Presidential Qualifications

As described by the constitution there are three main qualifications to be president of the US. They are (1) Must be a natural born citizen of the US, (2) Must be at least 35 years of age and (Must have been a resident living within the United States for 14 years. Contrary to opinion a president does not have to have a degree in law, any kind of college degree, or even be able to read & write. Interesting, eh? A few folks have suggested that the qualifications should be raised, but there is a great deal of disagreement on what, how, and how much. Judging by past performance I can think of one requirement I think would be highly beneficial to any potential president, senator or congressman.

Simply put, a degree in world & US history. Seriously? Yes, seriously! The reasoning is pretty simple and direct. Think back. How many wars, political misdeeds and actions have you seen that were repetitive of past history? How many times have you said to yourself, “oh, it’s going to be another Vietnam or Bay of Pigs or other such things”? How many times within the boarders of this country have we seen debates and other actions that were contrary to the last decision made on a particular subject? And lastly …. Just how much time, effort and money could have been saved by not covering the same ground again and again?

Iraq is a perfect example. We are on the verge of seeing the US make a decision about committing more resources (perhaps even soldiers) back into a country that has been fighting the same religious wars for over 1,000 years with the outcome just as foggy as it has ever been. Africa is another country where the US is contemplating further involvement despite the fact that they too have been fighting over the same issues for a very long time. We have yet to successfully “democratize” any country out there that hasn’t taken huge swings after our eventual departure. Why can’t we respect their chosen pathway and work more towards finding common ground? Negotiation, oh hell, just plain old bribery and a lot more effective, a lot less costly, and spare our young people from fighting in wars they will later regret and we will regret even more when our VA falls down on the job of taking care of the veterans.

I have seen that TV show “The Presidential Book of Secrets” that has some very interesting items but I really think there needs to be a book of “Presidential Lessons Learned” that is published and is mandatory reading for any president, congressman, or senator that intends to run for office. A test with a minimum required passing grade would be nice; I mean really, we now have that sort of thing for all our High School students to get their final diploma’s, don’t we deserve the same from a future leader or representative?

Personally, I’m sick of all the money, effort, and lives being wasted in some of these prolonged wars, particularly when there is no clear cut gain, goal, or finality about the darn thing. Shortly after we pull out of Afghanistan it will return to the same degree of madness we are seeing happen in Iraq. A little history about the region should have been enough to dissuade our leaders from have gotten into this mess. For the money we are shelling out on all this high powered leadership, I certainly expect a better return on my investment. Hmmmmm …. Wall street got a nice bailout, could we get the same for all these recent bozo decisions we have been living through?