Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testifying on Capital Hill. (photo: Getty Images)
American Interaction with the World
We have come to a point where American world economic policy and US global military strategy are as indistinguishable as they are interdependent. Your tenure as Secretary of State gave little reason for optimism that you would as president seek to forge a new path. Do you foresee a day when American productivity and ingenuity will reclaim their rightful place and US interaction with the world community cease to be conducted under threat of lethal conflict?
A Rebirth of Democracy
Former President Jimmy Carter said recently, "America has no functioning democracy." Recent revelations by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden leave little doubt that Carter's view was trenchant, perhaps even understated. At issue is the power of the American security-industrial complex. As president would you -- or perhaps more important, could you -- return control of the US national security apparatus to the American people?
The Environment
Shortly before the catastrophic 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the worst single environmental distaster in history, President Obama approved a bevy of new oil drilling leases off the Atlantic coast. While there was no direct connection between the two events, the lack of understanding was breathtaking. At issue was, and will be for the foreseeable future, the conflict between corporate profit and the habitability of the earth itself. Which will you choose?
Rule of Law
To this day, no member of President Obama's staff will admit publicly that waterboarding is torture. Attorney General Eric Holder has flatly stated that the HSBC Bank is too big to indict on money-laundering charges. The confidence of Americans that they live in a just society is to say the least badly eroded. Is waterboarding torture, and is HSBC really too big to indict? More important, can a just American society be restored?
