My father was 56 when he died of colon cancer. He'd been a factory worker
and had to stop working several years before he died due to a heart attack.
My mother was 84 when she died of cancer, but she'd been ill for several
years before her death.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Andy Baracco
Sent: Saturday, September 26, 2020 6:03 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Democrats Worry Feinstein Can't Handle
Supreme Court Battle
My dad died at age 47. My mom was never able to get to the point where she
would consider a new relationship, and she became more lonely and depressed
as she grew older.
Very sad!
Andy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Miriam Vieni" <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, September 26, 2020 2:48 PM
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Democrats Worry Feinstein Can't Handle
Supreme Court Battle
If that's what seems important, finding a new partner, than you'reimpossible.
correct.
And for people in their sixties and seventies, people who are
physically healthy, that might be important. If you're a woman in your
eighties with health issues, physical disabilities, finding a partner
is hardly a priority. I think that losing someone with whom one has
had a longterm, intimate relationship, is very hard. Replacing such a
relationship, really replacing it with something similar, is close to
insane!
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Andy Baracco
Sent: Saturday, September 26, 2020 5:37 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Democrats Worry Feinstein Can't Handle
Supreme Court Battle
The one advantage that old men have is that women tend to outlive men,
so if an older man happens to be single, he would have an easier time
finding a female companion. I remember when my mom lived in a senior
mobile home community. They had a singles club, which might as well
have been a single women's club, because there was never more than one
man at any of their functions.
Andy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Miriam Vieni" <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, September 26, 2020 2:26 PM
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Democrats Worry Feinstein Can't Handle
Supreme Court Battle
Yes, I read Mary Trump's book and a number of others and I know that
Trump had issues from toddlerhood on. But people who know him have
also written about how some of his capabilities have waned in the
past few years, and that probably has to do with aging. It's
certainly true that people would become upset at age limits being set
for people holding political office.
At
the same time, our society is very comfortable segregating the
elderly and consigning their care to under paid, under educated
caregivers in largely profit making institutions where they are
warehoused, victims to infections due to lack of proper sanitary
conditions, and to abuse and, at the moment, a pandemic. And while
Diane Feinstein is permitted to stay in her position where she might
inadvertently harm our nation, most of us old women, are treated with
a kind of gentle disregard by everyone, including our loving children
who do not see us as the fonts of wisdom due to our experience, but
as old fashioned, forgetful nuisances. The position of old men is
somewhat better.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Andy Baracco
Sent: Saturday, September 26, 2020 5:10 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Democrats Worry Feinstein Can't Handle
Supreme Court Battle
I agree with what you say about aging politicians but if an age cap
were even to be suggested, you would hear the cries of age
discrimination loud enough to wake you from your sleep.
Donald Trump's issues have little to do with aging. He is at best a
narcissist who was both enabled and abused by his father, but the
real family tragedy was how Fred Trump Sr. treated his oldest son Fred.
Usually
the oldest son get favored treatment in families, but in this case
Fred Jr.
was the child singled out for the worst abuse.
Even though she obviously has an agenda, mary Trump's book is a good
case study of the Trump family dynamic.
Andy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Miriam Vieni" <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, September 26, 2020 1:48 PM
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Democrats Worry Feinstein Can't Handle
Supreme Court Battle
Andy, if only that were true. My short term memory is like a sieve.air.
And names and words disappear when I need them, just fly off into
thin
Aging is very weird. I haven't lost my intelligence, but my
capabilities are disappearing and my mind isn't as alert and quick
as it was. These people, judges, politicians, who refuse to retire
at a reasonable age, as far as I'm concerned, they just aren't
admitting to themselves that they are incapable of functioning
adequately enough to remain in their jobs. And they have people
around them who enable them to continue. But it's dangerous. Biden
is a perfect example. I'm in better mental shape than he is, even if
he's younger than I am, and everyone is pretending that he's capable
of being President. Trump had mental problems before he was burdened
with aging difficulties. We have all these Supreme Court Justices in
their eighties, along with a bunch of congress people and senators. It's
platitudes.Japan.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Andy Baracco
Sent: Saturday, September 26, 2020 3:54 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Democrats Worry Feinstein Can't
Handle Supreme Court Battle
WOW!
And your mind has the agility of someone in their 20s.
I hope that i have those capabilities in 10 years.
Andy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Miriam Vieni" <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, September 26, 2020 12:38 PM
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Democrats Worry Feinstein Can't
Handle Supreme Court Battle
I'm certainly dating myself. I'm old. There aren't many people on
this list who remember the day when our country dropped the first
atom bomb. I do. I also remember the day our country declared war
on
majority.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Andy Baracco
Sent: Saturday, September 26, 2020 3:18 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Democrats Worry Feinstein Can't
Handle Supreme Court Battle
Miriam, you are dating yourself when you refer to that book. i
believe it was written in the 1960s.
Andy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Miriam Vieni" <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, September 26, 2020 6:49 AM
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Democrats Worry Feinstein Can't
Handle Supreme Court Battle
Frank,model for them.
I read that book about 50 years ago so I don't remember the details.
