Found in The NY Times this morning:
When she won a sixth term in 2018, she was already the oldest member of the Senate, having outlasted four presidencies and seen the beginning of a fifth, that of Joe Biden.
The 2018 election was for Feinstein's fifth complete term; her first was a stub in a special election to replace Pete Wilson, who had been elected governor. But in 2018, she also had not outlasted four presidencies because the 45th president was still in office and somehow managed to serve a full term.
The Times tried to correct the above and failed:
When she won a sixth term in 2018, she was already the oldest member of the Senate, having outlasted four presidencies. She went on to see the beginning of a fifth, that of Joe Biden.
Again, in 2018, she had outlasted three presidencies, and went on to outlast four and see the first two years of Joe Biden's term.
Updated: The Times also somehow thinks she had shingles last year. Sorry! It was this year!
Ms. Feinstein’s frail appearance was a result of several complications after she was hospitalized for shingles in February 2022, some of which she had not publicly disclosed. The shingles spread to her face and neck, causing vision and balance impairments and facial paralysis known as Ramsay Hunt syndrome.
I am happy to admit, by the way, that I was one of the people calling for her resignation; I phone her local office multiple times to ask her to resign. No, Rep. Pelosi, it's not sexist to want the people of California to be represented in the Senate by someone who is mentally competent. It is extremely sad that such an important and effective politician as Dianne Feinstein (and her supporters) couldn't see this.
Hi Lisa --
ReplyDeleteThanks for all your good work on this site and elsewhere, especially in support of my colleagues at the SF Symphony. I just had a brief comment regarding Senator Feinstein and why it was not a slam dunk that she should have resigned. It has to do with the Judiciary Committee and the appointment of judges by the Senate. If she had resigned, that would have created a 10-10 tie on that committee, and appointments would have been stalled. Further, the GOP would, in all likelihood, have prevented a replacement from being named, since committee assignments are done at the beginning of a term. Seems unlikely that the GOP would have been cooperative in this. See this article for more detail: https://time.com/6281088/dianne-feinstein-quit-supreme-court/
Best, Bob W.