DiFi's Unsatisfactory Non-Responsive Response

Fair and Unbalanced fans will recall my open letter to the senior senator from California in which I expressed my outrage regarding her comments to the San Francisco's Commonwealth Club in which she urged patience and understanding for Donald Trump.  This was back in August, when she actually said that we should wait and see “if he can forget himself and his feeling about himself enough to be able to really have the kind of empathy and the kind of direction that this country needs.”  Remarkably, she said that “the question is whether he can learn and change” and, if he can, “he can be a good president.”  That, of course, was far from the question -- which was more like, is this sick fuck going to destroy our country?

I didn't say that last bit.  What I did say was that it was beyond comprehension that a member of the Democratic leadership would give Trump the benefit of the doubt after he has shown his utter mental and moral unfitness for office that is hardly due to a lack of learning or experience.  

I provided the all-too-familiar litany, including his refusal to disentangle himself from his myriad businesses or disclose the extent of his finances while he and his family are profiting off of the office of the presidency; his ill-conceived, discriminatory Muslim ban; his firing of the FBI director and the taking of other actions to thwart the investigation into his administration’s alleged collusion with Russia; his comments in the wake of Charlottesville that gave comfort and support to white nationalists and neo-Nazis; his withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords; his call for a transgender military ban; his taunting of North Korea; his attacks on U.S. institutions, from judges to intelligence agencies to the media; and his relentless lying to the American people every day, every single day.

I wouldn't say that I eagerly awaited a response but I was mildly curious to see what form of non-responsiveness I would get. Well, now I know.  Senator Feinstein's letter, sent after another four months of madness,  did not even acknowledge her inexcusable remarks that caused me to write in the first place.  Rather, she thanked me for sharing my concerns regarding Trump's conflicts of interests. She went on to say that while she shares my "concerns about conflicts that may arise from President Trump’s complex network of financial holdings and businesses" and believes "the American people have the right to know that personal financial interests do not influence the Trump administration’s policies and decision making," there wasn't anything she could do until Trump provided his federal tax returns "which are necessary to clarify whether such deals directly benefit him or his businesses and financial interests."  She did assure me, however, that she is introducing legislation to compel presidents to disclose their tax returns and that she will "continue to push for greater transparency and accountability."

Unfortunately we already know that Trump cannot "learn and change.”  Worse, Feinstein and far too many of her fellow Democrats continue to proceed with business as usual, providing the same tired, tepid responses to alarming political crises.  Even today, after the Republicans passed the abominable tax bill, Democrats dutifully go before the cameras to decry the bill with reasoned and temperate remarks.  Apparently, they cannot learn and change either. 

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