Dianne Feinstein



Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein (born Dianne Emiel Goldman; June 22, 1933 – September 29, 2023) was an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from California, a seat she had held since 1992. A member of the Democratic Party, she was previously Mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988.

Quotes

 * I truly believe that there is a center in the political spectrum that is the best place to run something when you have a very diverse community. America is diverse; we are not all one people. We are many different colors, religions, backgrounds, education levels, all of it.
 * "Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s rise: How one badass woman fought to keep going" by Dana Bash, CNN (9 August 2017)


 * Dogma and law are two different things, and I think whatever a religion is, it has its own dogma. The law is totally different. And I think in your case, professor, when you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you, and that’s of concern.
 * September 2017 to Amy Coney Barrett


 * Make no mistake, if Roe v. Wade is overturned, women will be harmed and some will die. It happened before Roe became the law of the land and it will happen again, particularly since this decision will harm low-income and at-risk women more than anyone
 * Collins, Manchin and other lawmakers react to the Supreme Court draft opinion (Updated: 05/03/2022 03:11 PM EDT)

After the Moscone-Milk assassinations

 * As president of the Board of Supervisors, it's my duty to make this announcement. Both Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk have been shot and killed. The suspect is Supervisor Dan White.
 * (November 27, 1978)

On the introduction of the Assault Weapons Ban of 2017

 * "We’re introducing an updated Assault Weapons Ban for one reason: so that after every mass shooting with a military-style assault weapon, the American people will know that a tool to reduce these massacres is sitting in the Senate, ready for debate and a vote. This bill won’t stop every mass shooting, but it will begin removing these weapons of war from our streets. The first Assault Weapons Ban was just starting to show an effect when the NRA stymied its reauthorization in 2004. Yes, it will be a long process to reduce the massive supply of these assault weapons in our country, but we’ve got to start somewhere. To those who say now isn’t the time, they’re right—we should have extended the original ban 13 years ago, before hundreds more Americans were murdered with these weapons of war. To my colleagues in Congress, I say do your job."


 * It’s important to understand how we got where we are today. In 1966, the unthinkable happened: a madman climbed the University of Texas clock tower and opened fire, killing more than a dozen people. It was the first mass shooting in the age of television, and it left a real impression on the country. It was the kind of terror we didn’t expect to ever see again. But around 30 years ago, we started to see an uptick in these types of shootings, and over the last decade they’ve become the new norm. In July 2012, a gunman walked into a darkened theater in Aurora and shot 12 people to death, injuring 70 more. One of his weapons was an assault rifle. The sudden and utterly random violence was a terrifying sign of what was to come. In December 2012, a young man entered an elementary school in Newtown and murdered six educators and 20 young children. One of his weapons was an assault rifle. Watching the aftermath of these young babies being gunned down was heartrending. In June 2016, a gunman entered a nightclub in Orlando and sprayed revelers with gunfire. The shooter fired hundreds of rounds, many in close proximity, and killed 49. Many of the victims were shot in the head at close range. One of his weapons was an assault rifle. Last month, a gunman opened fire on concertgoers in Las Vegas, turning an evening of music into a killing field. All told, the shooter used multiple assault rifles fitted with bump-fire stocks to kill 58 people. The concert venue looked like a warzone. Over the weekend in Sutherland Springs, 26 were killed by a gunman with an assault rifle. The dead ranged from 17 months old to 77 years. No one is spared with these weapons of war. When so many rounds are fired so quickly, no one is spared. Another community devastated and dozens of families left to pick up the pieces. These are just a few of the many communities we talk about in hushed tones—San Bernardino, Littleton, Aurora, towns and cities across the country that have been permanently scarred.


 * Many police officers killed in the line of duty are killed by assault weapons, including 1 in 5 officers killed in 2014.

Quotes about Feinstein

 * If you want a sense of what separates much of the leadership of the Democratic Party from many of its supporters — of what illustrates their profound disconnect from younger cohorts of liberal and progressive voters — you could do much worse than to read this recent statement from Senator Dianne Feinstein of California. “Some things take longer than others, and you can only do what you can do at a given time,” she said in an interview with Rebecca Traister. “That does not mean you can’t do it at another time,” she continued, “and so one of the things you develop is a certain kind of memory for progress: when you can do something in terms of legislation and have a chance of getting it through, and when the odds are against it, meaning the votes and that kind of thing.” “So,” Feinstein concluded, “I’m very optimistic about the future of our country.” This entire comment was, in Traister’s analysis, a damning example of the sanguine complacency that seems to mark much of the gerontocratic leadership of the Democratic Party. I agree. What’s missing from party leaders, an absence that is endlessly frustrating to younger liberals, is any sense of urgency and crisis — any sense that our system is on the brink.
 * Jamelle Bouie Article (2022)


 * Sen. Feinstein's protection of the filibuster is unjust & unacceptable. The filibuster wasn't made w/ purpose. It's the result of an accident in rulebook revision & bloomed as a cherished tool of segregationists. Now it empowers minority rule. That's not "special," it's unjust.
 * Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter, responding to Feinstein on ending filibuster and expanding SCOTUS: "I don't believe in doing that. I think the filibuster serves a purpose. It is not often used, it's often less used now than when I first came, and I think it's part of the Senate that differentiates itself."


 * Dianne Feinstein to children trying to keep a livable planet: "You come in here and say it has to be my way or the highway. I don't respond to that." Feinstein to climate-denying Republicans trying to end reproductive rights:
 * DSA for a Green New Deal Oct 15, 2020 on Twitter, responding to to Sahil Kapur writing "As Republicans wrap up the Amy Coney Barrett hearing with plans to vote, Dianne Feinstein praises Lindsey Graham: "I just want to thank you. This has been one of the best set of hearings that I've participated in," she tells him. "Thank you so much for your leadership.""


 * anti-porn crusader turned senator Dianne Feinstein
 * Kim Kelly (journalist) Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor (2022)