Di In The Sky

 Before there was Wi Fi, there was Di Fi.

Dianne Feinstein served in the United States Senate for thirty years. Her term ended last week when she passed away at the age of ninety. There were plans for her to retire in February, but her health had other ideas.

Three decades of being a dedicated voice for gun control, championing the assault weapons ban that then-President Bill Clinton signed into law in 1994, and pushing for restrictive laws since the ban’s expiration in 2004.

President Joe Biden said, “I’ve served with more U.S. Senators than just about anyone. I can honestly say that Dianne Feinstein is one of the very best."

For me, Senator Feinstein was the no-brainer on my ballot. When I moved to California, if I needed a sure thing to pick up the interests of my adopted state as well as the nation, I picked her. She was also known for holding space in the center, willing to collaborate with her colleagues across the aisle, bringing Republicans along for the ride who were willing to have a conversation. This sometimes brought the ire of more progressive members of her party. Like the time she hugged Lindsey Graham at the end of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett back in 2020. Angry voices among her constituents and fellow Democrats eventually forced her out as a ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. 

The United States Senate was not Ms. Feinstein's first foray into politics. On Nov. 27, 1978, Feinstein, then-president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, became acting mayor following the assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and city Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first gay elected official in California. She later became the first woman elected mayor of San Francisco. In the past few years, endured calls for her to resign, to make way for younger politicians. Always a fan of decorum, Di Fi stuck around until she was through. She was the longest-serving woman in the Senate, and the longest serving senator from the state of California. 

She stomped on the Terra, and made more sense than she made trouble. She will be missed. 

Aloha, Di Fi.