Barbara Boxer was once among the most liberal members of the U.S. Senate, a favorite of progressives, who much preferred her over California’s other Democratic senator, the more staid and centrist Dianne Feinstein.

So it’s noteworthy to hear Boxer’s advice for those most fervently wishing that Feinstein, who’s dealing with well-chronicled maladies, would immediately join her in post-Senate retirement.

“I think the far left of my party, who’s agitating for this, ought to smell the roses,” Boxer said.

As in, get real.