A few weeks after telling a reporter that she did not intend to decide upon whether to run for another term until next year, 89-year-old California senator Dianne Feinstein announced she would not run for reelection.
When asked about the announcement today by reporters on Capitol Hill, Feinstein responded – audio at this link – “Well, I haven’t made that decision. I haven’t released anything. It would be my plan — you put out the statement? I didn’t know they put it out. Okay. So it is what it is.”
For quite a while now, if you paid consistent attention to Feinstein, you would notice that she would make a statement, and then the next day insist she had never made that statement. It has been an open not-so-secret on Capitol Hill that Feinstein’s memory is “rapidly deteriorating.” In 2020, Jane Mayer of The New Yorker described extensive efforts to hide Feinstein’s problems with her memory and ability to understand what was going on around her:
But many others familiar with Feinstein’s situation describe her as seriously struggling, and say it has been evident for several years. Speaking on background, and with respect for her accomplished career, they say her short-term memory has grown so poor that she often forgets she has been briefed on a topic, accusing her staff of failing to do so just after they have. They describe Feinstein as forgetting what she has said and getting upset when she can’t keep up. One aide to another senator described what he called a “Kabuki” meeting in which Feinstein’s staff tried to steer her through a proposed piece of legislation that she protested was “just words” which “make no sense.” Feinstein’s staff has said that sometimes she seems herself, and other times unreachable. “The staff is in such a bad position,” a former Senate aide who still has business in Congress said. “They have to defend her and make her seem normal.”
The New York Times wrote last year that Feinstein “sometimes struggles to recall the names of colleagues, frequently has little recollection of meetings or telephone conversations, and at times walks around in a state of befuddlement.”
It would be nice if we lived in a world where elected officials were responsible, mindful and recognized when age was taking its toll on their ability to do their jobs. It would be preferable if we could trust the judgment of elderly leaders, and their assurances that they haven’t gotten too old to handle their duties. Alas, we do not live in that world, and thus some of the figures at the highest level of our government are senile and stumbling around with only a partial or vague understanding of what they’re doing. And it may not be merely issues related to old age. Some may fear that we may not even be able to trust the declaration of a government official’s doctor that the official “has no work restrictions and can work full duty in public office.”
In other unrelated news, President Biden will get his annual physical tomorrow. His last physical was on November 19, 2021.