FASB is technically a private nonprofit that does some work for the government-they are not dissimilar to a contractor, which makes sense because of the specific knowledge required.

Don’t affiliate yourself with Ohio, Josh Radnor. We have Devo, Chrissy Hynde, the Deal sisters, Guided By Voices, a bunch of astronauts, a wad of middling presidents, etc. We’re good.

True! At the very least, he is most certainly a total asshole. And you can’t blame that on mental health issues.

I just posted elsewhere that I’d love for an academic working in psychology/psychiatry to do a content analysis of his speeches...

I truly wish one of them would. Maybe not a practicing therapist or psychiatrist (since they can’t examine him), but maybe an academic could do a textual analysis of his public comments?

For thinking people, this is totally mystifying. The idea that folks don’t care about intelligence or competence in a president is just nutty.

What a large-scale research project that would be!

Roy Cohn...*shudder*

I totally understand how those who have practical experience are valuable, especially in the context of regulatory/standards boards (FASB is a non-profit if I’m remembering correctly). But you wouldn’t want to take someone straight out of the private sector and pop them into the position of agency head, or president.…

Americans really worry me with nonsense like this...

This is what a lot of the ‘bureaucrats are dumb, I work in business and would do better!’ replies seem to miss. The engineer who gets hired away from GE to work for the NHTSB in a mid-level position will work his way up to a supervisory role, learning about the ins and outs of government along the way. You would NEVER…

Wow, ‘petty bureaucrats’. That’s not derogatory at all. Most public administrators have specialized knowledge- they don’t hire english majors at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Those ‘petty bureaucrats’ work their way up in the administration and gain specialized knowledge in how government works as well, making…

I’m sure that person could just pop in and take a gander at some spreadsheets, and be right up to speed, correct?

I definitely agree- I just think people need to work their way up. A teacher who starts out on city council, then runs for state office, followed by a seat in the House. That’s a teacher with experience in the public realm, and I agree that’s extremely useful-especially with regard to education policy.

Honestly, at this point I think his own conduct will end up cooking his goose. I’m genuinely curious about his psyche because his behavior in office is just bizarre. But realistically, I get why the rule exists, and know it’s irresponsible to diagnose with no appropriate examination first.

This has a ring of truth to it.

I wonder how he was able to do that publicly?

Oh my god- I hadn’t thought of that. But when I saw my old therapist after the election, he definitely mentioned that he’d spent the week consoling clients that were upset over the election. He’s a total cash cow for mental health professionals.

It really is an aspect of the American identity (capitalism is god). That citizens cannot discern the difference between government and business is positively frustrating.

I think what you’re describing is ‘learning from your mistakes’. I’m not super familiar with that concept.