After months of tense silence and off-the-record quotes, a sitting congressman is publicly calling for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) to step down.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1454806
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1454806
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Sad, but I fear the inevitable. I just hope she has enough health to take a victory tour before the end.
I have previously made my position clear: she earned those six years fair and square, and as long as she is able to execute the job she is fully entitled to the full six years.
ETA: when I wrote the above, I had forgotten that Ro Khanna is Barbara Lee’s campaign co-chair. That kind of changes things. Only way Lee gets a senatorship is if difi steps down early.
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Seconded.
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She needs to step down—did not realize that her absence is why Biden’s judicial picks are held up. So sick of these folks hanging on and hanging on out of vanity or inability to put the good of the country ahead of their selfish desire to cling to their positions. (I’m looking at you, Ghost of RBG.)
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She’s not able to execute the job.
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Truth. There is a time to leave the stage.
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She should at the very least surrender her chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee.
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Missing 60 votes proves she is not fulfilling her job. I want Katie Porter in there, followed by Adam Schiff to Khana’s seat. They work hard for Americans.
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I disagree. A Senate term is a very long time, and anyone who runs for that term in their mid-80s should be realistic about the fact that they might not be able to finish out the term. And in any case, a Senate seat is a position of public service and is not about what the incumbent is “entitled” to. (We get too much of that kind of thinking with Trump, who wouldn’t know public service if it bit him.)
If her absence is delaying Biden’s confirmations among other things, then that is harming all of us. She needs to think about the good of the party and the nation.
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You, along with the other tone deaf types, apparently missed the part of the article that said if difi steps down early her successor will most likely be Barbara Lee, by appointment.
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The voters disagreed with you in 2018, and their opinion matters more.
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I say once again - it is not about what an individual is “entitled” to. It’s about public service and the good of the party and the nation. Those 2018 voters voted for representation which they are currently not getting. And California Senators represent more people than any others.
Do you think Feinstein could win an election right now while she is MIA? I seriously doubt it. So I don’t buy your theory. She needs to retire with full honors and let others get on with the job.
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Oh, knock it off. If she were senator of Wyoming you’d want her to serve out the full term and wouldn’t make a peep about her abilities. Don’t purity service me a retcon story that backs into how that seat rightfully belongs to your preferred candidate. Gollum behaved with more dignity.
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You wanna maybe dial it back a bit?
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I don’t have a preferred candidate - any of the three contenders would be just fine with me. What I want, and what California and the nation deserve, is someone in this crucial seat in a closely divided Senate who can be there and cast the votes. That’s what matters, not some blather about the will of voters more than four years ago.
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Welcome!
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I am one of those voters, and I don’t remember any part of the campaign where she promised to remain in office regardless of whether she was healthy enough to cast votes or not. In fact she campaigned on being more than up to the task.
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Which is not the point at issue here. I am merely suggesting that folks let this process play out with dignity instead of elbowing her out the door. Ro Khanna stepped up to be the bad guy saying “it’s time”.
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If the story is accurate she should at least request being replaced on the Judiciary Committee.
“She also sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and her absence has left President Joe Biden’s nominees stranded as they wait for a committee vote.” This is actually from an article in the Washington Post.
I have been a fan of Dianne Feinstein since she was first mayor of San Francisco. I thought in 1984 Mondale should have picked her as his Vice President, as did Mondale until Tip O’Neil got him to change his mind.
But recent, and not so recent, events have shown we need fair and competent federal judges. Just because it is in the Washington Post does not make it true, but if it is true, at least she should request being replaced on the Judiciary Committee.
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Welcome @RoloTomassi. Welcome to our little corner of the internet.
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