The Very Least The Next President Must Do

No president should have the powers George Bush has. The remedy, censure or impeachment, if not applied to the president who earned it, may have to be applied to his successor. To permit these powers to stand for another president’s term all but assures that they will never be checked.

I never thought I would find myself siding with the odious Bob Barr about anything, but he is among the sponsors of the American Freedom Agenda whose ten point ‘Freedom Pledge’ embodies the very least a new president must do to avoid the necessity of impeachment to curb executive power. No candidate has pledged carry out this agenda. (Dodd and Kucinich have expressed views that suggest sympathy with many of the 10 points.) So far as I know, no candidate has even endorsed the much weaker “American Freedom Pledge” championed by, among others, Naomi Wolf.

With no candidate pledged to do even the very least that must be done to restore american democracy, it is tragically clear that the hour has not produced the man, or woman, the country needs.