As we test pilots, national leaders should be tested

Published 1:30 am Monday, April 4, 2022

Ukrainian Nazis threatening Russia? That was the first of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s false-flag fictions.

During WWII, those ideologies joined to spread death and destruction not equaled in the West until Putin invaded Ukraine. The two tragedies, separated by 82 years, are linked by the callousness of their perpetrators. As authors of Naziism and Fascism, Hitler’s and Mussolini’s quotes shed light on those movements. Hitler first:

“If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.”

“What good fortune for governments that the people do not think.”

“The victor will never be asked if he told the truth.”

And Mussolini:

“Fascism should rightly be called corporatism as it is the merger of government and corporate power.”

“Let us have a dagger between our teeth, a bomb in our hand, and an infinite scorn in our hearts.”

“War alone brings up to their highest tension all human energies and imposes the stamp of nobility upon the peoples who have the courage to make it.”

If it were possible, I would write a change into history. It would borrow from the pre-employment tests now given to commercial pilots, law enforcement, nurses, psychiatrists, civil servants, Green Berets and teachers, etc. The tests are to ensure sound thinking, safety and aptitude by investigating personal integrity, emotional intelligence, personality and job knowledge. Then I would require candidates for public office to take similar tests to weed out the nut-cases. Read Babiak and Hare’s book, Snakes in Suits, “When Psychopaths Go to Work.” to see what happens when ambition-driven bozos gain top positions.

If it is right to test airline pilots for sound minds, isn’t it more important to test political climbers who might aspire to “pilot” nations with armies? Think about what recently happened to the U.S.

Robert Graef

Mill Creek