Dems will get a good Senator who will vote with the party and push for filibuster reform, judicial reform, voting rights, DC statehood/PR statehood, the things we need to end conservative attempts to impose minority white conservative rule or limit progressives from achieving the ends the voters keep voting for at the ballot box.
Focus on the House races we need to flip and the Senate seats we need to defend, including AZ/MT/OH/WI/WV.
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This is becoming all kinds of stupid and another example of Dems fucking up a one car funeral.
Feinstein is going to be gone. Porter announces that SHE personally wants the seat and is running. Schiff announces HE wants the seat. OK, fair enough…let the elections proceed. But now Porter is saying Newsom must fill it with a black woman. Is Porter suddenly a black woman? WTF gives here?
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Seems like Porter is being disingenuous here. Barbara Lee is 76. She can let Lee cap her career with two years in the Senate while leaving things open for 2024. Schiff would be a lot more formidable in that spot. And Porter maintains her progressive bonafides through her support of Senate diversity, though “diversity” in this case reserving one of two Senate seats for 4% of the state’s population.
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How about Ukrainian man “Kostyantyn carries his fox, Ksiuha, to take a bus in Kyiv.”
(https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2023/feb/07/russia-ukraine-war-live-updates-moscow-moves-troops-into-eastern-ukraine-ahead-of-new-offensive-luhansk-governor-says )
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Oooh, I like this! I’m going to use this REPEATEDLY at staff meetings.
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I think it’s more likely that she’s pushing him not to appoint Schiff should the occasion arise.
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We have many moments of clarity, but also the same question 5 times in 20 minutes. However harsh today may be, we realize we may look back on today wistfully, and wonder if things were ever so easy. Every day the ground shifts beneath our feet. Every damned day.
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Way too much of this in America, even in ostensibly tolerant places like TPM.
(And it’s just one of many bigotries that too often seep into these threads, perhaps without the posters even being self-aware of what they inadvertently reveal about themselves.)
There are valid arguments for or against any politician. “She’s just too old!” isn’t one of them.
Criticize her positions, criticize her decisions, criticize her behavior…but please don’t “criticize” her age.
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really smart … really like her … really like how she can figuratively grab some bag of wind and poke a humiliating hole in them … but … it grates on me when she plays a little fast / loose / heavy handed with the assholes (oh it is wonderful to see the assholes crushed) - but sometimes it is like she’s pitching a spectacular shut out - really mowing them down - but then she just can’t resist throwing a couple of wicked spitballs just to make her adversaries look even more awkward.
She does great “fun with numbers” stuff with her handy white board - and legitimately crushes some of the brazen liars … which is fantastic! but then sometimes she does a bit of over reach to prove a point - and it is exasperating! because she doesn’t need the over reach - she does not need the extra twist - the basic solid fundamentals are enough to reveal right and wrong.
This all relates to one of my pet peeves - the skewed “dramatization” of numbers to enhance an argument or to embellish a point - for example - I despise the classic headlines put out by anti-organized labor newspapers … like when a union negotiates a new contract that secures 4% wage increases for the next 5 years … and then the Press negatively sensationalizes in a distorting way by screaming headlines -
"Union Extorts 20% wage increase" - now that is really a sketchy misrepresentation - sure, there is a way in which one can argue that 5 years at 4% is adding up to 20% and is mathematically correct - but it is not the conventional means of measurement - and it is not a reasonable representation of the nature of the union’s wage increase - reasonable and normal would be “per year” but for nearly forever, certain Newspapers utilize this kind of sketchy calculation to make a skewed argument.
and to sensationalize things (and so do some politicians) … but regardless of who does it - it stinks.
I do really like Katie Porter - but really wish she did not periodically skate out onto thin ice - she can be so much better than that.
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I’m not sure why she’s bringing this up - is she now not planning on running? Is her senate candidacy some sort of feint to push Newsom into honoring his pledge?
If it’s legitimate to be concerned about a politician’s diminished mental capacity, and I think it is, then it’s difficult to avoid reference to their age. Even if it’s just implied. The two are related.
I’m not seeing anyone here focusing only on Feinstein’s age. It’s reports of her declining cognitive ability that have people worried about her.
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There’s that, for sure.
Also? I don’t remember the details right this second, but I remember that in the couple of decades I’ve lived in California, on more than one occasion I got good and mad at Feinstein and wished that we had a loud and proud liberal. I forget exactly what it was. Some kind of military-industrial complex thing, or maybe warrantless surveillance? Some big stuff she was just pretty bad on. Even if she ran again, my vote in the primary would be up for grabs.
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I’m of two minds on this - yes, age-based discrimination is real (I’m 59, BTW), but we do need younger leadership. There are plenty of people as old (or experienced) as Diane Feinstein who do not have the same life experience as someone today who is navigating work/family balances, health insurance, racism, homo/transphobia.
I think there’s a lot to be said for perspective.
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I’m gonna say it—quite likely, there’s more going on in CA than any of are aware of, but it does seem that Ds in CA might have more of an inside scoop of what’s happening. If that’s true, everyone can hold their powder so that Diane Feinstein can be allowed the dignity to go out on her own terms.
If, at some point, in the future, she decides to cling to her seat, then people can come out with their statements on moving on, etc. As much as I appreciate Diane Feinstein’s progressive work, when I watched her interact with student activists regarding global warming, she was completely dismissive of them - rather unbecoming of her.
Her retiring her seat would allow Newsom to pick a Black woman and give them the benefit of incumbency for the 2024 race.
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There is no reason to accuse sexism and ageism in this instance. Feinstein has had an excellent career but has out stayed her top line abilities. It is not sexist to point that out as we would for any male with the same obvious deterioration.
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Harris! Then Biden can elevate a new alternative…
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