[guest post by JVW]

I was intrigued by this article in my local newspaper today.

When California Sen. Dianne Feinstein walked into First AME Church in South Los Angeles Thursday for a town hall meeting with constituents, she got a standing ovation. The pews were packed and it would have been easy to think she’d be preaching to the choir.

But things quickly turned when the Democratic senator was questioned about her stance on several issues, including the Trump administration’s military strike on a Syrian airbase two weeks ago after a chemical weapons attack killed dozens of civilians, including children.

Feinstein told the crowd, “You cannot let children die this way. This was a small attack not on people, but on planes.”

Her answer was met with boos and shouts of “You’re defending Trump!”

Feinstein, a super-wealthy San Franciscan whose husband made a financial killing on defense and other government contracts while she served in the Senate, is what passes for a moderate in California these days. She has in the past voted for tax cuts and tax increases both, depending upon which way the political winds are blowing, and she is happy to support defense spending when it benefits the Golden State Yet at the same time, Senator Feinstein has parked herself safely on the Barbara Boxer/Nancy Pelosi left on every social issue under the sun, with her particular fondness being a unstinting cheerleader for abortion. This has made her a favorite of the wealthy progressive set in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and a particular favorite of the dopey columnist Tom Elias, who regularly sings praises to her as the ideal politician for the Golden State.

But apparently four months of demonizing the new President, for sins both real and (especially) imagined, has given the Queen of Moderation no room in which to maneuver. More from the article:

As the shouting in the audience escalated, Feinstein tried to calm the crowd.

“You can yell and scream all you want … it doesn’t change anything. What does change things is public opinion, information, working together,” Feinstein said.

Her answer on whether she supports Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ single-payer health care plan also upset some in the crowd.

“Not at this stage,” Feinstein said, drawing a scattering of loud boos.

Apparently this Los Angeles town hall meeting was far more friendly than one that the Senator held in her hometown earlier in the week, where the far-left Bay Area radicals managed to disrupt the proceedings with the usual political theater. As Feinstein decides whether to run for another six-year term next year at the age of 84, she is likely facing the fact that her party, especially in her own state, is now controlled by an angry mob of socialists, the sort of people whose votes she had always taken for granted with her status as California’s first female Senator and her twee social liberalism. It’s just another lesson that if you feed and fan the flames too much you are liable to find yourself burned.

– JVW