Dana Perino on the Cuban Missile Crisis: "It had to do with Cuba and missiles, I'm pretty sure"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/09/AR2007120901336.html

Still looking for that last-minute Christmas gift for White House press secretary Dana Perino? May we recommend a gift certificate for the forthcoming book on the Cuban Missile Crisis by our colleague Michael Dobbs, "One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War," due out next summer?

Appearing on National Public Radio's light-hearted quiz show "Wait, Wait . . . Don't Tell Me," which aired over the weekend, Perino got into the spirit of things and told a story about herself that she had previously shared only in private: During a White House briefing, a reporter referred to the Cuban Missile Crisis -- and she didn't know what it was.

"I was panicked a bit because I really don't know about . . . the Cuban Missile Crisis," said Perino, who at 35 was born about a decade after the 1962 U.S.-Soviet nuclear showdown. "It had to do with Cuba and missiles, I'm pretty sure."

So she consulted her best source. "I came home and I asked my husband," she recalled. "I said, 'Wasn't that like the Bay of Pigs thing?' And he said, 'Oh, Dana.' "

[RufusEarl]

1. She has a college degree right ?

Damn !!

Peace!

[jimshoes]

2. Glad they didn't ask her about WW2

Had to do with the Germans or something.

[MnFats]

3. oh, hell. i turned it off when I realized she was on....

..'wait wait' has had a few rightie nutjobs on in recent weeks...

[gateley]

4. And I think I read her husband is British. nt

[JI7]

14. here is a pic of her husband

he is 18 years older than her

[gatorboy]

5. Don't forget "crisis".

I heard that was also a very important aspect of the title. :eyes:


Did they book her for "Wait, Wait . . . Don't Tell Me....You're an Idiot"

[tanyev]

6. It was like, omigod! scary and everything, and now I totally understand

why Our Glorious Leader hates Fidel so much! Who knew history could be so, like, cool!

[liberalhistorian]

7. Oh, yeah! And didn't the French Revolution have something

to do with the French and an, um, lemme think here.....uh, whatchamacallit, a revolution? And didn't a lot of the countries of the world have something to do with WWI? Or was that WWII? Hmmmm.........

Jesus H. Christ on a raft, and this woman is the fucking press secretary to the PRESIDENT? I'd expect this kind of ignorance from a high schooler, but the goddamned U.S. press secretary? Oh, wait.........her boss's favorite book is My Pet Goat. 'Nuff said. Jeebus, are we in trouble!!!

[CTyankee]

11. Well, my repub brother in law, an attorney, had never heard of the Peloponnesian War

when I was trying to describe the parallels with our misadventure into Iraq. I was astonished!

As an historian, I am sure you hear stuff like this all the time, tho...

[HughBeaumont]

8. And America's image has hit a new low.

Astounding.

[scarface2004]

9. what about the detroit riots?

something to do with detroit and riots!??

[CTyankee]

10. A GREAT book was written shortly after the crisis, "The Missile

Crisis" by Elie Abel. I read it recently when I was laid up after surgery. Fascinating and very scary.

Of course, I remember the missile crisis vividly, being afraid since I had just moved to New York City and felt we were targeted for nuclear obliteration.

Abel describes JFK's masterly use of diplomacy, balanced by a show of military strength (blockade). It was the exact opposite of what clown Bush is doing. And the WORLD respected us for it.

Sad to remember in how much esteem America was held by the world!

[bullwinkle428]

12. "Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"

[orleans]

13. eew. and what a fucking picture of these two! creeepy.... n/t

[BootinUp]

15. Didn't everyone learn about that in like Elementary school? nt

[opihimoimoi]

16. Appears she got LEFT BEHIND in school......

[democrat2thecore]

17. Unbelievable- Think on this

When I first heard this craziness I thought it was a joke. I realized a little into the story on MSNBC that she really said this. Think about this: The spokesperson for the President of the United States knew nothing of the most frightening moment for U.S. security of the second half of the 20th century. Knew NOTHING. Hours from nuclear war and in less than 50 years, the spokesperson for the president would know nothing of this. Shocking.

Edit: I had the privilege of being in Des Moines on October 2nd for a speech by Senator Obama where he was introduced by Theodore Sorenson - way up in years now, but he told of sitting around the table during those scary days and in awe of the judgment of President Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy. There was a lot of "experience" in that room that would have maybe blown up the world, but JFK's judgment brought it all to a peaceful close. I still can't believe the presidential spokesperson knew nothing of these scary days for the entire world! BTW, Dana Perino is 36 years old.

[Hippo_Tron]

18. If I promised this administration that I'd go out and lie for them every day for a paycheck...

And told them that I'm more competent than Dana Perino because I know history, I still somehow don't think I'd get the job. What gives?