OPINION | EDITORIAL: No place for this!

A little ditty about Chuck and Dianne

The Duke of Norfolk: "Oh, confound all this. I'm not a scholar, I don't know whether the marriage was lawful or not but -- damn it, Thomas, look at these names! Why can't you do as I did and come with us, for fellowship!"

Thomas More: "And when we die, and you are sent to heaven for doing your conscience, and I am sent to hell for not doing mine, will you come with me, for fellowship?"

--"A Man for All Seasons"

Dianne Feinstein, one of the lioness liberals in the United States Senate, who rarely gets a favorable mention on conservative editorial pages, came in for a bit of heat last week--and not from the usual suspects. This time, she was taking fire from the port side. She dared to show . . . grace.

It was unforgivable, that act. Her fellow Democrats had banded together in an attempt to slow down, if not stop, the confirmation proceedings of Amy Coney Barrett to the United States Supreme Court.

At the very least, they could make the soon-to-be associate justice of the nation's highest court an illegitimate member, by walking out of the Judiciary Committee hearings. And perhaps taking to the airwaves to denounce the corrupt and fraudulent vote, if not the fraudulent judge. Why, this would lead to court-packing next year. What a shady system!

Instead of staying with the script, Sen. Feinstein--of the San Francisco Feinsteins--had the nerve to praise Judge Barrett during the hearings, and even opined that her colleague, Sen. Lindsey Graham, had handled the Judiciary Committee hearings in a fair way.

"This is one of the best set of hearings that I've participated in," Sen. Feinstein said, shortly before hugging the aforementioned Sen. Graham.

Well.

You can imagine that didn't go down well in all quarters. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told the papers that he "had a long and serious talk with Sen. Feinstein." When asked if he was looking to make changes to committee assignments after her statements, he gave a non-answer answer: "That's all I'm going to say about it right now."

(Can you imagine the outrage and accusations of "mansplaining" if a Republican had said that about a female colleague?)

The liberal group Demand Justice chimed in: "It's time for Sen. Feinstein to step down from her leadership position on the Senate Judiciary Committee," a boss in the outfit said. "If she won't, her colleagues need to intervene."

NARAL Pro-Choice America put out a statement: "Americans--whose lives hang in the balance--deserve leadership that underscores how unprecedented, shameful and wrong this process is. [Sen. Feinstein] failed to make this clear and in fact offered an appearance of credibility to the proceedings that is wildly out of step with the American people. As such we believe the committee needs new leadership."

Dianne Feinstein just wouldn't go along with the script, for fellowship. (NB: She did skip the final vote in committee with the rest of her fellow Democrats, and Amy Coney Barrett was sent to the full Senate with a 12-0 vote.)

It says a lot about certain Washington politicians that they won't even allow for civility among their own. Even when a fellow traveler votes the right way--or boycotts a vote the right way--any sign of good manners and gallantry is cause for a good talking-to. And a no comment on a vote of confidence.

We can't stress this enough: This is Dianne Feinstein we're talking about. Not some squishy middle-of-the-roader. She's been pulling the United States Senate to the left for years. But even she's targeted for abuse when her courtesy and conscience get the better of her.

Amazing.

Amazingly awful.

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