Some questions for first Obama Presidential press conference

Among the questions I would like to see being posed to President Barack Obama at his first-ever Presidential Press Conference, which will no doubt be held in mid-January of 2009, are:

---I have heard informal reports indicating that you have struggled at times with your decision to quit smoking tobacco cigarettes on a permanent and lifelong basis. Do you have any advice to offer other Americans who have had difficulty meeting their goal of quitting smoking on a permanent basis?

---Mr. President, I'm sure you have reviewed the various tobacco-addiction treatment programs in the United States. Which of those treatment programs impresses you the most? As President, would you like to see overall funding for that treatment program increased significantly?

---Mr. President, we all know how influential you are among our nation's young people of today. Would you please tell those young people at this time what prompted you to permanently discontinue any and all consumption by yourself of any and all illicit drugs in your own life, and the incident or event in your past that triggered that commendable and wise decision you made for yourself.

----Mr. President, are you satisfied with the level of participation in natural-resource recycling by recent previous U.S. Presidents and their families and staff members in the White House?

----Mr. President, would you support establishment of an "Institute for the Study of Genocide in Africa" that might be situated somewhere on that continent. I raise this question because it often seems as if the whole issue of genocide as a barbarous category of crime occurring in Africa, tends to be addressed in terms of each such case, without anyone addressing why it is that Africa in the last 20-year period, say, has possibly had more nations of that continent where genocide reportedly occurred, and more total persons killed by genocide on that entire continent, than has any other continent in the entire world.

----Mr. President, it's a well-known fact that you reportedly earned $3 million in a recent year as a United States Senator. This raises the inevitable question of whether, as U.S. President, you plan to also aggressively pursue outside sources of income, in addition to your salary from the federal government? If you do continue to aggressively pursue outside sources of income in your role as President of the United States, do you have any concerns about conflicts of interest and ethical dilemmas for yourself occurring during your years in the White House?

---Mr. President, if you do in fact choose Hawaii as your "Western White House," so to speak, do you have any national-security-related concerns relating to that very remote Pacific Island state being one of your primary "homes" during your Presidency of the United States. For instance, might the mainland of the United States potentially be at increased risk of an attack by terrorists during a period in which you yourself as President were relaxing at the "Western White House" in Hawaii?

---Mr. Presidents, we all know that you deplore racism and racial discrimination in American society. In addition to that, would you be willing to tell us today what else you currently dislike the most about American society, and about the beliefs and values of most Americans in the year 2009, as you prepare to begin your first term as U.S. President.

----Mr. President, would you like to see the United States have the finest mass-transportation network serving passengers throughout our entire nation, of any nation in the entire world? How would you currently rank the United States among the nations of the world, from the standpoint of the overall caliber of our nationwide mass-transportation services network.

---Mr. President, will you be doing anything special or innovative to ensure that you are the most "E-mail-friendly" of all American presidents of the modern history of the United States.
Will you be inviting every private citizen and visitor to the United States, and every foreign citizen residing elsewhere, for that matter, to write and directly E-mail to yourself at a cited E-mail address for yourself, any and all public-policy ideas and suggestions and factual information that those individuals wish to share with you at any time during your tenure in the White House.

---Mr. President, do you plan to insist that at least one botanical plant that's a native of Asia and at least one botanical plant that's a native of Africa be permanently planted on the grounds of the White House? Would you regard any such additions to the gardens or botanical life of your White House grounds as an important gesture toward good will with all of Asia and all of Africa on the part of the U.S. Government?

---Mr. President, in view of the shocking recent news accounts about federal Justice Department investigators declaring that Illinois is apparently the most corrupt state in the entire nation, I would like to pose a question to you. If you were a private citizen of today, and not an elective official, how would you attempt to determine whether any current government official at the local or state or federal level, is, in fact, honest and honorable and conscientious and law-abiding.

---Mr. President, do you have any reason to believe that if you were to ask Congress to approve a new law mandating conversion to the metric system as soon as possible, this might boost the American economy in the foreseeable future.

---Mr. President, do you know what percentage of all Hispanic Americans or African-Americans or American Indians in the United States obtain a college diploma? As President, do you have a plan for fostering a significant increase in the percentage of all Hispanic Americans, African-Americans, and American Indians in the United States who earn an undergraduate degree in college.

---Mr. President, in view of the fact that heart disease is one of the leading killers of all Americans, do you believe the U.S. Congress should be asked by yourself to approve a new law imposing a nationwide ban comparable to the ordinance of New York City that bans trans fats in all restaurants in that city. If so, would you also want to ask Congress to approve a ban on trans fats on any foods or beverages being sold in grocery stores and supermarkets in the United States.

