COMPETENCY TEST? WELL OK. — The Weekly Opine

Are you as smart as a high school civics class student? (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Not based on age

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and former ambassador to the United Nations, surely knows incompetence when she sees it. Not to impugn everyone who lives in, or hails from, the Palmetto State, but according to Census Bureau data sorted by Yahoo Finance, Haley’s home state of South Carolina is the 8th least educated state in America.

So, when Nikki Haley called for a competency test for people over the age of 75 who seek political office, her background running one of America’s least brainiest states holds some level of credibility.

Upon seeing the wobbly speech patterns of 80-year-old President Joe Biden, the freezing-up of 81-year-old Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and the feeble, confused nature of 90-year-old Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Haley has concluded a competency test is needed to rid our government of older politicians who are in accelerated mental decline.

(I agree Biden, McConnell and Feinstein should step aside. According to CNN, 73% of Americans are seriously concerned that Biden’s age impacts his mental competency.)

A competency test has some merit, especially considering the condition of America’s politics nowadays. The problem with Haley’s age criteria is it gives a pass to a host of ignorant politicians including 35-year-old George Santos. Drop the age requirement and test anyone seeking – or currently holding – political office; now that would be a legitimate test.

Feeling the heat that comes with dabbling in ageism (and potentially costing herself votes), Haley now walks it back, saying she’s open to competence tests for everyone in Congress regardless of age.

Incompetence and corruption personified. (Photos credit NBC News, CNN, Politico)

Incompetence galore

How’s this for a disqualifier? In the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection to overthrow the U.S. government, 147 members of Congress (all Republicans) voted not to certify election results. Astonishingly, eight Republican senators and 139 Republican House members said “yes” to throwing out the votes of We the People. The list is a long one, but names like wimpy Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and lunatic Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) were among them. It should be noted the majority of the 147 are under the age of 75.

If you are among the 147 you are two things. First, you are incompetent. Second, your stupidity is far more dangerous than the relatively inexperienced members of “The Squad,” a self-titled, 8-member group of House Democrats.

We are left to presume the 147 Republicans who voted to decertify election results, primarily targeting Arizona and Pennsylvania, also wrongly believe the U.S. vice president has the power to unilaterally change the outcome of the election.

Certainly, Republican presidential front-runner Trump incompetently believes Pence could have reversed election results in his favor. Since Trump fits Haley’s original over 75 criteria, it means that, according to Nikki Haley, Trump should be disqualified from seeking the presidency. (You can be sure if a debate moderator asks Haley if Trump should be declared incompetent, and thus removed from the race, she will hem and haw and avoid directly answering the question.)

(L) Competence. (M) and (R) Incompetence. (Photos credit Newsweek, 19FortyFive, MSNBC)

Ignorance on steroids

Here’s proof the competency test should not have an age requirement: Herschel Walker. Walker, a 61-year-old former Heisman Trophy winner from Georgia, was a disaster as a senate candidate. And yet, while the state of Georgia is not in the bottom 20 of least educated states in America, nearly half the voting population voted for Hershal Walker, a supremely ignorant man also accused of violent assault by a former girlfriend.

Juxtapose Walker with Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), who narrowly defeated Walker in a runoff election last fall. Warnock epitomizes class, is thoughtful and intelligent, and sincerely works on behalf of all Georgians. Warnock is obviously in another stratosphere than Walker. The two form a microcosm highlighting the differences between Democrats and what’s become of the Republican Party.

Warnock and Democrats fight for policies that most Americans believe in. MAGA Republicans like Walker desperately fight to cling onto power, aware the math does not add up for them to win free and fair elections. Following last fall’s runoff, Walker was investigated (is there a MAGA Republican not under investigation?) for not being a resident of Georgia at the time he ran for senator. And there are questions about Walker’s campaign cash, i.e., did he use his campaign in a Trump-style effort to enrich himself?

A veritable gaffe machine, Walker claimed Trump did more for Blacks than President Obama. Unable to articulate coherent policy positions, Walker also said, “vampires are cool people.” A serial liar (aren’t all MAGA Republicans liars?), Walker claimed Ivanka Trump and Don, Jr. lived with him when they were children. Walker also said that money from the Inflation Reduction Act doesn’t help Americans because “a lot of money, it’s going to trees.”

Where was Nikki Haley when Herschal Walker was re-defining incompetence? Haley was silent because Republicans are desperate to re-take control of the Senate, competence be damned.

So, yes, bring on the competency test. Start with House Speaker Keving McCarthy (R-Calif.), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Majorie Taylor Greene, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and George Santos, none of whom are 75 years old.