Whose Defense is it Anyway?

Since it’s Sunday, I thought it might be fun to play a little game. Might not want to pull this one out at your next dinner party, but it’s some good clean fun the whole family can enjoy and is a lot less complicated than Yahtzee. (…or is it…?)

The way the game works is like this. I give you a statement. Your job is to tell me whether that statement comes from:

-then-President George W. Bush’s February 8, 2004, Meet the Press interview, in which he defended the decision to intervene in Iraq despite apparent failures by the intelligence community in assessing the threat leading up to it; or
-Vice President Joe Biden’s June 14, 2009, Meet the Press interview, in which he defended the government’s decision to intervene in the American automobile industry’s present crisis by effectively taking the helm of GM and Chrysler.

Here’s one to get you started:

“And the President of the United States’ most solemn responsibility is to keep this country secure. And the man was a threat, and we dealt with him, and we dealt with him because we cannot hope for the best.”

Ok, ok, that was a softball-obviously that was Bush. These next ones won’t be so easy…

1. “I love these folks who go out there and say, ‘Why'd you get involved?’”

2. “What is the one thing they all agreed on, every country that we participated with? We need to have…some control over the system that--so it can't run wild.”

3. “The exit strategy is that we, in fact…where the United States government…has got engaged in helping them stay alive is that they begin--they are retooled…We get the hell, the heck out as quickly as we can.”

4. “Well, we're not trying to run the [country/companies]. We've turned over the daily operation…to the [Iraqis/boards of directors of these companies].”

5. “And by the way, had we not done this, they'd all be in deep, deep, deep trouble…I love these folks who say we shouldn't have done anything. At the time I didn't hear anybody saying that.”

All done? Ok, let’s see how you did.

All five were Biden.

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**On a completely serious note, I wanted to take this opportunity to honor the memory of Tim Russert. Reading over the transcript of the Bush interview reminded me just what a fine example he was and remains to anyone who writes or thinks about politics and government. May you feast with the angels, Mr. Russert, and know that the void left by your departure from this world a year ago is exceeded only by your legacy; namely, a generation willing to ask tough questions on Sunday and spend the rest of the week really thinking about the answers. Thank you, sir.