It seemed an oddly-framed question coming from one so-called conservative to another, but on Tuesday evening CNN debate co-moderator Hugh Hewitt asked GOP candidate Ben Carson if he was "tough" enough to order a military strike that could kill thousands of children. 

"We're talking about ruthless things tonight. Carpet bombing, toughness, war. And people wonder, could you do that?" 

"Could you order air strikes that would kill innocent children by not the scores, but the hundreds and the thousands? Could you wage war as a commander in chief?" 

Carson attempted to answer Hewitt's question by drawing comparison between the role of Commander in Chief and making life and death decisions as a doctor but the radio host interjected: "So you are okay with the deaths of thousands of innocent children and civilians?"

It seems many debate moderators across a range of media outlets have lost perspective on how to question those vying for the highest office in the land. It is one thing to ask tough but fair questions of a presidential candidate, it is quite another to disparage and browbeat them into answering highly loaded ones that will paint them as a villain no matter how he or she answers.

(h/t: Newsbusters)