Sen. Dianne Feinstein was absent from the Senate for months. In the eyes of the public, it was a simple case of shingles. The story is over. She’ll be back in a few days, ready to resume her business. Case closed. Let’s not worry, she will return soon.
This wasn’t a simple case where an 89-year-old woman had shingles. Feinstein’s office didn’t confirm that the senior senator of California had been admitted to the hospital for serious neurological complications caused by shingles until she returned to the Senate. Her brain and face were affected by a condition called encephalitis.
Do you think that the public should have known this important information?
Feinstein’s absenteeism has caused a lot of problems for Democrats. The judicial nominations process slowed down because Feinstein is on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Her absence prevented nominees from getting the support needed for a Senate vote. Democrats wanted to move judicial nominations forward by replacing Feinstein temporarily on the committee. However, this would have required Republican support which they didn’t get.
A spokesperson for Feinstein claimed that her encephalitis resolved shortly after she was released from the hospital in March. However, she still experiences complications associated with Ramsay Hunt Syndrome. Feinstein denied ever having encephalitis. She claimed, “It never received an accurate diagnose.”
Feinstein was first diagnosed with shingles by her San Francisco physician on February 26 and hospitalized from March 6 to 6. She went home for recuperation and returned to the Senate only this month. Feinstein was even more disoriented and frail than usual when she returned to the Capitol. She needed a wheelchair.
Feinstein’s condition is not as good as we are being told. I am surprised that there was an admission of encephalitis, but not the fact that we were not informed until after she returned.
Why does Feinstein insist that she serve out her entire term? No risk exists that the seat will be won by a Republican. If she had resigned, Governor. Gavin Newsom has already appointed her replacement. She’s nothing more than a puppet at this point. Feinstein’s decline was evident long before she went to the hospital, and if I had been a Democrat I would be frustrated that Feinstein’s handlers refuse to acknowledge the truth of her condition. The fact that they lied to the public by not revealing the truth about her condition shows how sleazy Democrats can be, especially when they are trying to maintain power.
