The time has come

Testing is a part of our national culture. We want to know that our experts are, in fact, actually expert in whatever it is that they're going to do.

Elementary school teachers have to pass tests of general knowledge before they can get their credentials, and secondary teachers need to pass subject-specific exams. Doctors, of course, have to pass tests before they can care for the sick, and lawyers need to demonstrate that they know the law. Contractors have to pass tests before they can get their licenses. Heck--even realtors need to pass tests before they can be trusted to sell houses.

How is it, then, that the most powerful person on the planet doesn't actually have to display any real knowledge of anything at all?

The Constitution lays out three qualifications for anyone who would be President of the United States: be at least thirty-five years old, be a natural-born citizen, and have been a permanent resident of the United States for the previous fourteen years. That's it. There's no official expectation of any knowledge of history, economics, current events or, in fact, anything at all before one becomes President. Case in point.

As a matter of fact, if a candidate actually knows her ass from her elbow--and then has the temerity to display that knowledge on the campaign trail--she has immediately opened herself up to charges of being an "elitist."

Maybe it's time for this to change. If we can reasonably expect plumbers to know what they're doing before they start working on our toilets, certainly we can expect the President of the United States to have some understanding of the world before we hand over the keys to the most powerful nation on the planet. If we can demand that high school students pass an exam before they graduate, we can demand that the leader of the free world know something about that free world before he takes charge.

In short, it is time for a Constitutional amendment requiring the President to pass a comprehensive test of knowledge before he or she can take the oath of office.

The details of what such a test would look like can be hammered out later. The key here for us all to agree that knowledge is a good thing, and that knowledge on the part of our leaders is, perhaps, the best thing of all.