However, I will settle for: I’d think any sane American would be happy if any senior Government official could pass the complete USA Naturalization Test (Civics & English)! At least then they would be forced to learn the US Constitution, know the function of the different branches of Government, know some Citizens rights and speak some English.
I know… It’s a lot to ask of a Politician! 😈
Hmmm. Come to think of it, All registered Republican voters should have to pass it also! And if they fail, send them to South Africa. They’d love it there! Of course, you’d have to pay SA a fortune to take them. Be cheap at half the price! LMAO
]]>The Constitution restricts us to requiring Presidents to be native born Americans at least 35 years old. There are absolutely no educational requirements. Even being able to pass high school courses would help.
]]>But sometimes I wish every president could be urged to study and pass minimal tests on
* what keeps a fixed-wing aircraft in flight (I speak as one who the world should be grateful has never grasped the controls of an aircraft in motion) and, separately, anything in Earth orbit,
* the basics of all matters nuclear (power plants, bombs, nuclear medicine, etc.),
* the fundamentals of public health (including epidemiology) at the level required to make or at least guide good decisions on behalf of society, etc.
That’s for presidents whose background is NOT in the sciences or engineering. For those who have backgrounds ONLY in the sciences, the test would still be at a minimal level, but the subject matter would be a bit different:
* American English grammar (no more GeeDubya-style speeches),
* American government and law (why do I even have to list this? why can a president get away with mumbling “freedom ‘n’ democ’r’cy” a dozen times in a speech without being able to explain the inherent conflicts between the two concepts?)
* superficial acquaintance with literature, art and dance forms pursued by every major human culture and ethnicity common to (at least) American society,
* ditto every culture’s principal musical forms (given how ubiquitous sonata form is in Western music history, it would be nice if a president had at least heard of it; 12-bar blues and the most common major subdivisions of pop, rock and jazz… s/he wouldn’t have to LIKE them all, only to be conversant with them), again to a degree enabling good judgment on guvmint involvement,
etc. etc.
It’s not much to ask. No one would accept an American president who did not speak American English competently (though Dubya came close to not doing even that); why should we accept a president with not even a passing acquaintance with the basic facets of all of America’s cultures?
Here ends the rant for the day… more on Carter another time.
]]>In many ways he has been able to get more done as a former President.
I know what you mean.
]]>Maybe I should be embarrassed, but I miss Jimmy Carter…
]]>If you care, Trump lost votes among my rightwing fundie friends and neighbors because of his ‘debate’ performance. They hadn’t said they were going to vote for him, but out of the blue they made it clear that that they would vote for Johnson.
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