• Spike@feddit.de
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    11 months ago

    “On Sept. 29, Dianne Feinstein, 90, died of natural causes. She had cast a vote in the Senate less than a day prior.”

    Banger first two sentences. As an observer not from the US, this feels like Emperors New Clothes to me. But instead of a naked emperor, you have paraded a corpse through the senate and acted as if she was a fighter like Xena, Warrior Princess or something.

    • b34k@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      As a Californian, I’ll say its been feeling damn near “Weekend and Bernie’s” for months now.

      I dunno who was actually casting her votes, but I doubt they were aligned with what the people of my state would have wanted.

      • DragonAce@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        I honestly think there are now a few of those “Weekend at Bernie’s” scenarios playing out in congress. McConnell comes to mind as the most obvious, he has already had a couple of public examples of him losing his cognitive abilities, but everyone pretends not to notice and they keep tripping over themselves trying to cover for him, similar to how they did with Feinstein.

        • Spike@feddit.de
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          11 months ago

          I am not allowed to say hateful things here I think, but man I really hope McConnell lives a long life. He seems to be in perfect health and enjoys living by the looks of it, and I want that joy to continue for him as long as possible :) :) :)

    • foggy@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      We need to stop allowing folks to remain in power after the age of like 65.

      • rainynight65@feddit.de
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        11 months ago

        I am in favour of both age and term limits for politicians. For one, if regular people are supposed to retire at 65ish and realistically often struggle to find work once they go past their 40s, there is no reason why politicians should be allowed to stay in their jobs through their 70s and sometimes 80s.

        And I am in favour of term limits because it would keep the career politicians out of the game. Very few of them are any good.

        • foyrkopp@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Politicians who know that their political career is about to end have the nasty habit of doing favors for their big corporation of choice, knowing that they’ll receive a cushy board position in return afterwards.

          If you want to establish term limits, you also need to establish some sort of accountability for the time afterwards.

          • rainynight65@feddit.de
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            11 months ago

            Accountability is needed with or without term limits. Too many politicians are deep in the pockets of big businesses. “Professional board member” is already one of the most popular sinecures for spent politicians. Term limits aren’t a silver bullet for general politician misconduct. Everything needs checks and balances, and politics has way too little of it.

      • QuadratureSurfer@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        I agree that we need younger people in these positions. We need those more in touch with what the average person is going through these days.

        However, I disagree that we should set a hard age limit. If anything have them take some sort of cognitive exam every few years once they hit a certain age.

        • bendak@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          A cognitive exam would be a good idea regardless of any age. They need to be fit to serve.

    • Fredselfish@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Natural causes my ass. Cunt had dementia and they kept her around for power ever one of her votes for the last 3 years should be invalidated.

      • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
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        11 months ago

        for power ever one of her votes for the last 3 years should be invalidated.

        I think you missed one letter and a dot there.

        Are we at stage “invalidating votes of senile old coots” yet? Have you SEEN how many crusty bastards are in there? I’d say the Dems would LOVE this as the demographic helps them immensely.

  • Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    It’s been bizarre watching everyone claim she’s a senile old bat who should’ve stepped down decades ago, to hearing everyone praise how devoted she was. It’s been a very disappointing journey for sure, the stuff of “boring dystopia” posts.

    • Maeve@kbin.social
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      11 months ago

      It’s an old etiquette thing about not speaking ill of someone but present to defend themselves. There are exceptions, imo, but I’m not Emily Post.

  • slurpeesoforion@startrek.website
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    11 months ago

    Lest we forget she was a consummate centrist.

    We should remember her for her actions through her career as a politician. Where she stood on equality, lgbtq+ rights, the death penalty, government surveillance… How she used her position in the Senate to enrich herself through means not allowed by commoners.

    There are a lot of shit bags in government. And one less doesn’t change that. But let’s not paint her as a champion of anything but herself just because she’s dead.

  • BlanketsWithSmallpox@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    This sounds like some Ruth Bader Ginsberg shit.

    You can’t criticize someone now that they’re dead despite wanting to cling to power over pride and legacy!

    Yes, yes we can. And anyone who enabled that shit should take a good hard look into themselves and get the fuck out of politics.

  • Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Been a lot of whitewashing lately of people like Feinstein, Biden and Pelosi. And it seems like you can’t even criticize them or you get called a Trumper.

