Letters to the Editor: Dianne Feinstein isn’t the same. That doesn’t mean she should resign

To the editor: Kudos to columnist Mark Z. Barabak for a thoughtful response to the call for Sen. Diane Feinstein’s (D-Calif.)’s resignation. Clearly, at age 88, she is not the same energetic and dynamic legislator that she once was, nor is it surprising that the number of her “senior moments” has been steadily increasing.

But it is also clear that she has enough support among her staff and fellow senators to back her up when necessary, and her extraordinary past service to her California constituents and the U.S. Senate has earned her the right to complete her term of office with dignity and with the appreciation of Californians whom she has represented diligently for so many years.

As Barabak suggests, let those who seek to replace her begin their campaigns on their own time, and let Feinstein spend the balance of her term working for the residents of California.

James Zimring, Tarzana

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To the editor: Unless you have experienced the death of a loving partner, you don’t know how grief will affect you.

Three years ago I watched my sister and sister-in-law grapple with the deaths of their husbands within six months of each other. It took a year and a half to two years for them to start to resemble their past selves.

The phrase that I remember most from this period: “I don’t know what to do with myself.”

So give Feinstein a break. She just lost her husband.

Cathy Gregory, Lompoc

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To the editor: Barabak’s article on Feinstein’s fitness made me realize the seriousness of possibly not working up to one’s potential. But what really struck me was his pronouncement that in a perfect world, everyone would “cross the street only when the signal allows.”

In the same issue, The Times reported two separate killings of people by cars, and the previous day it carried the story of the tragic killing of a cyclist by a speeding driver in Griffith Park.

I imagine Barabak was joking, but he needs to update his discussion of road safety and use; otherwise he sounds as out of touch as an 88-year-old senator.

People crossing the street is not the problem; distracted, speeding drivers and inadequate road designs are.

Taylor Nichols, Los Angeles

The writer is Council District 5 representative to the Los Angeles Bicycle Advisory Committee.