What is the number one issue on America’s mind? If Youtube users are a good representation of the American population, then the question that many US citizens demand to be answered by the Obama administration is about a plant. Not any plant, but an expensive, psychoactive, prohibited herb by the name of marijuana. On the first of February 2010, America revealed through Youtube that more so than education, healthcare, and the war on terror, its primary concern was the legalization of cannabis: from the 11,697 questions submitted to Obama on Citizentube, Youtube’s political channel, more than 20% were about marijuana legalization. One especially insightful citizen even noted, “as marijuana also is a great catalyst to intellectual thinking and creativity, it will benefit the economy if legalized, by the fact that creative thinking can create new useful and undiscovered items to be produced and exported." Such a perceptive idea would surely never be proposed in Congress. Could Citizentube actually be a harbinger of Obama’s preferred policy-making style, whereby the average citizen can directly collaborate with the President on the formation of pressing, controversial policies?

From Obama’s Youtube Q&A session on Monday, the answer for now seems to be negative. Even though questions about marijuana legalization were most commonly asked, the issue was glaringly avoided during the live session. Instead, Obama gave mostly predictable answers to mostly predictable questions, such as the usual inquiries about the financial reform, healthcare, small businesses, and combating terrorism. It was nice to see Obama restating his positions and passive-aggressively attacking Senate for not cooperating on healthcare legislation, but to be honest, some parts of the thirty minute session sounded more like my office hours with my political science TA than a chat with a charismatic president. Citizentube represents a unique opportunity for Obama to communicate to different audiences on issues that wouldn’t usually be brought up in formal discussions, and I felt that he didn’t take advantage of the situation fully, choosing a safer path instead. While his support for an open Internet, lower college tuition, clean energy, and the closing of Guantanamo came through clearly, his charisma didn’t, and I was left hoping for more from the President that now looks significantly more tired and unsmiling.

Looking through the list of questions that were asked, there were many questions that I wish could be mentioned. Some guy from Texas asked if he could go fishing with Obama, but there were also more pressing, specific questions concerning the US budget deficit, the influence of lobbyists on Congress, psychiatric care for veterans, etc. that deserve to be answered. While it is impossible to respond to each of the 11,697 questions, I just feel that an online medium of communication should offer a refreshing alternative rather than repeat what has already been stated in official press speeches and Congressional debates.

I commend the Obama administration’s effort to be the most transparent government to date, making sure that the average citizen has a say in a transitional period of US history, but it should also ensure that it is making full use of the online forum by choosing the right questions to answer and revealing other sides of Obama not as easily depicted in traditional forms of media. As these Citizentube sessions continue in the future, maybe one day we will finally hear honest answers to the burning questions in the back of everyone’s minds—who knows, they might include the thousands about legalizing marijuana.