    • DarthBueller@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Biden is not even in the same league of asshattery as Pelosi and Feinstein, despite a long career and being in the Executive twice. I’ll never forget Pelosi talking down to a high school student who asked her a question about economic equity—I don’t remember the kid’s question, but her response is seared into my brain. She got pissy and said “America is a capitalist country” like capitalism was handed down from god on high or enshrined in the Constitution. It was contemptuously delivered, to a degree as bad as I once heard Rick Santorum speak to a student who asked him about LGBTQ rights.

      Feinstein was a regressive in a lot of ways, perhaps she escaped being labeled a DINO because her votes were more important than her sometimes asinine rhetoric.

      • return2ozma@lemmy.worldOP
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        11 months ago

        I’ll never forget Pelosi talking down to a high school student who asked her a question about economic equity—I don’t remember the kid’s question, but her response is seared into my brain. She got pissy and said “America is a capitalist country” like capitalism was handed down from god on high or enshrined in the Constitution.

        Here’s the clip: https://youtu.be/MR65ZhO6LGA

        • DarthBueller@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Ah, thanks… the questioner wasn’t a high school student, but appears to be in their 20s. Pelosi’s response is less flagrantly contemptuous than I remember, but revealed her to be a dyed-in-the-wool corporatist, which was equally upsetting and has colored my perception of her ever since. Feinstein basically wanted to publicly flay Snowden and took such an extreme view of state secrets (among other things), and I was always curious about the politics that led her to get reelected term after term.

        • QuadratureSurfer@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          What economic system would you recommend beyond capitalism? Are there any large countries that have successfully implemented this?

          For economic systems, it seems like just about every country mixes capitalism and socialism, and some of those economies lean more towards one rather than the other.

          Perhaps a better discussion would be over what the best mixture is rather than the simple: “Capitalism/Socialism is bad” that people seem to argue so much over.

            • QuadratureSurfer@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              I was hoping for an actual discussion rather than a link to a 20 min video like that.

              That 20 min video was all “capitalism is bad” and only for a few seconds near the end where he proposes “Communist Realism” without even attempting to explain what it is or compare any sort of pros and cons.

              So to summarize the video for anyone else who doesn’t want to waste their time (in the context of the questions I proposed):

              What economic system would you recommend beyond capitalism?

              Video: “Communist Realism, buy my book”

              Are there any large countries that have successfully implemented this?

              Video: “No, they weren’t given a chance because capitalist countries overthrew them in one way or another.”

              Perhaps a better discussion would be over what the best mixture is rather than the simple: “Capitalism/Socialism is bad” that people seem to argue so much over.

              The video didn’t really address this other than:
              Video: “Capitalism bad, people are stuck thinking there’s nothing else”…

    • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
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      11 months ago

      You’ll find, historically, Dems question themselves a lot more on average. As “Dems need to fall in love” with the party plan, they end up asking way more questions than the “GoPniks need to fall in line” bunch.

      So, you may easily decide that you DON’T get called a trumper just by asking questions. It’s in the nature to review and discuss things.

      • Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Being called a Trumper for criticising a democrat is no different than Christians who say you’re a devil worshiper if you don’t worship the Christian god. Just because I criticize a democrat, doesn’t mean I’m a republican. It’s not a knife edge. Someone like Pelosi is not anywhere near leftist enough for me, but if I criticize her for that, I’m somehow a Trump supporter?? How does that make sense?

        • mayo@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Do you really get push back on that? Most of the Democrats are corrupt. I think Biden is relatively cut and dry but Pelosi is a crook.

    • return2ozma@lemmy.worldOP
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      11 months ago

      I’m a leftist and get called a Trumper all the time for criticizing Dems to be better.

      • protist@mander.xyz
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        11 months ago

        Talking shit about Biden and telling everyone to vote for a third party instead is not “criticizing Dems to be better,” it’s literally how you would put Trump back in the White House

        • TreeGhost@lemm.ee
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          11 months ago

          I’m not seeing anyone in this thread telling anyone to vote third party.

          When it comes down to voting for Biden or whatever racist shitbag the GOP trots out, I’m going to vote for Biden. But don’t tell me I’m not allowed to criticize him or the party. Acting like a political party is above criticism comes off as fascist.

          And before you get on to me about only criticizing Democrats, I think we can all agree that Republicans are worse, but if we aren’t allowed to call out Dems on shit, then we truly don’t have a democracy anymore.

          I get the impulse that talking shit about a political candidate is turning people off of voting or voting for the realistic candidate, but I would argue that doing shit like keeping old politicians in office does a lot more to turn people off of voting. If we want people to vote, then they need to be inspired by a candidate and feel good about voting. And of course they don’t feel inspired when they hear criticisms about both parties, but clearly just telling people that they have to vote for someone to keep someone like Trump from office only seems to work for reelection, but it didn’t stop him from getting in office in the first place. I’m pretty confident that Trump won’t be president again, I’m not so confident about the next guy like him.

