Weekend Watchdog

Every Friday in our Weekend Watchdog feature, we post suggested questions for scheduled Sunday guests. You can add your own questions in the comment thread. We'll also include contact information for the shows, so we can let them know what their viewers want asked.

And on Sunday at 4 PM ET, tune in to Air America Radio's "Seder on Sundays" program, where I'll offer the Weekend Watchdog Wrap-Up.

First lady Laura Bush is scheduled for a friendly chat with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday [1], and it's frankly hard to narrow down the questions we'd like to hear the husband of George W. Bush answer. (For starters: What on earth is wrong with your husband, anyway?)

But since she is just back from a trip through the Middle East, where she wore a hijab in Saudi Arabia [2] and told soldiers in Kuwait [3] that people appreciate the gift of freedom "no matter what you might read in the newspapers," it's fair to ask: With the Blackwater shooting incident straining the U.S. government's relationship to the Iraqis and with Afghan President Harmid Karzai calling, in an interview to be aired on 60 Minutes Sunday [4], for the U.S. government to curtail its use of air strikes that kill innocent civilians, how forceful an advocate is she being for civilian victims of American military intervention? Is she, for example, calling for private paramilitary organizations like Blackwater to be removed from Iraq, or at least be held accountable for their actions?

The first lady is also going to be asked about her advocacy on behalf of breast cancer victims, and we'd like to see her asked about the plight of Rita Goldsberry, who lives near Wilmington, Del. The Wilmington News-Journal reported [5] Oct. 23 that after she used a state program to get a free mammogram, which indicated that she had breast cancer:

She applied for Medicaid and was denied.

She applied for disability insurance and was denied.

She tried to get on her husband's insurance and was denied.

She applied for various hardship funds and ran into another denial.

"My husband and I would've stayed together but we were thinking about getting a divorce just so I could qualify for some help," said Goldsberry…

When confronted with a Rita Goldsberry, or the millions of other people who can't get adequate health care today, how can Republicans justify their scare-mongering about "socialized medicine" when confronted with meaningful solutions from Democrats while smugly saying that all people really need is a tax credit and faith that a private sector that rations care to maximize profit will somehow behave, well, less business-like?

Meanwhile, on NBC's "Meet the Press [6]," we'd like to see presidential candidate Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., asked how far he's willing to push his opposition to immunity for telecommunication companies asked to do illegal spying by the Bush administration. Compromise legislation that would grant such legal immunity is expected to come before the full Senate in a few days? In the face of Democratic colleagues who are willing to cut a deal with the White House, will Dodd be willing to support a filibuster?

Another presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, makes a repeat appearance on This Week with George Stephanopoulos [7], and we'd like McCain to explain this waffle, highlighted by Michael Roston at The Huffington Post [8]: You criticized fellow Republican candidate Rudy Giuliani for not being willing to call the practice of waterboarding torture, so why would you not criticize Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey, a federal judge, for almost identical hedging? Since Mukasey will be a key voice in advising the administration what is and is not illegal in dealing with terrorism suspects, some "straight talk" on this issue ought to be a top priority.

Remember: always be brief, polite and respectful when contacting the media, so our voices will be taken seriously.