General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forumsi wish we could make presidents take a physical before inauguration.
perhaps hindsight in 2020 will lead us to really expect/demand that.
seems rational to actually test their fitness.
if we had been able to shame cheeto into seeing real doctors, that might have been the end of it.
but as it stands we are about to put the second old geezer w a failing brain at the helm of this country.
i want the next next commander in chief to have a full exam at walter reed before they take that oath.
and i want to see an mri of that obviously addled, probably orange, brain. asap.
C_U_L8R
(44,897 posts)Trump would break the damn thing
DetlefK
(16,423 posts)Frustratedlady
(16,254 posts)Look at how many people he convinced to vote for him...lots of practice at lying over the years. He'll look you straight in the eye as he does it, too.
C_U_L8R
(44,897 posts)I think this may say more about the fools he's been fooling.
DetlefK
(16,423 posts)Wounded Bear
(58,440 posts)mopinko
(69,809 posts)much as i would like a full psyche eval and all, i just dont see that as possible. and besides, i know those things are supposed to be well constructed, but in the end, if you dont tell the truth, they are worthless. it isnt hard to figure out the "right" and "wrong" answers. ask me how i know.
Canoe52
(2,944 posts)Too many repug presidents were really alien lizard men in disguise.
it is a hazard. may have to invent a hand held brain scanner, so we can sneak up on them.
KewlKat
(5,624 posts)Files to see if we for a match and for future crimes!
I'm betting the Con skips the physical......just saying.
N_E_1 for Tennis
(9,593 posts)examined before they are allowed to run in the primaries. Why wait till it's almost too late?
Prevention is the best cure.
mopinko
(69,809 posts)i have no problem w this being part of the primary process. none.
not sure how the tax payers would have felt about free medical exams for the whole thug clown car, tho.
maybe we could make them pay for it themselves.
the current "norm" of having the doc of your choice do it is obviously not working.
i would settle for testing before the conventions so that they could choose someone else if their candidates brain looked like swiss cheese. but again, this is a problem w the party of liars and crazies. they seem to be fine w crazy, addled old geezers. i think they prefer them.
greymattermom
(5,751 posts)You usually hear about physicals at Walter Reed. What if Trump just skips them. Don't the secret service need to know if he has any health issues, like probably metabolic syndrome, i.e. type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Perhaps we should have the "Office of Who Is Allowed To Run for President" and staff it with people from the magical land of unbiased folks.
mopinko
(69,809 posts)if they can buy those guys off, we are screwn anyway.
gladium et scutum
(803 posts)Certainly if FDR had to have a physical in 1944 he would have been declared ineligible for the Presidency that year. Would Jack Kennedy's back condition and the meds he took to ease the pain disqualify him. A physical may have identified Reagan's developing Alzheimer's before his second term.During this presidential race, questions about Secretary Clinton's health were raised, would she have passed a physical. Would you rule anyone with diabetes to be ineligible, what physical issues, illnesses or medical conditions would you say disqualify someone from the oval office?
lunasun
(21,646 posts)Just saw the unfit for POTUS used for HRC this year
No rec
mopinko
(69,809 posts)mopinko
(69,809 posts)and i think the docs at reed would have a better idea than most about what makes for fitness for duty.
obviously controllable, chronic conditions are not a problem.
not necessarily saying they should be disqualified for anything but the most serious of impediments. and obviously this is better done early in the process. it is an issue best decided by the voters.
and as far as hillary- how would that nasty gossip have been an issue if she had been declared healthy and fit by walter reed? and knowing there was a fail safe in place, so that she couldnt take office if she were in the last throes of a serious illness. non-issue.
gladium et scutum
(803 posts)Neither FDR or JFK would have been President. Don't know what your experience with military physicians is, but my experience with military medicine over a 25 year Navy career is less considerably less than laudatory. If a physical is required, have in institution such as the MAYO clinic perform it. JMO.
mopinko
(69,809 posts)and i am not saying fit for the infantry, but they also know a good bit about evaluating a person for a specific job. wounded vets who want to stay in are assigned to those posts they are physically fit to handle.
and yeah, i know fdr, jfk, etc.
