The Closest Thing to e-petitions

The Nation and The Washington Times have implemented a sort of e-petitions system which they will use to funnel questions to the President. I've been asking for something like this for a while, so I'm pretty pleased.

The results have so far been, well, interesting, like questions on whether or not we should legalize marijuana to help the budget shortfall.

The interesting bit about that question is how Obama laughed it off, even though it probably bears some scrutiny. Decriminalization could mean a lower burden on law enforcement, and provides an avenue for increased tax revenues. Some reporters attempted to raise the issue again in followups, tying it to Clinton's recent discussions about how local demand for drugs drives violence south of the border (I think those are different drugs, but still).

For my part, I'm warming up with a question about the nonsense of the penny.

It will be interesting to see how this site's role evolves over time.