But the point was, I think, that the blindness system was
inefficient and it benefited the people who worked in it more than
the people whom it served.
It was rigid and institutionalized. On the other hand, rehab of
blind veterans was flexible and focused on the needs of the
individual, and its goals were to get the client functioning fully
as soon as possible and as independent from the system as he could
be. I'm sure the book still exists and is accessible, and you can
read it for yourself. It was produced by NLS.
I read it in braille.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Frank Ventura
Sent: Saturday, September 26, 2020 4:44 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Democrats Worry Feinstein Can't
Handle Supreme Court Battle
Miriam, what was it about the VA that was different?
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Miriam Vieni
Sent: Friday, September 25, 2020 9:39 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Democrats Worry Feinstein Can't
Handle Supreme Court Battle
Way back, there was a book called, The Making of Blind Men. The
author's thesis was that most agencies for the blind were doing a
terrible job and that the V A was doing a really good job and
should be a
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Andy Baracco
Sent: Friday, September 25, 2020 6:14 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Democrats Worry Feinstein Can't
Handle Supreme Court Battle
I retired in 2016 from my job as a rehabilitation counselor for
the VA in West LA working specifically with vets who were
homeless, and who had MH and/or SA issues.
Andy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Miriam Vieni" <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, September 25, 2020 2:43 PM
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Democrats Worry Feinstein Can't
Handle Supreme Court Battle
I know that there are some really exceptional old people like Noam
Chomsky with his photographic memory and Daniel Ellsberg, (who is
beginning to sound to me like he's slowing down a bit), and 2 or
3 more whose names escape me right now because I'm slowing down a
bit, but really, I think there should be an age limit for public
office, probably eighty, possibly seventy five.
What CA facility are you referring to?
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Andy Baracco
Sent: Friday, September 25, 2020 4:46 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Democrats Worry Feinstein Can't
Handle Supreme Court Battle
Here in CA many Dems regard Feinstein as a do nothing senator who
should have been a Republican.
I had the opportunity to meet her in 2014 when she visited our VA
facility.
The one thing she was passionate about was veterans issues, and
she visited our facility because she didn't think we were doing
enough to help homeless veterans.
Andy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Miriam Vieni" <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, September 25, 2020 1:25 PM
Subject: [blind-democracy] Democrats Worry Feinstein Can't Handle
Supreme Court Battle
Democrats Worry Feinstein Can't Handle Supreme Court Battle By
John Bresnahan and Marianne LeVine, POLITICO
25 September 20
s the Senate prepares for yet another brutal Supreme Court
nomination fight, one particularly sensitive issue is creating
apprehension among
Democrats:
what to do with 87-year-old Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking
member of the Judiciary Committee.
Feinstein, the oldest member of the Senate, is widely respected
by senators in both parties, but she has noticeably slowed in
recent years. Interviews with more than a dozen Democratic
senators and aides show widespread concern over whether the
California Democrat is capable of leading the aggressive effort
Democrats need against whoever President Donald Trump picks to
replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The Judiciary Committee is the critical battleground in the
Supreme Court confirmation process. At stake, her own Democratic
colleagues worry, is more than just whether the party can thwart
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in his rush to
fill the seat. Some Democrats privately fear that Feinstein
could mishandle the situation and hurt their chances of winning
back the
Feinstein sometimes gets confused by reporters' questions, or
will offer different answers to the same question depending on
where or when she's asked. Her appearance is frail. And
Feinstein's genteel demeanor, which seems like it belongs to a
bygone Senate era, can lead to trouble with an increasingly
hard-line Democratic base uninterested in collegiality or bipartisan
questions.
Just this week, Feinstein infuriated progressives after
declaring her opposition to ending the Senate's legislative
filibuster - a top goal of party activists if Democrats win full
control of the Congress and White House in November. Some on the
left called on her to resign over the comments, although other
Democratic moderates have expressed similar views.
In a phone interview, Feinstein pushed back hard against
suggestions she could no longer effectively serve as ranking
member of the Judiciary panel or is incapable of handling the
upcoming nomination fight.
"I'm really surprised and taken aback by this. Because I try to
be very careful and I'm puzzled by it," Feinstein told POLITICO.
"My attendance is good, I do the homework, I try to ask hard
hearings.I stand up for what I believe in."
Feinstein relies heavily on her ever-present staff to deal with
any issues, frequently turning to them for help in responding to
inquiries. Feinstein had to be coaxed into wearing a mask around
the Senate during the early days of the pandemic, despite being
part of the most vulnerable age groups for the disease. She's
only made two floor speeches in the last nine months, her last
being in early July, although she remains active in committee
fight.
And then there's the lingering fallout over Feinstein's role in
the hugely controversial Judiciary Committee hearings for
Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, an issue that factors deeply
into the questions about her suitability for this latest nomination
puzzling to me."seats.
Feinstein waited for several weeks before disclosing allegations
by Christine Blasey Ford that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted
her when they were teenagers. The bombshell accusations nearly
sank Kavanaugh's nomination, and senators in both parties
questioned why Feinstein didn't move more quickly to disclose
Blasey Ford's statement.
