Recently there's been a lot of news events including the Charlottesville alt-right rally and the disturbing reaction by President Trump to the killing of Heather Heyer. Trump initially failed to condemn white supremacy and the alt-right movements for their role in the accident, then days later finally condemned, then today again backpedaled and went back to saying both sides (alt-left anti-fascist protesters) and the alt-right were both responsible. (He's like a reverse John Kerry, flip-flopping but actually flip-flopping BACK to the unpopular position and one that gets him into more trouble). There's justifiably been a ton of backlash to this, so much so that even people like me who don't usually take strong opinions are being called out for not being outspoken about this.
It's become increasingly obvious that Trump is not qualified to be president. It doesn't matter what political affiliation people have (many Republican senators like Marco Rubio and Orrin Hatch have spoken out against Trump's actions), it's clear that Trump does not act as a President should in terms of addressing the media, handling his staff, his stance on social issues and symbol of what America is about, and that's not even delving into his alleged Russia connections and lack of political experience. It is really unfortunate that America, a country that is blessed with the ability to pick its political leaders, something so rare in the history of the world (world political history is just like Game of Thrones: ambitious rulers overthrowing each other and proclaiming themselves dictator/king) but that the abundance of choices led to this disastrous result. Because pretty much ANYBODY could become president, ANYBODY did, and we're all suffering the results, whether that's increased tensions between North Korea, uncertainty about healthcare, hostile racial and gender gaps in America, etc. It made me wonder, how can we fix the system not to have this disaster happen again (and continue to happen for another 3 and a half grueling years?)
Most businesses (and America can very aptly be considered a gigantic corporation) have a hiring process, and America does too with its election, but then a lot of companies have a "training process" where a candidate for the position tries their hand at the position, see how they fit in, get evaluated by the organization, and at the end of the training process it's decided whether the candidate should be hired. My Japanese school does this before they hire a new teacher, public school teachers do this. It makes sense: see how someone does in a real work environment, hire if they seem ready. Typically for the American presidency the candidates all have some political experience (senate, gubernatorial) so you get an idea about what their policies are but more importantly how they would hold up in the most powerful office in the world, but it's a new era with new rules: Donald Trump is proving the exception. The world did NOT know on November Election Day 2016 what Donald Trump would be like as the President of the US, as much as we could extrapolate information based on his past leadership (on the reality/celebrity TV show The Apprentice and bankrupting some casinos), nor a perfect idea of what Hilary Clinton would be like as the President (although, I'd argue we had a much better idea given her previous stay in the White House and other political accomplishments). I fear that many Americans cast aside their worries about how Trump would be as a President and leader of the country and just voted party line (which is increasingly becoming more common, a worrying trend of dividing the country apart). I think America used to vote for Presidents based on who they thought would do the best job (which is the most important criteria in my opinion) and not on party line and what policies they would implement.
That's why I propose a "training period" of 3-6 months, at the end of which you can give the proposed President a "yay" or "nay." In Japan, a term called "Fusaiyou" is when a job applicant is considered, usually after a training or trial process, and ultimately not selected to be hired on. Look, people make mistakes. Referees make mistakes calling dodgeball games (happened last night). Drivers make mistakes and cause accidents. Voters make mistakes as to who to vote for President, especially due to the nature of our process where we're force-fed 2 Party-driven candidates and told to pick 1 of 2 considering all of about 150 different factors like trustworthiness, issues, commander-in-chief abilities, etc., etc. Why not allow a trial period for the President to prove his readiness and if at the end of that period (sometime like right about now) we could decide whether to make him or her a full-time President. It would avoid the mistake of allowing someone 4 years to mess up the country and further dig a hole that's increasingly harder to climb out of. Again, this is not about politics, of course it sounds like liberals are just getting sour grapes because their man Obama is out of office now, I would say this if Trump was a Democrat (he once was). Have a trial process, and at the end of that process allow the American people to reassess Trump's (or some future president who blunders as much as Trump cuz this would have to be added as an amendment to the Constitution) various mishaps, "Mr. Trump, although we appreciate your efforts to help our country, your services are no longer required. You're fired." America, as a country that has the rare gift of being able to select their own leaders, should put something like that in place.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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