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Originally Posted by Willravel
I was very recently comparing the Executive and Judicial branches of the US government.
By my understanding, during the confirmation of potential Supreme Court justices, the Senate Judiciary Committee holds hearings. Nominees are required to answer questions under oath. For example, Justice Roberts said, under oath, that his two favorite movies were "Doctor Zhivago" and "North by Northwest".
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Relevance?
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Originally Posted by Willravel
George W. Bush made a very specific campaign promise in the run-up to the 2000 election:
"I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation building."
"...a nation-building corps from America. Absolutely not. Our military is meant to fight."
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But he wasn't under oath.
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Originally Posted by Will
People may have voted for Bush based on their distaste for what they may have interpreted as Bill Clinton engaging in nation building in Bosnia.
When a politician goes back on his or her word, there has been a failure of the democratic process. How can we vote for someone to represent us if they aren't clear or truthful about what they will represent in office? To that end...
... would it be viable to require candidates to make campaign promises under oath?
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A failure of the democratic process? Really? I call bullshit.
There are a bunch of different reasons that a politician could go back on his word. Cyn already mentioned a great one - Bush Sr. and "no new taxes". The political realities changed and he had to raise taxes.
So you want to "swear in" every politician running for office before every campaign function? Christ, that's a bad idea. People do not want politicians telling them the truth. Any one that does would never get elected. What politician is going to say "the truth is I have no clue how to fix things. But maybe I know some guys who do. Fuck I don't know. Those guys are smart, but we may all be bent over the barrel on this one." That's the truth on some things, but if a politician did anything other than project sunshine and rainbows, we'd never fill an office.