Can't we at least test the candidates?

a reply to: crazyewok

Hillary's IQ falls within the high gifted range. Not sure about the other guy. But honestly, IQ isn't as important to me (as long as it's normal) as the absence of mental illness, and the presence of emotional maturity, wisdom, experience, and those kinds of characteristics.

a reply to: EmmanuelGoldstein

They don't work and if you know how can be easily fooled by just tightening your bum cheeks.

I'm floored by the number of people who think that a basic driving test is completely irrelevant, here. Absolutely floored.

If you don't have the wits about you to take in, process, and react to regular every day traffic, how can you possibly be trusted with taking in the constant slew of information that a job like this entails, processing it, and reacting with sound judgement?

If you are so out of touch with the average person that you can't cook a basic meal for yourself, should you really be in charge of policies that shape the lives of, and represent, a few hundred million people?


Maybe I'm the one who is losing touch with reality, and not all of you- but if people honestly think that someone who is so far removed from reality is a good start for a position like this, then I don't want to be a part of your civilization anyway- and I'll enjoy watching it burn form as far away as I can manage.


For those of you who actually support the thought of giving candidates some sort of rudimentary "Can you be a human in the society you intend to direct" testing, thank you.

a reply to: lordcomac

The President has drivers and cooks to do that work for them. I don't give a damn if they've come from NYC, never drove in their life and ate out of the deli downstairs all the time either.

I care about whether they're sane, owe secret favors to big donors, have read and understand the Constitution, realize the gravity of the situation they are trying like hell to put themselves in, and have the breadth of intellect to read, collate, seek and vet information from all manner of sources.

Too bad Jed Bartlet isn't available.

originally posted by: ladyinwaiting
This is interesting, and another member and I touched on this the other day on another thread.

I would like to take it a step further.

When my nephew was going through the process of being hired as a police officer, he was required to take a series of psychological evaluations, such as the MMPI. (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory) which detects personal characteristics on many levels, personality disorders, depression, thought disorders, etc. He also underwent verbal evaluations by psychologists. He was also required to take a polygraph.

We require this of police officers but not our President? With all these questions about both candidates right now, I would love to see this implemented, and the results disclosed to the public.

While I agree with and in principle...

SCARASM AHEAD

It doesn't seem to be helping the police departments weed out violent and unstable individuals.

END SCARASM

Though perhaps - it's not the individuals that create the problem but the SYSTEM that 'healthy' individuals are 'fitted' into. Perhaps it's not the 'people' that need to be 'tested' but the system to which they have been habituated.

a reply to: lordcomac

I prefer a Presidential Evening of American Jeopardy. Change it a little. First quiz one candidate with two dozen simple answer questions on American history, freshman civics and current events. One candidate alone with 30 seconds to answer each question . Then the other with the same rules. Simple.