What is with Dianne Feinstein?

"WASHINGTON - Michael Mukasey drew closer to becoming attorney general Friday after two key Senate Democrats said they would vote for him despite his refusal to say whether waterboarding is torture.

The decision by Sens. Charles Schumer and Dianne Feinstein to back President Bush's nominee came shortly after the chairman of the committee, Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., announced he would vote against Mukasey, a former federal judge.

"This is an extremely difficult decision," Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement, adding that Mukasey "is not my ideal choice."

In announcing her support for Mukasey, Feinstein, D-Calif., said "first and foremost, Michael Mukasey is not Alberto Gonzales," referring to the former attorney general who resigned in September after months of questions about his honesty."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071102/ap_on_go_co/senate_mukasey_66

I am really losing hope for Dems.

It's too bad Cindy Sheehan didn't run against Dianne Feinstein in the last election. She would have won.

If we do it...then whats to prevent them Terror guys to do it too....to our troops?

In essence...Schumer/Feinstein approves of torture....

already backpeddling a little bit, but sine he suggested the name he is probably afraid to look stupid. I think my civil rights are worth a lot more than a senator's bruised ego. If we give him an out, an easy way to look good and change his mind, he might do it.
Feinstein is a hopeless republican. only impeachment. nothing else will sway that woman.

The show of strength in the Dem party these days.

but i don't want that man in charge of the laws of the US. not even because of torture; that is the least of it. Hw ould not say that Bush is bound by the law. That's enough to kick him the hell out, inmo

what has happened to her. I have some ideas and theories, but they are pure speculation.

At least California still has Barbara Boxer. As another poster put it, I would crawl over glass for Boxer. She is really the crowned jewel in California politics.

Feinstein is one of the very few politicians I think it actually does make sense to write emails or letters to. This is a woman who really does care how she is perceived--although that is part of the problem.

She needs to be barraged by letters that guide her into taking moral, sane and rational decisions.

She has really grown to care for him, etc.

I don't think this will last long, unless she is actually suffering from early onset dementia (or worse), which is a possibility that concerns me--and I'm not kidding whatsoever.

n/t

"Some say" that she is corrupt.

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) chairs the Senate Rules Committee, but she’s also a Cardinal. She is currently chairwoman of the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies subcommittee, but until last year was for six years the top Democrat on the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (or “Milcon”) sub-committee, where she may have directed more than $1 billion to companies controlled by her husband.
http://thehill.com/david-keene/feinsteins-cardinal-shenanigans-2007-04-30.html

Each year, MILCON's members decide which military construction projects will be funded from a roster proposed by the Department of Defense. Contracts to build these specific projects are subsequently awarded to such major defense contractors as Halliburton, Fluor, Parsons, Louis Berger, URS Corporation and Perini Corporation. From 1997 through the end of 2005, with Feinstein's knowledge, Blum was a majority owner of both URS Corp. and Perini Corp.

While setting MILCON agendas for many years, Feinstein, 73, supervised her own staff of military construction experts as they carefully examined the details of each proposal. She lobbied Pentagon officials in public hearings to support defense projects that she favored, some of which already were or subsequently became URS or Perini contracts. From 2001 to 2005, URS earned $792 million from military construction and environmental cleanup projects approved by MILCON; Perini earned $759 million from such MILCON projects.

In her annual Public Financial Disclosure Reports, Feinstein records a sizeable family income from large investments in Perini, which is based in Framingham, Mass., and in URS, headquartered in San Francisco. But she has not publicly acknowledged the conflict of interest between her job as a congressional appropriator and her husband's longtime control of Perini and URS--and that omission has called her ethical standards into question, say the experts.

http://www.metroactive.com/feinstein/

What keeps us California Democrats from criticizing her publicly and loudly? The fact that Schwarzenegger, our Republican governor, would probably appoint an even more corrupt Republican if we really raised the roof. And why doesn't the governor bring her down and replace her himself? Because she votes with the Republicans whenever it really counts. The worst of it is that she was just elected for six years.

Her husband of course has issues as well. I used to know his financial advisor and broker.

Well, it's just getting hard to believe in anyone anymore, and the list of politicians I trust grows shorter and shorter.

Good post--just disheartening.

You wouldn't want him to be Attorney General, would you?



That's about the lousiest excuse I've heard. What a waste of good air. Shit or get off the pot, Feinstein.

like abortion and women's rights as cover for her corporatist/military-industrial complex leanings.

I mean a private discussion with George W. Bush, what an honor. If I remember correctly DiFi sounded almost like a schoolgirl with a crush as she nattered on about his grasp of issues and personal charm.

Sad, very sad.

It would make ME sick to my stomache but different strokes for different folks.

I'm stuck looking for a psychological explanation, when it is just financial. It's just so hard to believe Diane Feinstein would fall down this despicable trap.

She's not young anymore, I have heard her health is poor. Who cares about money when your health is bad?

We have questions and legitimate concerns.

She knows exactly what she is doing. She is a big girl.

If you have watched her for twenty years like I have, you know she cares too much what other people think of her. That is exactly why she is so easily influenced by others, especially authority figures or people who have some control over her reputation (not her money--she doesn't need money).

Think about it.

Kudos to Patrick Leahy, a man that believes that torture is wrong.

background of our representatives in Congress, and most important the fact "we are at war". That means different things to different generations. She and I are children of WWII and the Cold War, in which the President was the leader and we were the troops. We didn't agree on everything but we did what was expected for the "war effort".

Being asked by the President means something to these people. We should be screaming at the President's for requesting this action. Condemn the message and not the messengers.

She has won her last election, six years (five more) then she retires. Her husband and her are making the money, she will do nothing to rock the boat and do everything to maximize her families profit.

She is not just a lapdog of Bush. She is his collaborator.


http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/09/23/feinstein/
and
www.alternet.org/joshua/49976