Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., was brought back to the U.S. Capitol in a wheelchair late last week after an extended hospital stay.
Frail and seemingly confused, the elderly Feinstein was wheeled in front of the cameras by staff — a ghoulish display that even has California newspapers calling for her staff to let her resign.
The nearly 90-year-old Feinstein’s declining mental acumen has been an “open secret” on Capitol Hill for years, according to TownHall.
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The editorial board at The Sacramento Bee joined the calls for Feinstein’s resignation on Saturday.
They compared Feinstein’s wheelchair bound return to the end of the careers of Sen. Robert Byrd and Strom Thurmond, who weren’t of sound mind when they both finally resigned.
Take a look —
Byrd, a Democrat from West Virginia, served in the Senate for 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010 at the age of 92. Thurmond represented South Carolina in the Senate for 47 years, first as a Democrat and then as a Republican.
By the time he retired, Thurmond was 100 years old, but it was well known that he should have left the Senate long before he did. One former Senate aide said that ‘for his last ten years, Strom Thurmond didn’t know if he was on foot or on horseback.’
American political history is full of men who were allowed to remain in elected office when they were no longer physically able or mentally competent to serve. These men generally were given the benefit of the doubt by their colleagues, the media and the public. But now Feinstein, a woman, is in the same position, and she has been subjected to intense scrutiny and pressure to step down.
This new public reaction, however, is ultimately the right one. The days of excusing politicians who can no longer serve out of a misplaced sense of “tradition” should be eliminated.
If it takes a woman to amend that… well, it’s hardly the first convention Feinstein will have broken in her career.
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The op-ed later continued —
But it’s also true that Feinstein, like some male predecessors, overstayed their welcome in office, to the lasting detriment of the American people.
So if Feinstein is the subject of intense scrutiny or public questioning in a way those men were not, it’s in part due to the presence of women and people of color in the Senate, which has helped challenge the status quo that sheltered powerful white men for far too long.
Ultimately, our state’s current conversation over whether Feinstein should or should not remain in office is not just a debate over the presence of sexism in society, it is — perhaps most importantly — a recognition of the insidious issues posed by the U.S. Senate existing as a gerontocracy.
Feinstein’s physical return this week to the Senate — in a wheelchair pushed by an aide — after a long bout with shingles was hardly the resounding picture of health and competency her staff has been peddling to the media in her absence.
The median age of members of the U.S. Senate is 65, while the median age of the nation they serve is just 38.
It seems improbable at this time, however, that the senator will do the right thing and step down.
That final act of selfishness will undoubtedly mar what should have been a great legacy.
What is the first thought that comes to mind when you see this photo of Dianne Feinstein? pic.twitter.com/zJSS1kLGF1
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 10, 2023
The Associated Press contributed to this article.