Incoming House intelligence chief botches easy intel quiz

Congressional Quarterly national security editor Jeff Stein got to ask incoming House Intelligence Committee chairman Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas) some basic questions on intelligence-related matters, which Rep. Reyes promptly botched. I mean, got wrong in the way that would get you a "D" in a basic undergraduate political science class. (See "Democrats’ New Intelligence Chairman Needs a Crash Course on al Qaeda".)

So, that leads me to several questions:

1. Is your basic Congressman an idiot? I mean, seriously. Don't they read the materials their staffers give them? Don't they even read the newspapers? When it comes to House elections, are we basically electing the D students? And why?
2. Shouldn't we have these have these kinds of tests for all House and Senate committee chairmen, in their respective fields? For example, for the House Financial Services Committee, we could give them a test that asks whether they know the difference between debt and equity? The new chairman of the Armed Services Committee could be asked whether he or she knows the difference between a ballistic missile submarine and an aircraft carrier (and could they identify photos of them)? The House Ways and Means Committee chairman could be asked to balance a checkbook.
3. Should we make such tests mandatory for all committee members?

I'm not asking for "gotcha" type questions. Just the very basics. Because, frankly, if you've been a member of the House Intelligence Committee for several years already and you don't know that Al Qaeda is a Sunni terrorist organization, or that Hezbollah is Shi'ite, how can you effectively lead this committee?

And I don't want you to be thinking that I'm just picking on Reyes, or that I'm an academic snob (though I am). I'm not saying everyone needs a PhD here, but taking a quick look though the Intelligence Committee membership's education credentials (with a handful of happy exceptions), is a little depressing:

Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas): Associates degree, El Paso Community College
Pete Hoekstra (R-Michigan): BA, Hope College and MBA, Univ. of Michigan
Ray LaHood (R-Illinois): BS, Bradley University
Jane Harman (D-California): Smith College and Harvard Law School
Terry Everett (R-Alabama): attended a community college (but apparently did not graduate)
Leonard L. Boswell (D-Iowa): BA, Graceland College, Artillery Officers Candidate School, Army Aviation Fixed Wing Flight School, Army Aviation Helicopter Flight School, Army Command and General Staff College
Jo Anne Davis (R-Virginia): attended Hampton Roads Business College, (but apparently did not graduate)
Bud Cramer (D-Alabama): BA, JD Univ. of Alabama
Anna G. Eshoo (D-California): Associates degree, Canada College