--Mr. President, you must be painfully aware that the drastic downturn in the American economy has been accompanied by a sharp reduction in income by private citizens and corporations that the Internal Revenue Service can then obtain revenues from. In view of the likely massive reduction in revenues to our federal government resulting from income tax payments to the IRS, do you believe the U.S. Government should issue a special plea to any and all private foundations and private individual philanthropists, in which they are each urged to make a generous tax-free donation to the U.S. Government's Treasury during this time of crisis for our country.

--Mr. President, we all hear so much about the vital role of law-abiding Americans in the rehabilitation of Americans who were convicted of a felony crime or misdemeanor crime in this country. Do you currently subscribe to the view that each and every American citizen should feel a citizenship duty to himself generously befriend at least one other American citizen who has either been convicted of a crime, and is seeking rehabilitation, or a youth in the United States who appears to be at risk of pursuing a life of crime in the foreseeable future.
As a follow-up question, Mr. President, would you be willing to share with the American people the name of the convicted felon whom you feel you have had the greatest success at helping to rehabiliate through your personal efforts at befriending and guiding that convicted felon.

---Mr. President, do you have a strategy for helping to achieve a significant reduction in the violent crime rate in Washington, D.C., as soon as possible? Will you be willing to issue special televised pleas to the entire citizenry of the District of Columbia, in which you urge each of them to please pursue an honorable, law-abiding, and consistently civil lifestyle and thereby help to highlight to all other Americans, and to citizens of foreign nations, why the District of Columbia is a great haven for the civil and enlightened and meritocratic.

---Mr. President, do you have any reason to suspect that the recent downturn in the economy has triggered an increase in the total number of Americans who, desperate for money, resort to an illicit career as either a paid sexual prostitute or a paid gigolo. Do you have a strategy aimed at helping to discourage all Americans from ever at any time pursuing sexual prostitution, and particularly in a context in which they pursue that illicit career out of financial desperation in order to attempt to pay their various bills, along with the very large financial debts those individuals have incurred.

---Mr. President, how as our Commander in Chief and Chief of State will you attempt to address and help allay concerns by the millions of Americans who don't trust you, and who suspect that you might be allegedly capable of entering into a secret deal or secret agreement with a foreign government or terrorist group or foreign military force, that allegedly has harmful intent toward the United States and toward American society and the American people.

---Mr. President, as you know, you are already a clear American Idol, in that millions of Americans look upon you as a great celebrity whom they seek to emulate. As President, do you plan to pursue policies aimed at highlighting to our entire nation the great stature and great contributions by each of your Cabinet members, and by numerous other individual federal, state, and local officials and cultural leaders who you believe are also worthy of considerable praise and appreciation.
If I might put this question in a nutshell: If one could compare your Obama Administration to a professional basketball team, will you be one player on that pro basketball team who takes pride in the number of assists you offer to your teammates every game?

--Mr. President, do you believe that conventional English should be taught as a "second language" to many of the African-American youths and Hispanic youths who grow up in households that speak what is sometimes referred to as either "ghetto-talk," "black English," or "Latino slang."
Are you satisfied with the level of availability and level of excellence of current educational programs in each urban area and rural area of this country that are designed to teach conventional English language skills to any and all African-American youths and Hispanic youths who might have a need for that type of supplemental language instruction?

--Mr. President, have you set a goal yet for how much of a reduction in the deplorable crime of pederasty, or sex crimes by adult persons that victimize human beings under age 17, that you hope to preside over during your first four years in the White House. Please tell the American people at this time about your strategy on behalf of pederasty prevention nationwide, and which agencies of the federal government do you believe should be primarily involved in fostering prevention of pederasty throughout our country.

--Mr. President, as our Chief of State, will you have a White House policy of generally addressing your black visitors to the White House as "Brother," but of yourself not choosing to greet your white or Hispanic or Asian-American visitors to the White House with "Brother"? If so, are you concerned that many Americans will regard that double-standard as being racially discriminatory against white Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian-Americans.

---Mr. President, how would you respond to those observers who say that the United States is inherently a declining power these days, since the raw materials are no longer found here, but are instead found in places like China, and the remaining energy supplies here are tiny compared with nations such as Russia or Canada, for instance.

---Mr. President, what is your reaction to those who say that the billions of dollars that American consumers have spent on manufactured goods produced in Communist China in the 1990s and 21st Century are, in fact, financing new military technology and military expanionism by China that will someday transform China into a horrifying 21st Century counterpart to Imperial Japan of the 1930s.

---Mr. President, the media has emphasized that your wife, Michelle Obama, voices criticism of yourself on a frequent and year-round basis. Within your Obama Administration, do you know of anyone else from whom you will be actively seeking and soliciting year-round and healthy criticism of your own ideas and policies and conduct as President? I raise this question after recalling today that the 1950s Presidential Candidate Adlai Stevenson of your home state of Illinois, once observed that "Self-criticism is the secret weapon of a democracy." Who, in short, will be your "secret weapons," from that standpoint, within your Obama Administration?

