Feinstein senile? So's Joe Biden

And she's not a left-wing crazy like whoever likely would replace her

The San Francisco Chronicle has this story today about Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., written by former colleagues Joe Garofoli and Tal Kolpan. The topic: Feinstein’s alleged declining mental faculties.

Here’s the lede.

Colleagues worry Dianne Feinstein is now mentally unfit to serve, citing recent interactions

Tal Kopan, Joe Garofoli

April 14, 2022

One state and four federal lawmakers plus three former staffers revealed they are concerned California Sen. Dianne Feinstein (left) can no longer fulfill her job duties without her staff doing much of the work.Win McNamee/Getty Images

WASHINGTON — When a California Democrat in Congress recently engaged in an extended conversation with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, they prepared for a rigorous policy discussion like those they’d had with her many times over the last 15 years.

Instead, the lawmaker said, they had to reintroduce themselves to Feinstein multiple times during an interaction that lasted several hours.

Rather than delve into policy, Feinstein, 88, repeated the same small-talk questions, like asking the lawmaker what mattered to voters in their district, they said, with no apparent recognition the two had already had a similar conversation.

It’s a well-documented story — but I have to say, I’ve been waiting for a major news outlet to write the same thing about President Joe Biden for more than a year.

Kolpan and Garofoli document instances in which DiFi’s mental capacity was questioned. It’s a sad rendition about a woman who has served California well for years — and at times stood against the insanity of Cali progressives. From the story:

— Lawmakers and staff told the Chronicle “it appears she can no longer fulfill her job duties without her staff doing much of the work required to represent the nearly 40 million people of California.”

— “There’s a joke on the Hill, we’ve got a great junior senator in Alex Padilla and an experienced staff in Feinstein’s office,” said a staffer for a California Democrat.

— Padilla came to Feinstein’s defense.

— Ditto House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 82. Given Pelosi’s gaffes and erratic behavior, it’s no surprise she’d defend the former San Francisco Mayor.

It’s clear Kolpan and Garofoli did no rush job. The statement from Feinstein was dated March 28.

The story notes that some insiders are concerned about a story that questions a female Senator’s faculties when so many old male Senators have stayed on office thanks to dedicated and hard-working aides.

My favorite item:

A month prior, she repeated a question to a witness, word for word, in a hearing with seemingly no awareness of having done so, and she shocked colleagues at the end of the contentious Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Amy Coney Barrett by unexpectedly praising Republicans for having conducted a great process.

“This has been one of the best set of hearings that I’ve participated in,” Feinstein told the Republican chair of the committee. “I want to thank you for your fairness.”

I attribute those remarks to Feinstein’s old-school approach. Sadly, old-school civility serves as a mark against Democrats in 2022.

This I do believe: If Feinstein is pressured to resign, her replacement will be far worse. So save DiFi.

Debra J. Saunders is a fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Chapman Center for Citizen Leadership. Contact her at dsaunders@discovery.org.