Feinstein is not a senator any more

[LordMortis]

She died. Nothing more to say really

[malchior]

Beyond parody.

[Octavious]

I don't get why these people are obsessed with staying in office way past when they should. RIP

[LawBeefaroni]

I don't get why these people are obsessed with staying in office way past when they should. RIP

Money and power. Perhaps a misguided sense of duty thrown in.

[LawBeefaroni]

BTW, admirable career for Feinstein but stuck around a bit too long. Like Willie Mays in his last few years. Not going to diminish the body of work but people will still have those last memories of a lower standard.

[Unagi]

BTW, admirable career for Feinstein but stuck around a bit too long. Like Willie Mays in his last few years. Not going to diminish the body of work but people will still have those last memories of a lower standard.

That’s what’s so annoying. She should and could be celebrated for the work that she did, but instead we are left almost relieved to hear that she has passed on.
Sucky way to piss all over your own legacy.

Thanks for the work, sorry you couldn’t have ended it all on a high note. RIP.

[Holman]

There have been rumors of aides manipulating Feinstein for several years, keeping themselves on the gravy train.

[Smoove_B]

I guess we'll get to see if the Democrats have the collective stones to fight back against the GOP blocking her replacement on the Judiciary committee or if they'll actually let the GOP block appointments for the rest of Biden's term.

[Exodor]

I don't get why these people are obsessed with staying in office way past when they should. RIP

Still not as bad as RBG who held on hoping to have her replacement appointed by the first female president and instead let Trump fill the seat.

[Unagi]

I don't get why these people are obsessed with staying in office way past when they should. RIP

Still not as bad as RBG who held on hoping to have her replacement appointed by the first female president and instead let Trump fill the seat.

Yeah. She still takes the cake.

[Fireball]

I don't get why these people are obsessed with staying in office way past when they should. RIP

Money and power. Perhaps a misguided sense of duty thrown in.

No one stays in the Senate for the salary, and being in the Senate precludes most other forms of outside income.

People who stay in office for as long as Feinstein do so because they go past a tipping point where most of their friends from outside the Congress have passed away or moved, and it is their only real remaining social network. It's hard to leave a job, harder to leave a job that defines who you are, and hardest of all to leave a job like that which is also where all your friends work.

[Fireball]

BTW, admirable career for Feinstein but stuck around a bit too long. Like Willie Mays in his last few years. Not going to diminish the body of work but people will still have those last memories of a lower standard.

That’s what’s so annoying. She should and could be celebrated for the work that she did, but instead we are left almost relieved to hear that she has passed on.
Sucky way to piss all over your own legacy.

20 years for now her legacy will be her trailblazer status and the great things she did. Too-online-people bitching about her not leaving in 2019, when she should have, will not have any impact on that.

[Fireball]

There have been rumors of aides manipulating Feinstein for several years, keeping themselves on the gravy train.

Congressional staff normally make far more money after leaving the Hill than they do on it. You underestimate how personally loyal many staffers are to members who are good bosses. Feinstein had a reputation for being a wonderful person to work for. It's more likely that senior staff in her office reduced their lifetime income by being loyal and not wanting to abandon their frail and failing boss in the twilight of her career.

[Pyperkub]

I don't get why these people are obsessed with staying in office way past when they should. RIP

Also necessity, given that the GOP has publicly stated they won't vote to allow her replacement to sit on the Judiciary committee, so that they can put a hold on all Judges.

[Unagi]

BTW, admirable career for Feinstein but stuck around a bit too long. Like Willie Mays in his last few years. Not going to diminish the body of work but people will still have those last memories of a lower standard.

That’s what’s so annoying. She should and could be celebrated for the work that she did, but instead we are left almost relieved to hear that she has passed on.
Sucky way to piss all over your own legacy.

20 years for now her legacy will be her trailblazer status and the great things she did. Too-online-people bitching about her not leaving in 2019, when she should have, will not have any impact on that.

I hope you are right, her legacy is way more than how it all ended. But, we shouldn't ignore how it ended - nor lay it squarely all on her. 20 years from now, I think it will be still noted how she left the Senate.

But I still hold her in high regard. She was not a bad person, she was a good politician and leader - I'm honestly bummed that this will be part of her story because she was indeed 'better than that' - but it's hard not to feel like the old politicians just simply cannot put down the conch, and it's a little troubling.

[Octavious]

I don't get why these people are obsessed with staying in office way past when they should. RIP

Also necessity, given that the GOP has publicly stated they won't vote to allow her replacement to sit on the Judiciary committee, so that they can put a hold on all Judges.

