Once upon a time we mocked the Soviet Union for its gerontocracy. Aged party leaders, bundled up in overcoats and fur hats to the point of near-unrecognizability, would be wheeled out to sit, immobile, as parades passed or party congresses opened. Their withered, stale leadership was emblematic of the decaying USSR’s withered, stale ideology — and industrial base.
But now the joke’s on us. A leading United States senator, Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), can’t seem to remember important things, like her just-taken vote on a judicial nominee and her just-announced retirement. “Did I vote for that?” she asked an aide Wednesday, moments after leaving the chamber.
The day before, the oldest sitting senator announced she wouldn’t seek another term — or her staff did, anyway. Asked about her coming retirement an hour after the statement posted, Feinstein said, “Well, I haven’t made that decision. I haven’t released anything.” A staffer told her she had. As The Post reported, “an incredulous-sounding Feinstein” said, “You put out the statement?” before telling reporters, “I didn’t know they put it out.”
Daffy Duck would serve better and yes we do have Daffy Duck no disrespect to the cartoon character.