Three Tests for Our New President

Will Barack Obama find the courage and integrity as president to honor the US Constitution and restore American democracy? Will he be the president the nation really needs? Or will he be the cautious, pragmatic and typical politician focused mostly on addressing our crises and getting a second term? Here are three tests for him.

First, if he wants to honor the Constitution and the office of the President, then he must tell the nation he is directing the Justice Department to pursue indictment and prosecution of George W. Bush for multiple serious crimes. Surely no president must be allowed to disrespect and dishonor the US Constitution. George W. Bush broke his oath of office. His behavior was treasonous. Instead of defending the Constitution he violated and disgraced it. Instead of protecting constitutional rights, including privacy, he sullied them. Through many signing statements after Congress passed laws, he asserted his right to ignore or not enforce those laws so he could break them. He started an illegal war in Iraq.

You don't have to be a lawyer to know that Bush committed myriad counts of criminally negligent homicide related to both Iraq and the Katrina disaster and want our justice system to put him in prison. A former president in prison would not disgrace the presidency. It would restore honor to the office and the Constitution. Respect for the office of the presidency must never be allowed to trump truth and justice.

Second, if he cares about ensuring that the federal government never again turns against its own citizen in a false flag operation to justify some foreign policy, then he must recognize the wealth of information that contradicts the official story about 9/11. He must support legislation to mount a new investigation with the initial focus on what happened at the World Trade Center, because of the abundance of hard facts that undermine the official conspiracy theory. The collapse of three skyscrapers, only two of which were hit by airplanes, cannot be explained by fires alone. No other such steel structures worldwide have ever been destroyed by fires. A wealth of observations by first responders and facts point to other possible explanations having nothing to do with those two airplanes. If they alone cannot account for the total destruction of those three buildings, then those terrorists are not the sole explanation of that terrible 9/11 event. And then there is the hard-to-believe absence of effective intervention by the world's strongest military defense system.

Millions of Americans have come to believe that the Bush administration was somehow involved, driven by the desire to start a war in Iraq. There have been endless calls for a new, credible investigation by countless groups in the US and many other nations. President Obama should want to finally settle all the questions about 9/11 and make sure that no federal government ever kills its own citizens to justify some foreign action.

Third, if he truly honors the Constitution, then he should publicly pressure Congress to implement the Article V provision for a convention of state delegates to consider proposals for constitutional amendments. Despite the one and only requirement specified in Article V being more than satisfied for a long time, Congress has blatantly refused to obey the Constitution. President Obama should also support having the nation's first Article V convention because it is the best path to achieve a number of government reforms that most Americans would support. For example, removing the Electoral College and going to the popular vote for the presidency.

If Barack Obama truly believes in truth and justice, then he should support these three actions. Will he have the political courage to show the world that American democracy is not empty rhetoric?