Senator Dianne Feinstein Dies
The Six-Term Senator Dies at Age 90
Dianne Feinstein, whose last years in the Senate were marked by a frightening mental decline, has died. Writes NBC News:
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a vocal advocate of gun-control measures who was known for trying to find common ground with Republicans during her three decades in the Senate, has died, according to two sources familiar the matter. She was 90.
However her later days had gone, Feinstein was a trailblazer of independent mind and, for almost all of her career, a deeply solid, stable, and reliable public servant. Fellow politicians were quick to react:
"Dianne Feinstein, right from the start, was an icon for women in politics," said former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Wrote Chuck Schumer, "She's a legend. A legend in California as the first woman senator. A legend in the Senate. She was the leader on so many different issues."
Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown recalled meeting Feinstein before her political rise:
"I remember that I was trying to get a house here in San Francisco, when they wouldn't allow Black people easily to get houses," he said. "And there was a demonstration and this angular tall, great looking white woman pushing a baby stroller with a little kid in it, who nobody knew anything about, came out to participate in the protest. That was Dianne Feinstein! And it was that long ago, and so I am a great admirer."
Soon she would enter politics. In the 1970s, while serving as the first female president of the Board of Supervisors, Feinstein twice ran for mayor and lost both times. She had decided to leave politics, but then came the shocking assassinations of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk at the hands of fellow Supervisor Dan White. Feinstein became mayor—and the emotional rock of San Francisco—in 1978, and the renaissance of San Francisco began at her initiative. Controversies abounded:
She survived a recall attempt, a response to her gun-control initiatives. She closed the bathhouses in response to the rapid, frightening proliferation of AIDS cases in the city—and in the process created a global standard for AIDS healthcare at San Francisco General Hospital. She reshaped city’s skyline in what some acidly called the “Manhattan-ization” of San Francisco.
In 1990, she ran for governor and lost to Pete Wilson. Then she found her political home. In 1992, the Year of the Woman, Feinstein ran for the U.S. Senate and won, beginning a career that would span three decades. She was the longest-serving woman in the chamber’s history.
ABC News cites Feinstein’s record.
Creating federal coordination of Amber Alerts, the national child abduction warning system
Passing the California Desert Protection Act, which protected millions of acres of California desert and created the Death Valley and Joshua Tree national parks
Reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, to protect women from domestic violence and sexual assault
Authoring the 2022 Respect for Marriage Act, to enshrine marriage equality into federal law
In addition, she authored the 1994 assault weapons ban, which was allowed to lapse. And as chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, she helmed the sweeping investigation into the CIA's post-9/11 torture program—an investigation led by Committee staffer and former FBI investigator Daniel J. Jones. The resulting report was prepared following a review of more than 6.3 million pages of documents, cables, emails, and other materials principally provided by the CIA.
For a remarkably accurate image of Feinstein at zenith, see …
… which can be found on Amazon Prime at https://www.amazon.com/Report-Adam-Driver/dp/B08CS5PH2X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3OLBF5CJM17C7&keywords=The+Torture+Report+movie&qid=1695994077&sprefix=the+torture+report+movi%2Caps%2C138&sr=8-1
No cause of death has yet been given, but Feinstein had multiple recent health problems. It was an expected death, however, and several potential replacements have been positioning themselves for months.
Developing …