Presidential Fitness Test

When I was ten or eleven (I know it was spring of fifth grade, I am not sure which side of my birthday it was situated on) my class had to take the "Presidential Fitness Test." While for many kids this is an excuse to get out of the classroom and expend some energy, for my over-tall, gangly, be-speckled self having to not only run but do push up and a bent arm hang was nothing short of torture. Add to that the fact that my fifth grade teacher (a man who exemplified the axiom those who cannot do teach) forgot to tell us when the date of the test. For this reason I was wearing a dress, one of my favorites with polka-dots and a tulle under-skirt. While I may have run faster if I had worn athletic shoes, and I was furious with being made to lay on the ground to do sit ups, it is the memory of struggling to pull my body up over a bar on the playground, my entire body straining to reach above the bar my entire class watching me (I am sure flashing my knickers to all of them) that stuck with me. I cannot think of the "Presidential Fitness Test" without a bolt of fear and shame running through me.
So what does this have to do with anything?
I have decided that we need a new "Presidential Fitness Test," not to test the upper-body  of preteens but instead a measure of fitness of presidential candidates.
Earlier this week Herman Cain said that if elected president he would "sign a constitutional amendment banning abortion." Regardless of your feelings on abortion this statement should raise eyebrows, because under Article 5 of the Constitution the president does not sign constitutional amendments. While there is plenty of room for debate about Roe and its progeny, and questioning their validity shouldn't make a person intelligible to be president not knowing how the foundational law of our republic should, or at very least should open you up to the sort of ridicule and embarrassment that fifth graders face on the school yard when they take the Presidential Fitness Test.     
Discussing this with my roommate we came up with quite a list of questions that should be asked. We agreed that the questions should be simple questions with obvious right and wrong answers, that they shouldn't have room for opinions, or academic analysis and that they should avoid political slant. The list we developed included things like:

• What powers are the president explicitly granted in the constitution?
• How does a bill become a law?
• What rights does the bill of rights grant?
• What are the cabinet level agencies? Or maybe just what is the order of succession to the presidency through some number of cabinet secritaries. 
• What are the branches of the federal government?
• Who are the members of NATO?
• Who are the Members of the G8 and the G20?
• Name the 50 states and territories of the US?
• Who is the leader of Canada? of Mexico?
• What is the price of a gallon of gas? of milk?
• What is the corporate tax  rate?
• What is the salary an individual working full time at federal minimum wage?
• What are legal sources of funds for a corporation?

I am sure that there are others, and that some of these could be removed and, I will admit that I don't know the answers to all of these questions off the top of my head, but shouldn't the president? I don't think that knowledge should be the only factor taken into account, I think President Obama's struggles stem from lack of management experience which can't be codified in a test like this. But why aren't people demanding a basic knowledge, why aren't people embarrassed not to know these things.
In the case of Herman Cain he is running in part on the desire to shrink the federal government, encourage the states to take greater control of areas that the federal government has usurped. It seems to me that running on that platform you should be aware of what a massive undertaking it is to amend the constitution, that this is a legitimate limit on the federal government powers, that amending the constitution was intended to be difficult. If you don't recognize those things then your claim of government overreach is nothing more than political opportunism and that you are willing to overlook it when it suits your agenda. 
The problem is most voters nod and ignore, they refuse to see that ignorance won't serve them well. This is why failing my test wouldn't result in disqualification from office but some sort of visual shame, a funny hat? a miss-tailored suit? Ari Gould style super soaking? Something to get people to understand that this is a problem for efficiency and it is embarrassing.
Basically if children have to risk embarrassment to enter law school there should be a chin-up equivalent for becoming president.

By now I have probably lost any added sanity...

So two Saturdays ago I went to the Rally to Restore Sanity [and/or Fear]. It is honestly shameful that it has taken me this long to post about it. 

Anyway it was amazing...

First of all yay for great weather and roommate bonding. We were able to pack a picnic and enjoy the last truly warm day we will see for a while.

Crazy crowded metro,
so crowded the photo doesn't look that crowded

Metro somehow didn't get the message that thousands of people were going to be flooding the mall and were running trains on the usual weekend schedule. Thankfully our combined brilliance meant we were smart enough to ride to the end of the line and actually had seats and were able to get to the rally in time to hear the bands.  

You can kinda see Jon Stewart

The crowd was packed up to 7th street
and from the Capital to the
Washington Monument

We did get to hear the music, but as for the rest of it you had a better view watching from home. The crowds were insane. (To quote a comedian "twice as many people as the Glen Beck rally but weighing in the same.") I imagine my memories will be something like the memories people who were actually at woodstock have (minus the drug induced haze- I had homework to do that evening.) It wasn't so much about the rally as about the collective conscious of the people there. It was too crowded to see or hear much. We actually watched it when we got home so we would know what happened.Talking to people, reading the signs and just being out of the house  was more than worth the time. It is a hard thing to describe what it was like or even why I felt so strongly about going.
As an educated city person I find it incredibly offensive when someone suggests that people who see nuance or live in big cities are not American. While I understand the Capra-esque vision of America that implicates small towns it is the diversity in this country that makes me love it.  In my experience it is the people who haven't seen much of the world or had their views challenged who defend their views most strongly; and they tend to do it by shouting. I guess this  is why I went. It felt patriotic to practice my right to peaceably assemble with other people who don't think screaming at each other was is the way to get things done. I guess I was defending my America, the one that is number one for me, most of whose dysfunctions were predicted (and enabled) by the founders and that has some of the best people who will hopefully get us out of whatever messes we find ourselves in.

Also I went for the funny signs and chance to wear a shirt with a quippy saying.

Pretty sure fox is afraid...

A real tea party 

   

While most of the people at the rally had views which lined up with mine, not all of them did, what joined people was a common interest in discussion. After looking at political issues for much too long I realize how blinded we all are by dogma. It was wonderful to see people come together for reason and discussion. I am not sure if I came away with much more than being a part of a cultural moment; but I was glad to be a part of it. 

Me missing what tea parties used to be...

At least they have a world series...

Well the California elections weren't a disheartening as the rest of the country. For the first time in years I didn't sit by the TV watching results come in. I worked instead. I am a little disappointed about our new presumed speaker (mostly because of disappointing personal interactions when I worked on the hill.)

 Pelosi may not be Speaker for much longer but at least she has a home town championship.  

Barbra Boxer and Nancy Pelosi at a Giants Game

Hopefully they feel like Gavin Newsom, who when asked about the election responded saying, "Nobody here cares about that, this [referring to the Giants win] puts it all in perspective."