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: