Bloodless Coup

On Reagan, Lebanon and Honoring Sacrifice

One of the things that annoys me no end with our political system is that we elect someone to be the leader of the free world, give them a level of power that's pretty close to beyond imagination - and then often can't get them to so much as answer a direct question for the next 4 or 8 years. While I used to find the suggestion that we adopt something akin to "Prime Minister's Questions" absurd (and I still think that specific respons to this problem is somewhat problematic), I'm finding it less and less so (and yes, I felt that way when Clinton was president too).

But let's say we lived in a world where citizens really could ask the president unscripted questions and the president actually had to answer those questions. If we lived in such a world, here's one question I'd like an answer to: "Mr President, you've said we can't leave Iraq because to do so would be to dishonor the sacrifice of those who have lost their lives fighting in that country. Do you believe that President Reagan dishonored by sacrifice of the hundreds of Americans who were killed by terrorists in Lebanon when he pulled troops out of that country, and left that country in the midst of violence and civil war?"