Litmus Tests

Evangelical Republicans are proud of the fact that they give their prospective candidates a litmus test - do you, or do you not, support the overturning of Roe v. Wade? Nothing else seems to matter to them but this one issue of personal privacy that should be between a woman and any Gods in which she believes, and not the government (of any state, either.)

So, why don’t we come up with our own litmus tests? We don’t have to limit it to one issue. Candidates for president should declare their feelings about the following:

1) How seriously will you take your oath of office?

2) Do you believe in the Unitary Executive Theory as practiced by Co-Presidents Bush and Cheney?

3) If the Congress wishes to exercise its constitutional role of oversight, and they subpoena you or any member of your administration, will you attempt to block anyone, including yourself, from testifying under oath and on the record?

4) Do you agree that we should put a stop to the awarding of no-bid, cost-plus contracts and re-negotiate the ones currently in place?

5) If a contractor violates the terms of one of its contracts, will you cancel that contract with that vendor and award the contract to another company on a non-cost-plus, competitive basis?

6) Will you lift the gag order on Sibel Edmonds and let her tell her story under oath?

These are important issues because they go to the heart of what made the George W. Bush presidency one of, if not the, worst administration in American history. (And, yes, you Reagan-loving conservatives, worse than Jimmy Carter. For all his faults, unlike Reagan and both Bushes, Carter at least cared about people.) I'm sure we could come up with more questions to ask presidential candidates. The important thing, too, is to make sure that they are not lying when they answer. (Like Bush 43 did.)

Here are the Correct Answers:

1. “It will be the most important statement I make to the American people. And I will honor that oath throughout my entire term of office.”

2. “No, I don’t, and they acted criminally and unconstitutionally at times.”

3. “No, I won’t, because that would be wrong.”

4. “Absolutely, positively, Yes.”

5. “You bet I will, in a heartbeat.”

6. “You bet I will, in a heartbeat.” [Yes, questions 5 and 6 have the same answer.]

Score one point for each correct answer. Passing score is six points. And while some people would think that getting five out of six questions correct would be a good thing, in this case it's not, because it means that the candidate feels they should be allowed to do something wrong or allow others to do something wrong in their names. This cannot be allowed.