Feinstein just lost every modicum of respect I ever had for her

[Walt Starr]

She is officially a DINO in my book.

[wryter2000]

1. She's not even a DINO

She's just a Republican. Feh.

[Walt Starr]

4. If I lived in california, I would not vote for her

Might as well get a republican as have her.

[genius]

55. Martin Sheen for Senate in 06

[sandnsea]

2. Absolutely purtrid

I just don't get her at all.

[davidinalameda]

3. what did she say today

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

5. Same here Walt, same here.

I'm so disappointed in her actions today. Thank God we live in Illinois.

[Walt Starr]

16. Did you ever figure out where Durbin stands?

Obama has me disgusted right now. I still give him a bit of leeway because he's so new, but if he keeps up what he's been doing so far, I'll write him off.

Durbin might have spoken pretty words just to turn around and vote Yes so he can try and have it both ways, though, which would really piss me off.

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

24. Walt, I think Durbin is going to vote No.

He has absolutely nothing to lose. This vote won't even be remembered when he runs for re-election in 2008.

I could be wrong, and if I am, Mr. Durbin is going to receive a pretty nasty letter from me.

As for Obama, don't write him off either, he might surprise everyone and vote No.

[flpoljunkie]

6. Why did she find it necessary to say she hoped one day to confirm

Condi's appointments? WTF is that?

Perhaps I misheard. Promoting a Republican for President?

[CTLawGuy]

54. Its exactly this

shit that causes people like me to support Howard Dean over DLC Democrats.

When those who are supposed to be representing us lie down and surrender.

[fooj]

7. She will be history in this state...I guarantee you!

[troubleinwinter]

8. I now I have a Dem Senator Boxer, and a Repub Senator Feinstein

[bahrbearian]

9. Did she say that she hoped to see Sleasy Rice confirm her

own Cabinet someday I swear I heard that.

[flpoljunkie]

12. That makes two of us.

[feminazi]

19. 3, i thought she said that too.

*

[Guaranteed]

20. I think she was just saying some woman, some day...

Hmmm... who do you think she was referring to?

[bahrbearian]

23. I was wondering about that , sure dosen't have to be stated in

this confirmation hearing.

[GreenPoet64]

10. I'm disappointed in her. When does her term expire?

[DaveinMD]

11. who isn't a DINO in your book

one bad vote is all that's needed.

[tridim]

17. One insane vote is all that's needed

Voting for a proven liar is unforgivable. It's not my call, but I'm sure she'll pay for her stupidity.

[feminazi]

21. except it's not her only insane vote

she voted for the tax cuts. also voted for the war altho she admitted most of her constituents wanted her to vote against it.

[Walt Starr]

18. Kerry, Levin, Boxer, etc.

so far, there are several REAL Democrats in the Senate.

[Guaranteed]

22. Did you SEE her fucking speech???

ABSOLUTELY FUCKING RIDICULOUS.

She sounded EXACTLY like every single one of those Republicans up there.

[DaveinMD]

30. no I didn't

but everyone in the party gets labeled a DINO here and it gets old. Her voting record isn't perfect, but its far from Zell Miller territory.

[sandnsea]

33. It was a lovefest

I don't think I have the reputation of calling anybody DINO's and thoroughly respect that no representative is going to agree with me 100%. But this speech today was a glowing endorsement of Rice. It was just sickening.

[DaveinMD]

34. OK

you are right that you don't have that rep. If its like you say, I understand the anger.

[Name removed]

38. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

39. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Walt Starr]

40. Tolerating the treason of the Feinsteins in Congress

leads directly to Zell Millers.

[DaveinMD]

44. let's execute them all

if they don't vote with us 100 points of the time.

[Walt Starr]

45. That's how the Republicans have been successful

:shrug:

Go figure. That's how they keep theirs in line. Republicans target those who deviate one whit from the agenda for termination.

[DaveinMD]

46. really

Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, Arlen Spector have all deviated in the past. Chris Shays, Nancy Johnson in the House. There are a few others as well. I'm a big tent guy. We need to attract more people to our party. Not impose an ideological purity test.

[Walt Starr]

47. They haven't gotten around to the Bluestate Republicans

who do not follow the party line.

[DaveinMD]

50. what red state Republicans

have they primaried out of existence. I don't recall these fights.

[Walt Starr]

57. Newt Gingrich

although he was primaried out of existance prior to his own primary.

[salin]

59. Bob Barr

was primaried out - but in part because he was also redistricted to run against another repub who was preceived to be not quite as extreme.

[DaveinMD]

61. that map

was drawn by a Democratic legislature. He lost that Primary to a more moderate figure.

[DaveinMD]

60. ha ha ha

He was forced out of leadership because of dumb things he said and because they lost seats in consecutive elections. Not because he wasn't Republican enough. If they had this ideological litmus test, they would have primaried guys like John McCain and Chuck Hagel. They didn't. Nice try.

[AntiCoup2K4]

58. Is "everyone in the party labeled a DINO" married to a card carrying PNAC.

...treasonous asshole war profiteer like Feinstein is?

[GreenArrow]

13. not simply a DINO, a corporatist

oligarch.

[tnlefty]

14. I would really like to know why she is providing cover for Dr.

Rice. I couldn't watch that much of her statements, but that's the feeling that I got from what I did see, and I just don't get it.

[E_Smith]

28. her husband is a homeland security contractor.. $$$.

[rzemanfl]

31. Exactly, and this is payback for the millions the family is getting,

whatever happens to DiFi, she won't be eating cat food in her old age.

I am anxious to hear what President Kerry has to say.