---Mr. President, do you plan to establish a tradition of actually rewarding constructive criticism of yourself and your Obama Administration? I raise this question because many of us recall that during the 2008 Presidential Campaign, for instance, you frequently responded to criticism of yourself by demanding an apology from your critic. Since ours is a democratic system of government, and since the U.S. President is a public servant, how do you plan to prove to the American people that you do, in fact, welcome any and all criticism of yourself and any other employees or officials of the federal government.

---Mr. President, in view of the growing interest in the Presidency, and in the federal government, that your election has sparked, do you plan to establish an official White House Liaison to the Children of the United States? If so, who do you plan to appoint to that influential role?

--Mr. President, do you plan to host a "White House Conference on Parenting" sometime in the next two to three months, partly to underscore to the American people just how crucial you regard first-rate parenting skills as being.

--Mr. President, we all know that you particularly enjoy playing basketball and golf, two of the salutary lifelong sports. Do you plan to ask that the federal government under your leadership establish an official "Nationwide Lifelong Sports Policy" aimed at officially promoting each of the lifelong sports while encouraging all Americans to each pursue at least two of the lifelong sports for as many years of their lives as they possibly can.

--Mr. President, which American cities of today do you believe are currently practicing land conservation, energy conservation, and urban planning in the most admirable and harmonious and visually appealing manner?

--Mr. President, are you expecting that relations between the United States and the majority of African nations during your tenure in the White House will be better than during any prior time period in American history? If so, how will that benefit the United States, the American economy, and the American people?

---Mr. President, is there any scenario in which you would be willing to meet in person and negotiate with any of the foreign leaders who have been identified to yourself as being genoicidal maniacs? I raise that question because, as I'm sure you are already painfully aware, some African political leaders, for instance, in recent years have been described as having allegedly committed the barbarous crime of genocide.

---Mr. Prsident, you must be painfully aware that your home state of Illinois has been described in recent months by an FBI official as possibly being the most corrupt state in our entire nation. In which ways can any U.S. state prevent political corruption there in the future? Should there be new state laws providing generous financial rewards to citizens, civic groups, or government officials who or that report evidence of possibly illegal governmental activities involving that state to a law-enforcement agency.

---Mr. President, do you approve of dual citizenships, or do you sense that dual citizenships often translate into illegal or unethical activities disloyal to one of the two nations in which citizenship is held.
I raise this question partly because it seems likely that in the foreseeable future, you yourself may be facing pressure from the foreign nation of Kenya, for instance, to yourself accept a dual citizenship in which you are officially a citizen of Kenya as well as of the United States.

----Mr. President, have you devoted a lot of thought to how you will respond when you identify a conflict of interest for yourself relating to your very keen affinity for foreign nations such as Kenya, for instance, and your affinity for the United States of America that is currently the only nation in which you hold citizenship.

----Mr. President, your great love of Hawaii is well known. Do you wish that the mainland United States were more like Hawaii? If so, please elaborate. Is there any particular public policy by the U.S. Government that you advocate, and that you believe would make the United States mainland more like the island state of Hawaii?

---Mr. President, many people are aware that you exercise for 45 minutes every day of the week. Would you like to see all Americans regard it as a citizenship duty to themselves each exercise for at least 45 minutes every day? If so, do you plan to recommend to Congress that it approve a National Physical Fitness Policy along those lines?

---Mr. President, if a scenario ever develops during your Presidency in which you learn about allegations of corruption on the part of any member of your Cabinet or other member of your Obama Administration, would you insist on an outside investigation into that allegation, in order to prevent any cover-up from occurring and to protect your own and your Administration's credibility?

---Mr. President, if you could describe a best-case scenario for lasting peace in the Middle East, what would that be?

---Mr. President, as a political leader who deplores racism, are you alarmed about the longstanding policy of Israel that automatically denies citizenship to anyone born in Israel without having Jewish ancestry. Is that racial-requirement premise repugnant to you as a human being, Mr. President? If so, which alternative policy by Israel on that do you believe would be more in harmony with the policies of the United States, and of The United Nations?

----Mr. President, you have no doubt heard that our next-door neighbor to the north, Canada, has a superior record on environmental protection and natural-resource conservation to that of the United States. As President, do you plan to appoint an advisory commission to study Canada's outstanding leadership in those two categories.

---Mr. President, are you opposed to the deliberate goverment-sponsored use of noise pollution and accompanying verbal harassment inside the United States as a political weapon or as a brainwashing technique or "negative reinforcement" psychological strategy? Please elaborate.

---Mr. President, is there any circumstance in which you as President would ever oppose the legal and Constitutional ight of a law-abiding adult American citizen to reside inside this country wherever that person chooses to reside?






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