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DiFi could barely get out of the limo into the wheelchair to go to her office in the Senate.


She asked where she was going.


She told reporters she never left, physically


She can’t remember. Allegedly, her behavior gets worse as the sun goes down.


And if she ever had a slums test, she wouldn’t pass it, likely.


I have aligned with DiFi as a constituent for most of my life, but she is no longer all there. I’m really against seeing this play out for brute political reasons.


If we are gonna say someone shouldn’t serve on a jury for these conditions, why is she allowed to continue as a sitting us senator?

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Not everyone ages well. When a person is suffering from physical or cognitive impairments, it’s time for them to go.

I am all for term limits and age restrictions for entering and leaving a job. If someone can’t do the job properly they should be asked to step down.

Way, I totally agree with having Trump and Biden running for president. It’s a joke! They are far too old!

If someone still wants to remain active, they can volunteer for a worthy cause or they can do consulting, etc. I don’t want them on the payroll or in any kind of permanent position.

We shouldn’t have to pay the price because a person’s ego won’t allow them to believe that they aren’t fit for the job.
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Any individual (of any political affiliation) that demonstrates physical or cognitive acuity is faltering should not be in such a tremendously demanding role. I cannot imagine the stress and exhaustion of high public office on those that are fit and have the necessary stamina of mind and body.

It’s appalling how some place political positioning above humanity. Joe is hardly up to the rigors of the job either. We’ve all repeatedly seen his handlers shield him from objective journalist scrutiny and script his pre-screened, pre-approved “pressers” complete with detailed cliff notes and his response written in advance. The stakes are far too critical to have “leaders” incapable of the task at hand. We must have Term limits.
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Simple solution: Bring back Term Limits.
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Nyt article, no paywall

https://archive.ph/jHRIf
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I agree with Alva. The fact that reports do come from people who know and like DiFi is why I believe the supposition that she has dementia .
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SnoopyLove, I was thinking that maybe she didn't assign a PoA. It's not out of the realm of possibility, just because she's rich and famous doesn't mean she ever got around to it (or refused to do it out of fear of loss of control and power).
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If you do a search for "why are America's politicians so old" lots of recently written articles come up on this topic.
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ForReal, do you know the difference between an opinion and propaganda? Apparently not. You don't have anything on your profile, You can say lots of things that you don't support with facts or evidence when you hide behind being anonymous. Cowardly. Yes, test Trump as well but people mostly dislike his views and personality. This could still mean he'd pass a cognitive/memory exam.
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newbiewife, not DF's interests... the interests of people around her who find her still politically (or financially?) useful.
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@itsmehere:
I think all any of us have is what has been reported. We don't live with DiFi and we aren't her doctors.
In SF much has been reported about this woman, much beloved in this city. The reports actually started as long ago as the Kavanaugh hearings when it was suggested that she was not grasping what was going on and her aids were having to intervene often. That was, as I recall, the FIRST rumors, but they were then ongoing.
Being an old retired nurse isn't much relevant here imho. It is rumors that are, and then where you find your information, and who has "skin in the game" on what they are reporting. The fact that for a long time now, reports are coming from those who truly love this woman, is concerning. And for me "may be" telling.

I think none of us can know. Like this thread itself, it is rumor, conjecture, and the supposition that something is wrong. Whether you CARE for her (as I most certainly do) or you do not, something, imho, is very wrong.
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@ ItsMeHere, DiFi was having problems before her most recent illness. Many reports and quotes from the past couple of years at least , that I’ve seen . The content of quotes ( that DiFi has said ) that I’ve read are what convince me that she has dementia and that she is unaware that she is having any difficulties .
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She's one of my senators, and I'm disgusted that her daughter (a judge, for heaven's sake) has not told the Democrats to take a leap and taken her mother home. Gavin Newsom has stepped in it by promising to appoint a black woman to the job rather than choosing the best person for the job, so that would be Rep. Barbara Lee, who is running for the seat anyway but is 77 years old and not what anyone wants right now.

Nancy Pelosi's daughter is Feinstein's caretaker now, so that gets even weirder.

