You want courage in a president? Try this. . .

How John Kerry exposed the Contra-cocaine scandal

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If you're old enough or not completely self absorbed in the 80's you'll remember that Reagan was considered pretty much untouchable. The term "Teflon President" was referred to lovingly by those on the right, and with disdain on those by the left.

What is truly upsetting about this, is that this ability to rise above the fray allowed this administration to commit some of the most heinous acts of foreign policy that this nation has ever seen.

I'll grant you that no president is entirely clean on this, but the issue of the presidency being the ultimate representation of the American government and in extension, who we are as Americans, is undeniable.

The president holds the "Bully Pulpit", to lead by example and to steer the nation to the path of its own best interests. That's a tricky phrase, "best interest": what do we mean by that term. Are we referring to our own personal advancement, or to the betterment of ourselves as a people? And is it possible to do both without hamstringing us to some untenable victory of mediocrity over excellence?

I don't have the answer to that, and if you look inside, I'm pretty sure you don't have it either.

I do know that fighting a war on drugs while at the same time funding a paramilitary organization who had confirmed and ongoing narcotic smuggling operations into the united states is not a way to advance the cause of the betterment of the United States and the American way of life.

Call me a commie, but that seems like cutting off our nose to spite our face. That this, after it was uncovered, was left to wither on the vine due to self-smothered press coverage, is a crime of journalistic integrity in a profession filled with similar abysmal behavior.