Dianne Feinstein

Friday Talking Points [60] -- Democratic Assertiveness Training

Chris Weigant | Posted 01.09.2009 | Politics


Chris Weigant

What a week! With Congress back in session, with the excitement of newly-elected members being sworn in (or barred at the door, as the case may be), ...

Pay-To-Play: Inauguration Tickets, Only $12,500 Each!

Chris Weigant | Posted 01.07.2009 | Politics


Chris Weigant

This doesn't sound a whole lot like "change we can believe in." This sounds more like same-old-same-old cronyism and pay-to-play.

Thrills! Laughs! It's the Barack Obama Variety Hour! Already?

Phil Bronstein | Posted 01.07.2009 | Media


Phil Bronstein

Remember all those analyses a few months ago wondering whether we'd ever be able to make fun of a president again in an Obama world? How fast the curtain goes up on the political stand-up stage.

Feinstein Backs Panetta For CIA, Changing Tune

AP | ERICA WERNER and PAMELA HESS | Posted 01.07.2009 | Politics


WASHINGTON — Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the incoming chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Wednesday she intends to support Pre...

I Want To Play Poker With Harry Reid

Jane Hamsher | Posted 01.07.2009 | Politics


Jane Hamsher

A seventy-one year old dude who hasn't held office for 14 years, appointed by a crook, has taken the Senate Majority Leader to the cleaners.

Feinstein: Seat Burris In Senate

AP | LAURIE KELLMAN and ERICA WERNER | Posted 01.06.2009 | Politics


WASHINGTON — Roland Burris failed to capture President-elect Barack Obama's old Senate seat Tuesday in a wild piece of political theater, but th...

The Bad Democrats Begin to Surface

Tom D'Antoni | Posted 01.06.2009 | Politics


Tom D'Antoni

The next time you find yourself getting pissed off at Obama, say these words out loud,"George Bush."

CIA: Parsing The Panetta Pick

William Bradley | Posted 01.06.2009 | Politics


William Bradley

To say Panetta is a Clinton retread is to ignore his actual background. He comes out of a tradition which is almost forgotten today, that of the liberal Republican.

Regarding Panetta: Let's Not Forget About Gates

Kristen Breitweiser | Posted 01.06.2009 | Politics


Kristen Breitweiser

Placing an inexperienced person like Leon Panetta at CIA for his clean hands and "managerial expertise" will cost lives on the day of the next domestic terrorist attack.

Ryan Grim

Biden: Obama Made Mistake Not Consulting Feinstein

HuffingtonPost.com | Ryan Grim | Posted 01.06.2009 | Politics


The Obama transition team made a mistake by not consulting with Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California before choosing Leon Panetta to head th...

Feinstein/Panetta: Senatorial Prerogative, "Intelligence Professionalism," and Political Leadership of the CIA

RJ Eskow | Posted 01.06.2009 | Politics


RJ Eskow

Panetta opponents warn us that insiders will run circles around him. They're forgetting about the man to whom Mr. Panetta will report.

Sorry Dianne: Panetta's a Great Choice for CIA Director

Phil Trounstine | Posted 01.06.2009 | Politics


Phil Trounstine

Having frozen Panetta out of the California governor's race in 1998 by not deciding whether to run until he had no chance of lining up financial backing, now would be a good time to stand aside and let him rise to the occasion.

What's Wrong with Panetta?

John McQuaid | Posted 01.06.2009 | Politics


John McQuaid

I don't quite understand why Feinstein and Rockefeller are objecting to Obama's pick, Leon Panetta. As objections go, theirs are weak. There is no reason that the CIA director has to be an intelligence expert.

Fuss Over Panetta Should Remind Hill Dems: It's Not About You

Art Brodsky | Posted 01.06.2009 | Politics


Art Brodsky

Obama comes into office with a clear election mandate, and the last thing he needs is the public view of a bunch of squabbling Democrats (see: Burris, Roland) doing the GOP's work for it.

Feinstein: Bad Choice for Intelligence

Stephen Zunes | Posted 01.05.2009 | Politics


Stephen Zunes

If Dianne Feinstein's real goal was to protect us from Iraq's alleged WMD's, she would have called for the withdrawal of troops once they invaded and discovered that there weren't such weapons after all.

Feinstein Not Happy With Obama's CIA Pick

Washington Independent | Posted 01.05.2009 | Politics


Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who's about to take the reins as chairwoman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, doesn't app...

Inauguration News: D.C. Power Plays and Other Craziness

Chris Weigant | Posted 12.11.2008 | Politics


Chris Weigant

With slightly less than a month and a half to go before Barack Obama's inauguration, Washington, D.C. has officially reached the "freakout" point on the Richter scale of event planning.

Dem Senator Reasserts Hard Line Against Torture After Blogger Outrage

New York Times | Scott Shane And Mark Mazzetti | Posted 12.06.2008 | Politics


After some bloggers raised concerns that Senator Dianne Feinstein might be shifting her stance on the issue of American interrogation policy, the Cali...

Friday Talking Points [57] -- End Of Prohibition 75th Anniversary Edition

Chris Weigant | Posted 12.05.2008 | Politics


Chris Weigant

Brian Williams, NBC's talking head extraordinaire, is probably a decent guy, a guy with whom you could sit down and have a beer. [More on the alcohol...

Key Senate Dems Suddenly Backtracking On Torture Policy

Salon | Posted 12.04.2008 | Politics


Time constraints prevented me yesterday from writing about Dianne Feinstein's comments concerning torture in yesterday's New York Times, in which the ...

Sen. Feinstein On "Milk": "It's Very Painful For Me"

New York Times | Posted 11.23.2008 | Politics


Dianne Feinstein is not sure she'll ever be able to watch the movie "Milk," even though she's in it. ... I asked Senator Feinstein, who became mayor...

It's Up To Us Now, Protect Marriage Equality

Gavin Newsom | Posted 11.03.2008 | Politics


Gavin Newsom

We have less than 24 hours to protect the freedom to marry by persuading every single person we know to vote NO on Prop. 8 in California.

Open Letter to Sen. Feinstein

Lane Hudson | Posted 10.17.2008 | Politics


Lane Hudson

At a time when Prop 8 threatens to deal an enormous setback to the fight for equality for the LGBT community, politicians have been silent for far too long. One of those politicians is you.

Friday Talking Points [48] -- Throwing Out The Rulebook

Chris Weigant | Posted 09.19.2008 | Politics


Chris Weigant

Back in Volume 36 of this Friday Talking Points column, I pointed out what seemed to me to be an obvious observation -- that the media was going a lot...

Friday Talking Points [35] -- Tim Russert Memorial Edition

Chris Weigant | Posted 06.13.2008 | Politics


Chris Weigant

Nobody seriously annoyed me this week, but I will launch a pre-emptive finger-wagging, to anyone on the left who can't resist the urge to be disrespectful of Tim Russert's memory right now.