Well good to know we're screwed. Again.

[Pyperkub]

RIP Mayor and Senator Feinstein. You served CA and the Nation well, despite the fondness for the surveillance state (probably influenced heavily by the murder of Harvey Milk and Mayor Moscone) which was outweighed by all the good you did, and the trail you blazed for young woman in '92 (with Boxer), that woman could aspire to be Senators, and more, will never be forgotten.

[Daehawk]

RIP to her. Seems the only way to get them out of there anymore is to cart them out on a slab.

[Defiant]

Let's all give her a moment of silence.

Mitch McConnell, why don't you lead the way?

[malchior]

BTW, admirable career for Feinstein but stuck around a bit too long. Like Willie Mays in his last few years. Not going to diminish the body of work but people will still have those last memories of a lower standard.

That’s what’s so annoying. She should and could be celebrated for the work that she did, but instead we are left almost relieved to hear that she has passed on.
Sucky way to piss all over your own legacy.

20 years for now her legacy will be her trailblazer status and the great things she did. Too-online-people bitching about her not leaving in 2019, when she should have, will not have any impact on that.

I hope you are right, her legacy is way more than how it all ended. But, we shouldn't ignore how it ended - nor lay it squarely all on her. 20 years from now, I think it will be still noted how she left the Senate.

Honestly most Senators don't have much of a legacy but I think she is the first of a new trend of politicians who declined significantly while in office.

[LawBeefaroni]

...being in the Senate precludes most other forms of outside income.

She had a net worth near $100M and had an income of at least 7 figures annually. That's not from salary.

Yes, a lot came from her husband and "investments" but being in the Senate helps with that too.

[LawBeefaroni]

BTW, admirable career for Feinstein but stuck around a bit too long. Like Willie Mays in his last few years. Not going to diminish the body of work but people will still have those last memories of a lower standard.

That’s what’s so annoying. She should and could be celebrated for the work that she did, but instead we are left almost relieved to hear that she has passed on.
Sucky way to piss all over your own legacy.

20 years for now her legacy will be her trailblazer status and the great things she did. Too-online-people bitching about her not leaving in 2019, when she should have, will not have any impact on that.

Willie Mays is a hall of famer and baseball god. People still talk about his last few seasons in disappointed tones.

[Fireball]

BTW, admirable career for Feinstein but stuck around a bit too long. Like Willie Mays in his last few years. Not going to diminish the body of work but people will still have those last memories of a lower standard.

That’s what’s so annoying. She should and could be celebrated for the work that she did, but instead we are left almost relieved to hear that she has passed on.
Sucky way to piss all over your own legacy.

20 years for now her legacy will be her trailblazer status and the great things she did. Too-online-people bitching about her not leaving in 2019, when she should have, will not have any impact on that.

I hope you are right, her legacy is way more than how it all ended. But, we shouldn't ignore how it ended - nor lay it squarely all on her. 20 years from now, I think it will be still noted how she left the Senate.

Honestly most Senators don't have much of a legacy but I think she is the first of a new trend of politicians who declined significantly while in office.

The notion that this is a new trend, or that it's a greater problem now than it was decades ago, is completely wrong.

[Fireball]

BTW, admirable career for Feinstein but stuck around a bit too long. Like Willie Mays in his last few years. Not going to diminish the body of work but people will still have those last memories of a lower standard.

That’s what’s so annoying. She should and could be celebrated for the work that she did, but instead we are left almost relieved to hear that she has passed on.
Sucky way to piss all over your own legacy.

20 years for now her legacy will be her trailblazer status and the great things she did. Too-online-people bitching about her not leaving in 2019, when she should have, will not have any impact on that.

Willie Mays is a hall of famer and baseball god. People still talk about his last few seasons in disappointed tones.

Not the general public, who just know him as being an amazing player.

[Fireball]

RIP to her. Seems the only way to get them out of there anymore is to cart them out on a slab.

Turnover in both Houses of Congress is very high, compared to most of American history. 58 of 100 Senators are in their first or second term. 83 have served three terms or less. A handful of very senior Senators are warping public perception. The median member of the House was elected in 2016.

The high level of turnover is actually a problem for Congress, and for our democracy. We increasingly have leaders, particularly in the House, who have far less institutional knowledge than their counterparts a few decades would have had, and much less than their staff and lobbyists presently have. This decreases the resistance of the Congress to outside influence, and weakens the Congress in comparison to the Presidency, which is a very bad thing.