A Democratic senator, speaking on the condition of anonymity,
said a group of Feinstein's colleagues want Sen. Dick Durbin
(D-Ill.) or Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) to serve as the top
Democrat on the Judiciary panel for the upcoming nomination
hearings, which are expected to be extraordinarily contentious.
This senator is worried that potential missteps by Feinstein
could cost Democrats
age 85.result."
"She's not sure what she's doing," the Democratic senator said
of Feinstein.
"If you take a look at Kavanaugh, we may be short two senators
because of that. And if this gets [messed] up, it may be the
same
"I think it could impact a number of seats we can win," the
senator added.
Another Democratic senator said party leaders were "in an
impossible position," pointing out that Senate Minority Leader
Chuck Schumer
(D-N.Y) and other senior Democrats can't replace a female
senator for hearings on an expected female nominee to replace a
deceased female Supreme Court justice.
However, the senator said there have been discussions among some
Democrats about making changes to the seniority system next year
due to their concerns over Feinstein. The California Democrat
would be Judiciary chair if Democrats win the majority.
A third Democratic senator put it this way: "She can't pull this
off."
Other Democrats privately said there have been complaints to
party leaders that Feinstein is not capable of handling the
Judiciary post in the current situation. Some of these senators
said Feinstein should have retired rather than run for
reelection in
2018 at
Feinstein's age was an issue in that campaign and was raised
repeatedly in news reports, but she defeated Democrat Kevin de
Leon by almost 10 points.
Feinstein has already stumbled once in tangling with Amy Coney
Barrett, who is widely seen as the frontunner to be Trump's
Supreme Court nominee. At a
2017 hearing for an appeals court seat, Feinstein told Barrett
that "the dogma lives loudly within you" - a remark that was
instantly seized upon as anti-Catholic bias by Republicans.
Schumer declined to comment on Feinstein or her role on the
Judiciary Committee.
To Feinstein, her work on the panel is comparable to what she's
seen from other Democratic ranking members across the Senate.
"And so it's difficult for me to see, I don't know what people
expect,"
Feinstein said. "I've been on the committee for a while. I've
seen how the committee works and I've seen how other chairs on
our side of the aisle work. I don't see, to be very blunt and
honest, I don't see a big difference. I'm prepared, so that's
both positions.
Feinstein also pointed out that as the minority, Democrats only
have limited weapons to wield in any nomination fight. McConnell
eliminated the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees, so
Democrats can slow the confirmation process down, but they can't
stop it as long as Republicans stick together.
"Let me say this - I know it's going to be a fight, I understand
that."
Feinstein said. "I don't have a lot of tools to use, but I'm
going to use what I have. We can try to delay and obstruct but
they can run this process through. That doesn't mean that we
won't fight tooth and nail."
Feinstein - the first woman to serve as ranking member on
Judiciary
- has built a long record of legislative success since becoming
a senator. She authored the 1994 assault weapons ban, pushed to
increase automobile fuel-efficiency standards, and has been a
leader on environmental and civil rights issues. Feinstein also
led a long probe into the CIA's post-9/11 interrogation and
detention programs that led to the historic 2014 torture report.
When asked whether Feinstein is still capable of doing the job
of ranking member, Durbin said, "I believe she is." Durbin is
next in line on the panel behind Feinstein. Sen. Patrick Leahy
(D-Vt.) has served longer on Judiciary than any other Democrat,
but he serves as ranking member on Appropriations and can't hold
Sen.
Durbin said he wasn't aware of any discussion over replacing
Feinstein.
And
as to suggestions from some of his colleagues that he should
take over the Judiciary post, Durbin added, "I'm not going to
get into that speculation."
Whitehouse, a former U.S. attorney, wasn't eager to discuss the
Feinstein situation either, offering only a terse comment on the
matter.
"She's a very distinguished lady for whom I have great affection,"
Whitehouse said, declining to comment any further.
There is recent Senate precedent in both parties for replacing
senior senators who are seen as no longer capable of handling
the job.
The late Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) was replaced as the
chairman of the Armed Services Committee during the late 1990s.
And in 2008, the late
Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) voluntarily gave up his role as
Appropriations Committee chairman. Over on the House side,
committee chairs have been forced out at several key panels in
recent decades, including Appropriations and Energy and Commerce.
But Feinstein is also not alone when it comes to aging lawmakers
in powerful positions.
Feinstein is the second-oldest member of Congress behind Rep.
Don Young (R-Alaska), who is almost two weeks older. Sen. Chuck
Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Finance Committee, is also
87, while Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) is 86.
Armed Services Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), who is seeking
reelection this year, is 85. Among House leadership - Speaker
Nancy Pelosi and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn are 80 and Majority
Leader Steny Hoyer is 81. Former Vice President Joe Biden will
turn 78 shortly after Election Day and Trump is 74.
Some Judiciary Committee Democrats defended Feinstein and said
they see no reason to try to replace her as ranking member.
"She's an extraordinary person and I'm fully confident in her
leadership,"
said Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.).
"Her leadership has been really steadfast and courageous," said Sen.
Richard
Blumenthal (D-Conn.). "She has extraordinary insights and
instincts based on her vast experience. I see no reason to
question this leadership."