who knows what would have happened if the truth had been known about either of them.
i dont see either of them reaching the level of unfit for office. they both had fine brains, tho jfk's use of medications might have been an issue.
the voters should have had the truth.
if it had come out during the primary process, and people had elected them anyway, fine.
bottom line here is that if the voters dont have the info, and there is a serious issue of fitness, i believe it is constitutional to make them prove their fitness before they take the oath.
and i dont think the parties would put up w a candidate like cheeto if they knew he could be denied the office in the end. i think they would voluntarily get out in front of it, and sorted it out in the primaries. it would have given the rnc the leverage to make him do it early on, and i dont think he would have won.
i believe this issue is going to be a lot more clear in hindsight. and i hope that we learn our lesson.
JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,283 posts)Initech
(99,915 posts)"Because the liberals and the left wing media don't want my friend Dr. Oz to have an opinion on anything. They are biased! They are losers! Dr. Oz said I am the healthiest man alive and I will live to be 100!"
meow2u3
(24,745 posts)A civics test much like that taken by immgrants about to become naturalized citizens shows that they know their stuff about the country, government, constitution, and the history of the nation, plus the intent to take them all seriously. That should weed out the willfully ignorant wannabe dictators such as Drumpf. If we had that requirement in place, we never would have had such as ignorant traitor such as Drumpf.
Plus psychological tests to show that they're at least mentally stable enough, with medication or not, to be fit for office.
Unlike mental afflictions such as anxiety, depression, or bipolar disorder, personality disorders should be disqualifiying disorders since they're extremely difficult to treat (because personality-disordered individuals don't think anything's wrong with them), if not impossible.
mopinko
(69,809 posts)i have been through the standard neuro/psyche eval.
the neuro part would be enlightening, because you cant cheat that part of the test.
the psyche part is useless if you dont want to know the truth. multiple guess questions that are fairly easily gamed if you just dont admit to your feelings and fears. probably a few of those are sort of bobby traps, where there is a choice that a liar would choose. at that point the test shows you are healthy, but maybe lying. inconclusive at best.
as far as a civics test, i doubt it would have helped in this race. truth mattered not, and his failings were obvious to any who are woke.
i'm not recommending additional barriers to the presidency, as those would take a constitutional amendment. but fitness is a part of the constitution, and certainly physical health is part of fitness.
but to make it the norm, as solid as can be, would be fine. we were on that track, and maybe we could get back, if cheeto is enough of a debacle.
the parties could insist on this, but we know only one would.
we the people could start to expect and demand it during the primaries, at the very least.
Initech
(99,915 posts)Because Donald Trump definitely is not mentally fit for office.
sarcasmo
(23,968 posts)RKP5637
(67,032 posts)and I think the requirements are taken far too lightly. Events happen far too quickly now and there is no time for recovery from seriously flawed judgment due to mental aberrations.
mopinko
(69,809 posts)but he had such a close little band around him who knew, and they likely saved all of our bacon more than once.
much as it sickens me to see his kids becoming our leaders, i think that is what will happen. they will be the gatekeepers. let the good lord hold their hands. (sorry for the god illusion. cant come up w a better thing to hope for.)
hopeforchange2008
(610 posts)MFM008
(19,782 posts)Waiting for that breaking news banner....
ORANGE TOAD CROAKS.
Runningdawg
(4,496 posts)should be held to the same standards as most of the working population who hold a job that requires great physical and/or mental stamina. An in-depth physical by a 3rd party (no notes excusing you by your private physician), stress test and EKG and EEG included, along with hair analysis for drug use. If the person is prescribed psychiatric medication, they must also pass a psych eval.
If I need to do this to unload a MFing truck for $8/hr - so do the people running the nation.
mopinko
(69,809 posts)the lower you are on the totem pole, them more shit runs downhill.
drug tests for all elected would be great. i swear much coke flows in d.c. among other things.
Uggwearingdad
(78 posts)....remember when Sec Clinton was ill in the 9-11 ceremony?
Don't open a can of worms we can't close....
mopinko
(69,809 posts)she would have had to meet the same standards. so that takes that kind of bullshit out of their little tool kit.
can closed.