A Few Questions, Mr. President...

The British call it Questions to the Prime Minister; New Zealanders and Australians refer to it as Question Time; and the Canadians, as Question Period. These terms all describe the time set aside for the representative bodies of each of these nations to directly address any concerns they may have with decisions made by the chief executives of their governments. These question periods are an invaluable tool in establishing a transparent, democratic rapport between leaders and the people they are sworn to serve and protect. Conspicuously absent from this list is the United States of America. The president of the U.S. takes part in no such question period, and I believe it’s time for this to change.

There has been, since President Bush first took office in 2000, a progressively widening disconnect between the executive and his constituency. Approval ratings aside, the American president, regardless of his ebbing popularity at any given time, has chosen to greatly limit his public exposure. President Bush is more than happy to limit the debate by selectively feeding the media with carefully scripted sound-bites, specially formulated to fend off questions instead of answering them.

That participation in these tightly controlled presentations is generally limited to the media is equally vexing to me. The media does not represent me, so why are they given the exclusive privilege of questioning MY employee: the president?

In light of the myriad questions swirling around the president’s handling of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, illegal immigration, NSA wiretaps and official policies toward torture in the so-called war on terrorism, it is time for the president to make an accounting of himself.

I would like to have the president appear once a week before the U.S. Senate and once a month before the U.S. House of Representatives (The last week of each month would include the entire U.S. Congress). In these hour-long, publicly televised sessions, the president would take questions inspired by letters written to the congress by private American citizens. These sessions would be presided over by a member of the U.S. Supreme court; justices would serve in rotation and their power over the proceedings would be absolute.

Just imagine, all three branches of the U.S. government represented in the same chamber, locked in vigorous debate over the issues that WE, the people, think are important. I ask you, would this not electrify the American public? Never mind American Idol, such a spectacle would command ratings on par with the super bowl.

I firmly believe that the establishment of such a tradition would go a long way both in demystifying the American political process, and in giving the American people a much-needed assurance that their participation in government is not in vain. We get the government we deserve – It’s time to show that we deserve better.