          • Maeve@kbin.social
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            11 months ago

            I’m not confident he won’t win against the crappy candidates dnc keeps trotting out, andi doubt I’ll vote either party, but thank you for voicing the rest of my thoughts about it so well.

          • protist@mander.xyz
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            11 months ago

            I took a brief look at the post history of the person I was responding to, that is what my comment was based on. Never anywhere did I suggest you shouldn’t criticize Democrats, of course all our elected leaders should be scrutinized.

            And of course Feinstein should have retired years ago, just like Ginsburg should’ve retired while Obama was president.

            What I was arguing against is that guy"s “Biden is all bad, vote Green party” perspective, which only helps elect a Republican

      • Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        You’re getting downvoted but it’s what’s happening here. The GOP is not even an option in terms of who to vote for, so I only focus on Democrats and how to fix their issues. But no, suddenly now it’s a sin to point out any issues within your own party. It’s toe the line, or get called a Trumper.

        I think Pelosi, Biden and the older generation is way too conservative and centrist, I want a more socially progressive democratic party that will push forward a more leftist agenda, led by younger, more left leaning Democrats, why is that a “Trumper” view?? Why am I not allowed to call out the people on the side I’m on?

        • DarthBueller@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          I want a progressive agenda but how do such ideas gain traction when the opposition messaging does such a good job at mocking progressives that the mockers’ view of the agenda takes precedence over the actual agenda? Sometimes I feel like the progressive agenda comes preloaded with poison pills that are intended to give red meat to the opposition, aka is designed to fail.

        • protist@mander.xyz
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          11 months ago

          Who is calling you a Trumper? You keep saying that, but I haven’t seen that anywhere here

      • lingh0e@lemmy.film
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        11 months ago

        Gtfo with that. There’s plenty of legitimate shit talking about democrats. Just don’t be a “both sides” asshole or a hexbear goon.

        • Bonskreeskreeskree@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          My reddit and lemmy history strongly disagrees with you. Any criticism of dems is met with downvotes. Ill also argue that excusing shitty behavior from those on the left because “they’re not as bad as republicans” is lesser of two evils bullshit that has enabled us to continue slipping further and further in the wrong direction, as a whole.

          • lingh0e@lemmy.film
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            11 months ago

            Yeah, my reddit and lemmy history strongly disagree with you too, chachi. I’ve literally never been called out for criticizing democrats. But then again I don’t engage in weak “both sides” bullshit like you do.

            And it’s funny how you initially said criticizing democrats gets you called a maga bootlicker, but now you say it’s just “downvotes”.

              • lingh0e@lemmy.film
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                11 months ago

                What are you trying to say? Yes, on a platform like Reddit or Lemmy, your options to respond are literally exclusive to commenting and/or voting.

                Nice dodge, btw. You don’t have to respond to the crux of my response if you focus on a lesser point.

                • Bonskreeskreeskree@lemmy.world
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                  11 months ago

                  My point was you make it out as if comments and downvotes are exclusive. As if downvoting doesn’t send a message in itself.

                  The crux of your response? Saying that your personal online experience has been different than mine and somehow invalidates it? Was it really worth addressing? Maybe pay more attention to the comments you read through? You having not experienced it means nothing to those that have

    • chili1553@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I consider myself lib center and I’m surprised at how left Lemmy seems to be. I mostly filter out anything political now

      • Hypx@kbin.social
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        11 months ago

        People really don’t know what “left” is suppose to mean. Socialism is suppose to be a real political position, not a slur. What is consider liberal these days is really right-wing politics.

  • Void_Sloth@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    We have age minimums because the mind has not finished developing and we should also have age maximums based on the average age cognitive decline sets in.

    Until we are able to properly identify outliers it’s probably best to stick with the subset of the population with the highest probability of meeting the minimum qualifications for the position.

  • pandacoder@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    My only reaction is something along the lines of finally being able to breathe a breath of slightly fresher air. She has been higher up on my list of Senators to remove than my own state’s crooks.

  • Crackhappy@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    On this day in 2023 Democrats celebrated by shitting all over the corpse of a colleague. I did not like Feinstein at all but the way she was treated during her decline was fucking deplorable.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      She was treated that way because her decline shouldn’t have been happening while she was a U.S. fucking senator. We shouldn’t have people who can’t even pass the cognitive test Trump passed making our laws.