The Flip Side

If fair and balanced reporting is to be respected, the encomiums for recently deceased Senator Dianne Feinstein must be accompanied by the less savory aspects of her character and political career.

Feinstein was an enthusiastic supporter of the U.S. government’s widespread spying on its own citizens as revealed by Edward Snowden, whose stance she called an “act of treason.”

In her office she snarled dismissively at young climate change activists: “You come in here and tell me it’s your way or the highway …”

Publicly she sucked up to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) after the Amy Coney Barrett hearings: “This has been one of the best set of hearings that I’ve participated in, and I want to thank you for your fairness and the opportunity of going back and forth.”

In view of that performance, Feinstein was pressured by her own party into stepping aside from chairing the Judiciary Committee should her party win control of the Senate, a perquisite her long-standing role as ranking member of that committee would normally have been assured.

By 2018 her esteem among California Democrats had so eroded that the party structure declined publicly to endorse her for re-election.

Whether Feinstein’s refusal toward the end of her life to acknowledge the political consequences of her severely damaged physical and mental capacities were of consequence might be debated.

So please: In fairness, let us remember Senator Dianne Feinstein — warts and all.