A Few Words About Diane Feinstein

As someone who personally knows the horrible effects of Ramsey Hunt Syndrome, I can sympathize with the challenges that California Senator Diane Feinstein faces. I was lucky that I didn’t get encephalitis which can be a serious complication of the condition, but I know the pain and the limitations of this debilitating neurological condition.

It’s sad to see somebody with such a remarkable career in politics come to this point. On one hand, I deeply admire her grit in coming back to the Senate chambers to help pass important legislation, knowing what it takes to push through like that. On the other hand, I wish we didn’t have to see how frail she is.

 During her stellar career, Feinstein has helped push legislation, with bipartisan support, that drastically increased the fuel efficiency of cars. She supported the effort to legalize gay marriage and ensure rights for LGBT people. She’s also been a champion of preservation of natural resources and places, such as Lake Tahoe and the forests of California.

She’s also been a long standing advocate for stricter gun laws to help deal with the rising rate of deaths by guns. She was one of the backers of the 1994 ban of assault weapons that expired in 2014.

That’s just a small list of the achievements of this smart, strong, articulate, experienced, and well respected woman.

For the people who say that she is too sick and frail to continue her duties, I ask why are people not saying the same thing about Mitch McConnell and the physical set back he’s had since his fall a couple of months ago. There are a few voices talking about his ability to serve, but not nearly as many who are rallying around the effort to push Feinstein out.

I wish it wasn’t so, but I know the reason for the disparity is because she’s a woman and labeled a liberal, even though she leans more to the center in her ability to work with people from both parties to get things done.

I wish she was my senator.

For some Friday fun today, here’s a newspaper column from many moons ago when I was writing a humor column for the Plano Star courier. I wrote that column for almost 7 years. And this was written about in the middle of that gig. Enjoy!

Well, this is it. I’d always prayed I’d never face a day like today, but here I am a day before deadline without an idea in my head for a column.

It’s not like I haven’t tried. In the past few days I’ve exposed myself to a multitude of activities, waiting for a funny line to jump out at me, but nothing did.

Perhaps I’m getting hardened, but there just isn’t anything funny about cleaning my boys bedroom or searching for the Lost freezer key. 

This is the first time in four years that I’ve been in this predicament. When I started this column, I used to have terrible nightmares about running dry, and I lived in such a state of blind fear that I was forever running to a notebook to jot down ideas. (Isn’t it just like blind fear to desert me in my time of greatest need?)

I’m not saying that ideas always came easily. There were other times of sheer panic when I’d be scrambling for material a few days before deadline. But something always came along just when I was most desperate. I’d call a few friends to see if anything printable happened at their house.

Or I’d pray for inspiration.

Or I could always resort to my old standby “techniques of fiction writing.” 

So, since there’s no inspiration just lying around for help and no words are coming, maybe I should use this space to honor all my friends who’ve provided so much material over the years. Not to mention members of my family who’ve allowed me to be personal about their foibles as well as my own. We’ve all learned just how personal a “personal” column can be at times. 

I raise a glass in toast to my friends and family. Here’s to all of you, thank you and keep those foibles coming.

Oh, one more small thing before I go.

God, if this current dry spell has anything to do with the amount of poetic license I employ, I take it all back. That wasn’t really Mary’s gingerbread recipe. It was my own.

That’s all from me for today folks. Id you liked this column, you can find more nonsense in the book, A Dead Tomato Plant and a Paycheck, that has a collection of many of the columns I wrote way back when. Such fun times, sometimes, when raising a large family, and we laughed a lot to get through the rough patches. The book is free for Kindle Unlimited. Just saying. 🙂

Whatever your plans are for the weekend, I hope they are filled with good times and good people. Be safe. Be happy.