Growing up, did you ever dream of being president of the United States?
Kids of a certain generation were reminded that anything was possible, even the top post in the land.
"You could be the president," well-meaning adults would tell us.
Kids of the current generation are told they can be anything they want.
So the question now becomes, who wants to be president?
There is a painful dearth of compelling choices, and the unquestioned Democratic front-runner, Hillary Clinton, is mired in an email controversy that is either Nixonian or no big deal, depending on whom you ask.
Ask me, it is a big deal because of who it is and the new rules under which she now serves. And before we can ever improve our path and our progress, the discussion needs to move beyond the fallback posture of "Well, so-and-so did the same thing" and the other lame defenses the spin cyclists are pedaling so fast and hard it would make Lance Armstrong need training wheels.
Clinton addressed her email transgressions Tuesday, saying she did not break any laws and that everyone wants their private emails to remain private. Her comments that erasing tens of thousands of emails, whether personal or professional since they were sent and received on a private server -- something she admitted was not the smartest move -- was a matter of "convenience." That, quite frankly, seems too convenient.
Well, Ms. Clinton, the legality of your actions is still being debated and will not be completely known until the topics and discussions of those electronic communications are made available, if they ever are.
As for privacy, yes, there are a great number of people who want to keep their emails to themselves. Those people are not former secretaries of state, however, conducting international business on behalf of an entire nation, or perceived to be potential front-runners for the most powerful job on the planet.
Which again begs the question of why the candidate pool for a job this important is so staggeringly shallow?
Beyond her quick-wristed erase-button move on her email, Clinton -- whom one New York paper dubbed "The Deleter of the Free World" -- also is part of a family foundation that has received millions of dollars from countries across the globe. Yes, the ex-secretary of state's family foundation gets direct deposits from foreign governments, some of them known to be at least linked to terrorist groups.
And this is the leader in the clubhouse for the White House. As scary as that sounds, it's hard to remember a time without an incumbent in the race when one person was such a clear leader for his or her party's nomination. Heck, she's not only the front-runner, Hillary may be the lone runner.
To be fair, the roster on the Republican side includes politicians with an assortment of potential pros and clear-cut cons, and the most recognizable GOP option may be Jeb Bush, which seems somewhat incestuous. Do we really need the Bushes and Clintons to re-enact Chapter 19 of the modern-day political spinoff of the Hatfields and McCoys?
And hey, if Jeb Bush doesn't work out, who's next, Reggie Bush? Kurt Busch? A burning bush perhaps, or maybe the Bush Beans guy with the dog?
There must be some impressive options out there who have chosen to remain behind the scenes. This is the greatest country in the world, and we are looking at two families and hoping for the best.
Granted, being president nowadays is not all it's cracked up to be. Heck, the $400,000 annual salary would be a massive pay cut for someone in the private sector who is truly qualified.
It again redirects the question, and makes asking "Who wants to be president?" as important and intriguing as "Who do we want to be president?"