Democratic
Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California is poised to become president pro
tempore of the Senate, according to long-standing Senate tradition.
As
a result of her new status as the longest-serving Democratic senator,
the 89-year-old lawmaker would be third in line to the presidency,
behind the vice president and House Speaker.
Feinstein — who will also be the chamber's oldest currently-serving member come January — issued a statement to the Washington Post last month saying that she's not interested in running for and serving as president pro tempore of the Senate.
But
when asked by Insider at the Capitol about the potential of taking on
the job — she would be the first woman in American history to hold the
position — she insisted that she hadn't thought about it.
"Well,
I haven't thought about it, but I'll let you know when I do," said
Feinstein, who was first elected in 1992. "I just got back, I've had a
lot of issues."
As
she walks away, her aid tells her she issued a statement a few weeks
back. Dianne says she doesn't remember that. She explains it to the
senator and then Dianne still doesn't remember but says that she must
have already decided then.
She needs to retire. She is too old and too out of it. 89 years old. She needs to retire. Puddles needs to retire.
"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):
Tuesday, November 15, 2022. Could the country finally be free of Donald Trump? We ponder that and other issues.
Starting
with Donald Trump. The never-ending soap opera was indulged by the
GOP. Feared and indulged. He was supposed to represent so much to so
many. But, in fact, he couldn't deliver at the mid-terms.
It's over for him.
He
lost in 2020 and he failed to deliver in the mid-terms. He can bluster
and the media can quake -- their usual relationship to one another --
but no one likes a loser and that's what Donald now is.
A loser and a failure.
His
bluster argued he was something more than a politician; however,
results and actions demonstrate he is something far less and you don't
run a loser on your ticket three times. He was the nominee in 2016 and
in 2020. The Republican Party is stupid enough to run him in 2024?
You're seeing people turn on him.
It's
natural, he failed to deliver and he exposed himself as powerless --
there's nothing worse for a politician to be than powerless -- it's the
political equivalent of a micro-penis.
He could
wise up right now and ease into the role of elder statesman of the
party who cheers other candidates on and gives a speech at the
convention but that's really all he's got now.
He failed to deliver.
And
people put a lot of time into him. He failed to deliver and he took up
so much of their time with his never ending soap opera. Was he
persecuted by the media? Absolutely, they refused to even give him the
normal 100 first days of the presidency -- the fluff coverage. But at a
certain point, it becomes: So what?
Even for his supporters it becomes: So what?
Had he delivered in the mid-terms, things would be different for him.
But he didn't.
And
now Republicans are looking at him differently. With a winner, you'll
take a lot. Look at Aaron Rogers and how the press is no longer being
as kind.
When you can't deliver, everyone of your mistakes and faults is magnified and re-examined.
So
right now, he's struggling with whether or not he took top secret
documents he shouldn't have. And that just reminds everyone of every
other soap opera element when he was president.
And
do they, the Republican Party, want a fresh start or do they want a
so-so candidate with all that baggage who can't even deliver votes.
Or anything else.
What did Donald deliver that he promised he would? How did he make the lives of his supporters better?
He
fought the entire four years, yes. Not just with Democrats. Not just
with the media. He was constantly fighting with his own party.
And he achieved nothing.
He was supposed to be a maverick, an outsider. What actions in his four years in office demonstrate that?
None.
Ron
DeSantis defeated a Republican in Florida. It was two Republicans.
Charlie Christ spent most of his life as a Republican. Could he beat a
real Democrat? Who knows. But many Republicans are hailing his
victory because they're so sick of the past and Ron -- whether he goes
on to become the nominee or not -- is a winner and Donald's a loser.
This is not a bad development.
We
don't need Donald Trump in another race. We didn't need him in the
race in 2016. We also don't need Joe Biden -- Joe, who turns 80 in five
days.
Jen Psaki has clearly decided that whore
and journalist are synonymous. Joe, she's taken to saying on MSNBC, is
the only one who's ever defeated Donald Trump.
First
off, that's a lie. Life has defeated Donald Trump. Ivana Trump
defeated Donald Trump. Gravity defeated Donald Trump -- look at that
face, ew. The list is endless.
Joe won one race against Donald Trump. It wasn't that difficult.
At the very start of 2016, we offered "
2015: The Year of the Ass" -- a look back at the prior year. That piece concluded with:
2015 will lead into 2016. So is it any surprise that, as the year ends,
it appears very likely that the two major party candidates who'll be
competing next year will be Hillary and Donald Trump?
What else, honestly, what else could The Year of the Ass produce but a match off between each major party's biggest ass?
In
2016, Donald didn't beat one of the party's major politicians. He beat
Hillary Clinton. Someone who had to cheat to win the nomination. Had
to get the debate questions in an advance. Someone who was a known
loser. She was supposed to have 2008 all sewn up but she lost those
primaries to Barack Obama who infamously said to her face, "You're
likable enough."
And to win, Barack had to
destroy her. You cannot have one campaign call the other racist -- and
Barack's 2008 campaign called both Hillary and Bill racist -- and then
have the person you're calling a racist win eight years later. They
also pushed that she wanted to murder Barack. Keith Olbermann and
Majorie Cohn -- among many others -- took her comments about why she
wasn't dropping out of the race to mean that she was (a) hoping someone
would murder Barack or (b) asking that someone assassinate Barack.
This garbage came over the airwaves on MSNBC.
She
never stood a real chance of winning in 2016. She had too many
negatives. On top of that, unlike when she was seeking the party's
nomination in 2008, she refused to campaign. Eight years older, she
refused to get out and get the vote. She seemed to think she was
entitled to it. She also seemed to think that she should now run like
Barack (celebrities were what she sought out, not voters).
Hillary
was not a great candidate. She lacked charisma. The only thing she
could sell the people was that she was a workhorse who would get things
done. But you can't refuse to go to Ohio, for example, while you're
shaking it onstage with Jennifer Lopez and look like a workhorse who
gets things done.
In 2020, any Democrat would have beaten Donald Trump.
Joe
is not a savior of the party. Bernie could have done it, Elizabeth
Warren could have done it, Julian Castro could have done it, Cory Booker
could have done it, Kirsten Gillibrand could have done it, Amy
Klobuchar could have done it, even Mike Bloomberg could have done it.
Joe and Donald both need to step aside. Let's see if either has the brains to do it.
The country needs leadership, not old men gasping their last breaths as they remain out of touch with the world around them.
Robert
Pether doesn't need to be gasping his last breath but, thanks to the
failures of the Australian government, he may be. In the last few
months, the UK has freed two of their citizens from Iraq. Meanwhile
Robert Pether rots in an Iraqi jail.
Jessica Bahr (SBS NEWS) reports:
The wife of an Australian man being held in an Iraqi jail has spoken of her fears he won’t survive the ordeal.
Robert Pether has been detained in Iraq since April 2021. He has been locked in a 28-man cell for 19 months.
Mr Pether's wife Desree told SBS News her husband had lost 42 kilograms during his detention.
"To look at him now, it's like he's aged 40 years ... it's just absolutely heartbreaking," she said.
"It's like watching him die slowly and listening to him die slowly and he's not well, he keeps getting sick."
Australians
should be toppling their government right now because it refuses to
carry out its primary duty: To protect its citizens.
We'll close with BROS.
The following sites updated: