Prerequisite

Pierce:

This cannot happen again. The country has got to demand better than this. Whoever the poor sod is who gets this job in January 2009 is going to look around him after the applause dies down and see wreckage all the way to the horizon. I can't imagine what the actual truth of it is, since these folks have gotten so good at locking it up on almost every issue, large and small. That is really the only question to ask -- how in God's name, Candidate X, do you plan to fix everything that this reckless passel of vandals has broken in the past seven years? It should be asked of Republicans and Democrats, especially the former. It should be made quite clear that distancing oneself from the current group of bloody bunglers -- indeed, apologizing to the country for enabling them -- is the most basic prerequisite for being considered a serious presidential candidate. No crawfishing. No tap-dancing. "I am sorry for whatever role I played in foisting upon the country the worst presidential administration in history, and for my lack of fortitude in holding them to account when I should have."

Starting with anyone whose name appears under the heading "Yeas" on this list. It's easy.