In politics, there’s no such thing as a gold watch at the end of your career. The minute you show any sign of weakness or vulnerability, the vultures come out ready to feast on your carcass.

That’s exactly what’s happening right now to California’s senior United States Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

The San Francisco Chronicle recently ran a front-page hit piece about DiFi titled, “Colleagues worry Dianne Feinstein is now mentally unfit to serve, citing recent interactions.”

In it, the paper said, “Four U.S. senators, including three Democrats, as well as three former Feinstein staffers and the California Democratic member of Congress told The Chronicle in recent interviews that her memory is rapidly deteriorating. They said it appears she can no longer fulfill her job duties without her staff doing much of the work required to represent the nearly 40 million people of California.”

Yes, it’s true — the party whose standard bearer is Joe Biden finally thinks a politician is senile.

Rumor has it the senility rumors about Feinstein began last fall when she tried to take out a reverse mortgage on the Capitol.

Here’s the deal. If Democrats are going to demand that DiFi take a mental acuity test, then I want President Biden to prove that he’s capable of drawing the face of a clock, too.

If I were a betting man, I’d put my money on Feinstein over Biden … and, for that matter, AOC too!

On April 14, Feinstein released a statement reassuring voters that she was as mentally sharp as ever and was not experiencing any memory problems.

On April 17 she released it again.

Just kidding about that last part.

“The last year has been extremely painful and distracting for me, flying back and forth to visit my dying husband who passed just a few weeks ago.  But there’s no question I’m still serving and delivering for the people of California, and I’ll put my record up against anyone’s,” the Feinstein statement read.

Shortly thereafter, The Chronicle hit Feinstein with an editorial saying that if the memory loss allegations are true, it’s time for Feinstein to go.

“If Feinstein’s mental fitness has indeed deteriorated to the point where it’s an open secret that she’s incapable of doing her job, Democrats need to forgo the jokes and say so openly,” the paper editorialized.

This wouldn’t be the first time an elected official has become senile in office.  It was an open secret that senators Strom Thurmond of South Carolina and Robert Byrd of West Virginia were mentally out of it for years.

In California, state Sen. Ralph Dills of the South Bay — the longest-serving member of the California Legislature — held office from the New Deal until the late 1990s. Doctors’ records indicate he was suffering increasing confusion and forgetfulness as early as 1997. After he termed-out of the Legislature, he ended up marrying his step-daughter and allegedly being the victim of her elder abuse.

So why is it that Byrd, Thurmond and Dills were able to stay, but Democrats and the media want Feinstien to go?

Simply put, she’s in the way.

Feinstein came up through the ranks in California when centrism ruled and you had to appeal to voters beyond the Democratic base, to win a statewide election.  Now that the state is deeply blue, Democrats feel that she is too far to the right for their tastes.

David Campos, chair of the San Francisco Democratic party, let the cat out of the bag while criticizing Feinstein’s performance during the Amy Coney Barrett Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

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Campos told The Guardian that “she represents the past of San Francisco and California … It’s not surprising that at a time when we’re facing a crisis, when we have a right-wing supremacist being rushed through the Supreme Court, she’s not up to the task. And it’s not because of her age. It’s just because of who she is.”

Also, Gov. Gavin Newsom has stated publicly that if Feinstein were to retire, he’d replace her with a Black woman, who would almost certainly be politically to the left of Feinstein.

In the name of equality, Democrats are publicly throwing an old lady under the bus and treating her like trash while they’re doing it.

Now, that’s an interesting take on feminism.

John Phillips can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on “The John Phillips Show” on KABC/AM 790.