[in_cog_ni_to]

32. Uh...in the REAL world

wouldn't that be considered a "conflict of interest?" Our government is so damn corrupt. From the bottom up, corrupt. Every damn one of those politicians is in this for themselves, not us.

[tnlefty]

36. Thanks, and I saw Bechtel mentioned in a lower post.

Even more disgusted now.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

15. She lost that a while ago when I heard her husband was in bed with

Bechtel. Hearing her last week praise Rice to the heavens during the Foreign Relations Committee Hearings just reconfirmed that, as her waxing about Rice today has done.

I consider anyone supporting Rice a traiterous collaborator.

[moggie12]

25. That was appalling.

All that slobbering and fawning over Rice makes me sick.

[RadiDem]

26. I just called her office >

and compared her pro war zealotry and bush-licking to Zell Miller's ;-) Told them that we progressive Californians don't want a war lovin DINO.

She's GOTTA GO !

[katinmn]

27. Good for you!

How could she go against her constituents that way?

[in_cog_ni_to]

29. She was HORRID today!

I thought she was bad last week when she introduced Condiliar, but today was downright shameful. She must have gotten 100s of emails and phone calls last week from pissed off Dems??? She should have just kept her damn mouth shut today. She should join Zell and switch parties. I don't give a shit if condiliar is a friend of hers. That wench is responsible for killing thousands of innocent people. Feinstein can go to hell.

[Pastiche423]

35. She got thousands and thousands

of emails/faxes/letters/phone calls from her constintuents prior to the IRW vote and admitted on the floor of the senate that they were 10-1 AGAINST. Then voted FOR it.

She was my mayor back in the 70's and I've watched her slide into the toilet since then.

Yes she IS a DINO!

[CreekDog]

37. Her voting is fairly close to Boxer's, but the spots she picks(!)

Like voting for Medicare, the Iraq war, tax cuts, etc. As a percentage of her total votes, these high profile votes don't really change her record all that much (overall, it's still a liberal record).

But it is frustrating, because these votes are times when her party is standing up and is very much weakened by her posturing.

What's worse is that these are actually pretty bad votes. For instance, she has complained mightily about the Iraq war, yet is openly lauding one of its principals, Condi Rice. She complained mightily about the Medicare bill, but voted for it because it granted a 1% increase to hospitals and because Frist made some promises to her (no, I'm not making that one up!). Who knows why she voted for the tax cuts. She hemmed and hawwed, making a big spectacle of herself in 1993 --she ultimately voted to support it, but her stance made it easier for other Democrats to abandon Clinton.

I can let a lot of things go, but the adoration for Rice, which disregards, or maybe even obfuscates Rice's role in the Iraq war, which Feinstein has complained about, seems so disingenuous. I just don't get it. But Feinstein is using a strategy that worked well in a moderate Republican California of the 1980's, but is not useful now.

[KissMeKate]

41. her voting record

her voting record on many issues is good.

Her capitulating rhetoric sucks!

[gulfcoastliberal]

42. $600 Million BFEE Dollars Bought Sen Feinstein

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/04/22/MN310531.DTL

[Walt Starr]

43. Yup, she's a bought and paid for

WHORE!

[Tinoire]

51. make that 28.2 million

27.2 from URS and $500 million from Perrini... Spring 2004 was very good to the Feinsteins...

In addition to the URS deal from April 22 that you cited...


Iraq deal awarded to Blum venture
Feinstein's spouse owns stake in firm fixing energy grid
David R. Baker, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, March 13, 2004

Perini Corp., a Massachusetts construction company partially owned by the investment firm of California Sen. Dianne Feinstein's husband, landed a $500 million contract Friday to repair southern Iraq's electricity grid.

Perini is one of several American firms mobilized to restore Iraq's electricity under a series of contracts issued by the Pentagon this week. On Friday, Washington Group International won a $500 million contract to restore power in northern Iraq.

The Pentagon is selecting firms to perform $5 billion of reconstruction work, including repairs to damaged hospitals, courthouses and water systems.

Feinstein's husband, Richard Blum, controls about 24 percent of Perini shares through his investment firm, Blum Capital Partners. Another of Blum's investments, the San Francisco engineering firm URS Corp., is part of a joint venture that won $27.7 million in Iraq reconstruction work earlier this week.

(snip)

Perini, based in Framingham, Mass., has been patching together power lines in southern Iraq since September, operating under a separate contract from the Army Corps of Engineers. The firm has replaced towers and cable on 250 miles of transmission line, Band said, working with a crew that includes Iraqi, Turkish and Indian subcontractors.

(snip)

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/03/13/BUGIJ5JL7E1.DTL

Almost a year later and the Iraqis are still sitting in the dark. Go figure :shrug:

[mod mom]

52. Then she had innocent blood on her hands. How do these people sleep

at night. they should be tied to a chair and forced to listen to grieving mothers, wives, children. Shame! All for the almighty $. Poor mans blood, Rich mans war. We have got to rid the party of these turncoats. Dems should represent the people!

[zara]

48. i hate her support for lying condi, but she ain't a dino

She's a triangulator. She picks issues to appeal to different parts of her base. She's very popular in CA among moderate Republicans. She chooses just enough lefty stuff to satisfy most democrats that they are better voting for her than voting green. Look, she is pushing getting rid of the electoral college. That is a shrewd move. Give it to DiFi--she is shrewd. Clinton and Dick Morris have found an able triangulating pupil.

[mod mom]

53. shrewd? people are dying over their lies!

[Eric J in MN]

49. Will you tell us how? nt

nt

[w4rma]

56. …