Tuesday, the senior Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) made an appearance at the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco. There she spoke on Hurricane Harvey, Joe Arpaio, and more. What she had to say about President Trump, however, kicked up the most dust.
Speaking on Trump, Feinstein said, "This man is going to be president most likely for the rest of this term. I just hope he has the ability to learn and to change, and if he does, he can be a good president."
This statement ruffled some feathers, but this isn't the disturbing part.
What should be more alarming is what Feinstein had to say about growing rumors, suggestions, and speculation regarding the president's impeachment
Lazy indifference
Speaking with former California Representative Ellen Tauscher on Tuesday, Feinstein was asked when she believed Republicans would turn on Trump and call for his impeachment. The Senator explained the arduous impeachment process, from House to Senate. She concluded her explanation with a lackadaisical: "Kind of been there done that ... It's not the greatest thing in the world, that's for sure."
This is a senior Senate Democrat. The thought of impeaching Trump invokes an unenthusiastic response on par with revisiting a disappointing zipline excursion.
Feinstein responded to groans and jeers in the audience by saying, "Yeah, I understand how you feel." She understands the country's shock and outrage over this administration. She understands the gross abuses of power being committed inside the White House. But impeachment is just such a process.
I mean, don't we all hate jury duty?
Already in motion
Impeachment has been waved around the air like a carrot. Whether it is a platitude or a real threat is another story. The suggestion has been made and articles filed by some Democrats. Even Republican members of Congress have begun to question if Trump is fit for office. Just last month Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he was unsure if the president would finish his term.
All this already out on the table, after the disastrous last month of Trump's administration, Senator Feinstein would rather wait and see. Because impeachment is just so... bleh!
The luxury of patience
This wait-and-see attitude Feinstein has is something she shares in common within the Democratic establishment. Any given day you might hear this defense used by self-proclaimed progressives in the Democrat elite to stifle debate over issues such as a livable minimum wage and health care reform. The average American can't afford to wait for premiums to lower, or for minimum wage to incrementally rise by quarters a year.
The average American cannot wait and see if a clearly incompetent president, who has shown no willingness to learn, finally wakes up one day and decides to be a leader.
It must be easy to sit and wait when sitting on thousands of dollars of Wall Street, pharmaceutical, and other corporate donations.
Democratic obedience
The Democrats have nowhere to go but up. They've spent seven years losing Congressional seats, local elections, and the faith of middle America. Now the Democratic Party has been handed the chance to fight a historically unpopular administration, and a fully Republican-controlled Congress, both rife with dysfunction.
Corporate interests and big-money donations establishment Democrats like Feinstein content with sitting idly by, as long as they keep possession of their own clout.
Instead of seeing where things go, Democrats must be aggressive, emphatically oppose their Republican counterparts, and lay out a better deal for the average American.