Nikki Haley might be a neocon and warmonger who would send American troops to die abroad for some foolish reason, and she seems to not at all grasp the importance of winning the culture war, but she does seem to get that Congress is full of senile oligarchs that need to be replaced by people who are at least mentally competent.
Such was what Haley said during an appearance on CBS News’ “Face The Nation” on Sunday with guest host Robert Costa. When the topic of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) latest freezing while trying to speak to the media episode came up, Haley argued that it’s time Congress makes mental competence tests mandatory for members.
Beginning, she expressed the general idea while, of course, qualifying it to try to not sound “disrespectful.” She said, “I am completely for term limits. I’m completely for mental competency tests for anyone over the age of 75. And I’m not saying that to be disrespectful.”
Giving two examples of the obvious lack of mental faculties in Congress, she said. “Here, you have Mitch McConnell, who’s done great service to the country. You have Dianne Feinstein, who had a great career. You’ve got Nancy Pelosi, who’s been there a long time. At what point do they get it’s time to leave?”
She then added that both parties have the old age problem and that it’s time for the senile members of Congress to step aside for younger and mentally competent ones, saying, “This is not just a Republican or Democrat problem. This is a congressional problem. And they’ve got to know when to leave. It is time to pass this down to a new generation of conservative leaders that want to take our country to a better place.”
However, when asked directly if it is time for McConnell to step aside as Senate Minority Leader for someone younger, Haley dodged the question. Instead of giving an actual answer, she said, “I want this for Republicans and Democrats. I want to make sure that they all know it’s time to go. There’s a reason the American people want term limits. It’s because they don’t want people staying there forever. They don’t want people drunk on the power.”
Returning to the competency test issue, Haley then said, “I think there should be mental competency tests. And I don’t care if they’re for everybody 50 and older. I don’t care if they’re for the entire Congress. These are basic tests, Bob. These are, tell us where you were born. Name four words that start with the same letter. How many grandchildren do you have? These are basic questions that anyone should be able to answer. And the way you do that is just, when a candidate files to run for office, incumbent or newcomer, they have to give their financial disclosures.”
Further fleshing out the idea and returning to why it is necessary, she added, “They should also give a notice from the doctor that tells about their mental capacity. I think that we need that. We can’t stand watching Dianne Feinstein sit there and be told by an aide how she should vote. We can’t worry about Mitch McConnell being frozen at a podium. We can’t have Joe Biden forget where he is. Our enemies are watching all of this,” she concluded. “And every time they have an instance like that, America is less safe, because our enemies think we’re out of control. And that’s got to stop.”
Watch her here:
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