[malchior]

The notion that this is a new trend, or that it's a greater problem now than it was decades ago, is completely wrong.

Maybe. Still it isn't entirely logical to call a prediction about a trend forming as wrong. It might not pan out but it cant be wrong...yet. The average age in the chamber has increased significantly in recent years. It is not crazy to believe it will project into the future in this way.

[malchior]

...being in the Senate precludes most other forms of outside income.

She had a net worth near $100M and had an income of at least 7 figures annually. That's not from salary.

Yes, a lot came from her husband and "investments" but being in the Senate helps with that too.

+1. Still many if not most Senators are already wealthy when they join the chamber.

[Daehawk]

Let's all give her a moment of silence.

Mitch McConnell, why don't you lead the way?

hehe I shouldn't but hahahaa

[naednek]

Let's all give her a moment of silence.

Mitch McConnell, why don't you lead the way?

damn

[Unagi]

The Onion:
“Senator Mitch McConnell honors the passing of Senator Feinstein with a moment of silence.”

[Kraken]

BTW, admirable career for Feinstein but stuck around a bit too long. Like Willie Mays in his last few years. Not going to diminish the body of work but people will still have those last memories of a lower standard.

That’s what’s so annoying. She should and could be celebrated for the work that she did, but instead we are left almost relieved to hear that she has passed on.
Sucky way to piss all over your own legacy.

Thanks for the work, sorry you couldn’t have ended it all on a high note. RIP.

I'll confess that when Wife told me Feinstein had died, I blurted "Finally!" I don't have any grievances against her except that she held on for too long.

[Carpet_pissr]

I don't get why these people are obsessed with staying in office way past when they should. RIP

Money and power. Perhaps a misguided sense of duty thrown in.

Egads, man, you forgot the most important one! EGO. (disclaimer: I did not know this woman, or even know much about her, so she could be an exception)

I think we can all agree that typically people with much more power than your average person, have much more ego than your average person as well. Of course there are "humble servant" examples, but come on, the personality trait that likely GOT them elected in the first place, and the drive to even become an elected leader, surely correlates strongly with a mighty ego. Same with corporate leaders, etc.

It's a human nature thing.

[El Guapo]

I guess we'll get to see if the Democrats have the collective stones to fight back against the GOP blocking her replacement on the Judiciary committee or if they'll actually let the GOP block appointments for the rest of Biden's term.

There's no way to predict how that will go.

[Smoove_B]

I guess we'll get to see if the Democrats have the collective stones to fight back against the GOP blocking her replacement on the Judiciary committee or if they'll actually let the GOP block appointments for the rest of Biden's term.

There's no way to predict how that will go.

[Unagi]

[stimpy]

There have been rumors of aides manipulating Feinstein for several years, keeping themselves on the gravy train.

I smell Weekend at Bernies 2: The Feinsteining
Who would notice the difference?

[Kurth]

BTW, admirable career for Feinstein but stuck around a bit too long. Like Willie Mays in his last few years. Not going to diminish the body of work but people will still have those last memories of a lower standard.

That’s what’s so annoying. She should and could be celebrated for the work that she did, but instead we are left almost relieved to hear that she has passed on.
Sucky way to piss all over your own legacy.

Thanks for the work, sorry you couldn’t have ended it all on a high note. RIP.

I'll confess that when Wife told me Feinstein had died, I blurted "Finally!" I don't have any grievances against her except that she held on for too long.

Exact same reaction when I read about it in the NYT this morning. "Finally." I had a lot of respect for Feinstein - especially when she told those annoying kids to piss off when they showed up in her office and pushed her to support the Green New Deal. But to say she "stuck around a bit too long" is one hell of an understatement. She was completely and utterly unable to do her job as a senator, not for days or weeks or months, but for a period of years. That's deplorable.

[El Guapo]

For what it's worth Republicans are saying that they won't block Democrats from seating Feinstein's replacement on the Judiciary Committee.. We'll see, but good to see so far at least.

[El Guapo]

Newsom picked LaPhonza Butler as Feinstein's replacement, could be sworn in as soon as Tuesday.

I will say that I don't love that "adviser to Kamala Harris's presidential campaign" is a highly placed credential. But at the very least she is capable of performing the functions of a Senator at least, so it's an upgrade in the short term at least.

[Alefroth]

It' odd that's the credential Yahoo highlighted. She does have some other solid ones.