On presidential "rule"

I "missed" the debates, and so I never caught the original question. What this says about the remains of our republic is pretty scary.

clipped from www.counterpunch.org During the recent presidential debate (9/26/08), moderator Jim Lehrer presented the following as one of his lead questions: Are you willing to acknowledge, both of you, that this financial crisis is going to affect the way you rule the country as president of the United States…? Lehrer did not bat an eye, did not flinch, had not one ounce of irony in mind, when he asked Senators McCain and Obama about how the current financial crisis would affect the way they would rule the country. Yep ---- he said “rule.” Really, that’s what he said. [W]e have arrived at this sad point in American history when the suggestion that The President of the United States is a ruler, rather than a public servant, goes unnoticed, or at least unchallenged, by the media and by the people who should be the most aware of the nature of the job for which they are applying.