A bad week for Mitch McConnell and Dianne Feinstein, leaders of Washington’s gerontocracy

This week should settle the question of whether California Sen. Dianne Feinstein gets so much attention for her age and mental acuity, or lack thereof, only because she’s a woman, after years in which the Senate club shielded its enfeebled men.

It was a bad week for the Senate’s gerontocracy, when both Feinstein, 90, and 81-year-old Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican minority leader, inadvertently demonstrated their dubious fitness for office. A flummoxed Feinstein had to be repeatedly prompted to say “aye” in a committee meeting. McConnell froze for half a minute talking to reporters. And videos of the alarming, cringe-worthy, poignant moments on Wednesday inevitably went viral