It's all just really sad and shouldn't be about politics at all. Feinstein's cognitive abilities are severely compromised, and she shouldn't be sitting on on of the most powerful committees in Congress. All of us here know very well that dementia patients don't recover well from major medical problems, and she's not going to improve.

I want a functioning senator, and we haven't had that from Dianne Feinstein in years. She shouldn't have run for re-election in 2018, as her cognitive issues have been known since back then.
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Instead of Weekend at Bernies it should be Weekend at Dianne's. I see a remake in the future from Hollywood.
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I don't think anyone with dementia should be allowed to vote. I also suggest IQ tests for current voters.
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She looks horrifying. Obviously you don't have to have any degree of cognition to be a member of Congress you just have to vote the way your party wants you too.
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It’s difficult to get someone with dementia to leave their home. How do you make them quit a job ? DiFi may believe she’s not having any cognitive problems . If it was us we would be fired . But an elected official has no boss to fire them , which is why there should be a set retirement age , just like pilots and air traffic controllers .
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There was Roosevelt being held up literally by one son on each side running for his final election. There are stories galore in the world of politics, that's for certain, and it must be fun to be a political historian, OR a crucible. One or the other.
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I agree that DiFi would not want to be doing this job at this point , with cognitive problems . I suspect like any other person with dementia she may not be realizing she is having problems. She thinks her brain works fine .
Why didn’t the doctors get her to retire ?
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It’s been reported that Trump had a TIA or mild stroke while he was in office too . Both Trump and Biden should not run , Imo.
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I'm not American so I have no dog in this fight but every election cycle we get people on the forum insisting their demented elders have the right to vote...
just saying.
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Senator Strom Thurmond was barely sentient by the time he died, yet he was powerful and was allowed to keep on keeping on. His staff ran the show and protected him.

President Woodrow Wilson suffered a series of strokes over a period of more than 20 years beginning before he was elected president. He had a disabling stroke in 1919, and the seriousness of it was concealed from the public. He served out his term, which expired in 2021. His wife Edith conspired in the cover-up and "helped" the president run the country.

What's happening now is not new. It keeps happening but nothing is done about it.
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It is sad to see the woman like this . We don’t know if anyone has tried to get her to retire or not. She’s not the first Senator that they have propped up . She’s a more notable one , so it’s in the news . Mandatory retirement age for Senators and others in very powerful positions would avoid this situation .
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There should be term limits / age limits . People are living longer . There are many very elderly in government that should retire. Don’t even get me started on the lifelong appointments of Supreme Court justices .
Pilots and air traffic controllers have a mandatory retirement age for our safety . I don’t feel comfortable with these people making decisions any longer with our national security , nor our rights .
We need new blood in our government . Sorry but it’s time to let the working generation be represented by people their age, who can relate to current situations . The average age of a senator is in the mid 60’s, and a number of them are in their 80’s.
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I am not sure what "ageism" is? As an 80 year old I must say, I am old. I look old. I feel old. And old is now just a fact of my life, having lived so many decades. I can't say I see it as a negative other than the aches and pains and fractured teeth that come along with it.

At first when I saw this discussion, I thought it not appropriate to the forum, but on further thought I think it may be.
Living in SF I greatly admire this woman. But the fact she may not be competent to serve due to aging issues now is a concern for our entire country, imho.
I don't so much see this as "about politics" as I do an issue of aging. So from that standpoint appropriate (again, just my opinion) to an elder forum.
I sure do think it were better placed in "discussions", a place I try to spend less time than I do answering questions from our OPs.
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Then we’ll lose about half the thread.
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No one less than nyt is reporting the issues in my op. It’s not just ageism, and it’s def not about who I like as a politician.
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I respectfully disagree as we had a convo going about the prospect of a man with cognitive decline serving on a jury. It’s not “just” a news story and no ones gotten political.
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I would love to see this moved to "Discussions" as well.
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The pictures make me sad, and also furious at her children (and grandchildren!) who have not stepped in and stopped this farce. I was listening to a podcast yesterday that went in to the political machinations that are behind this spectacle and it shocked me. Her family are seemingly allowing elder abuse for partisan reasons.

DiFi (as Herb Caen, local SF columnist back in the day called her) would not want to end her career in this way.
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This should be in Discussions.
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