There's one question I've always wanted to ask President Bush. One thing that I'd want to hear him explain in a spontaneous and unscripted press conference. One important detail that he's never really addressed.
If I could ask the President just one question, it would be this:
Mr. President, what is freedom?
I have no idea how he'd answer this question, or even if he could answer it at all. He'd probably dodge it, as politicians usually do. But it's a question that all politicans -- all people -- need to think about. Is freedom nothing more than a huge SUV and a 20-acre plot of land? Is it merely a large array of affordable consumer goods? Is freedom the right to make your neighbors live their lives the way you think they should? Is freedom from fear the ultimate freedom?
Are those the things that the President would refer to if he were asked about freedom? Will our children and grandchildren grow up thinking that those things are the hallmarks of a free people? I'd like to think that there's more to freedom than big trucks and Big Macs, and I'd really like to hear that from the leader of the free world.
I hope that this is an issue that enters the realm of public debate. Because if the next generation grows up believing that freedom means nothing more than a wide selection of popular entertainment, the future of our country will be very bleak indeed.