Decision Making 101

At the new George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, visitors to an interactive theater decide how they would respond to some of the challenges that faced the 43rd president.  Here's a slight twist to this game.  Pretend you are President Bush and choose in each case below the answer that best describes the action he took.

1. Terrorists primarily from Saudi Arabia and financed by operatives in Afghanistan destroy the World Trade Center in New York, killing 3,000 people.  In response, you decide to attack which of the following countries:

A. Germany

B. Zimbabwe

C. Iceland

D. Iraq

2. Once you decide to invade Iraq, you need to come up with an explanation for this unexpected move.  You invent the following scenario:

A. The Iraqi government is poised to land a manned space shuttle on Mars.

B. A group of Iraqi school children threatened publicly to throw 50 pairs of shoes (that once belonged to Imelda Marcos) at you.

C. Gold has been discovered near Basra.

D. Saddam Hussein has acquired weapons of mass destruction.

3. You begin to capture suspects in your so-called "War on Terror."  You take which of the following actions:

A. Read the prisoners their Miranda rights.

B. Appoint defense lawyers.

C. Reread the Geneva Convention.

D. Ignore the international ban on torture and set up secret detention sites.

4. A major hurricane devastates the Gulf Coast of the United States.  You act quickly in the following way:

A. Watch CNN's coverage of people stranded at the Superdome in New Orleans and wonder if the World Series is under way.

B. Watch Al Jazeera's coverage of Americans sleeping on luggage conveyors at the New Orleans airport and wonder if this isn't a third world country by mistake.

C. Watch NBC's coverage of the failure of the levees throughout the city and find yourself humming "American Pie"--"drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry/Them good ol' boys were drinking whiskey and rye/Singing this'll be the the day that I die."

D. Watch the mayhem below from the comfort of your private presidential helicopter--seemingly disengaged and uninterested.

5. As the hurricane devastation unfolds, you compliment which of your advisers in the following way:

A. "Dick, You're as close to Voldemort as they come."

B. "Condi, You play the piano beautifully."

C. "Rummy, Thank you for reminding us of both the known unknowns and the unknown unknowns."

D. "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."

If you answered "D" in each case, congratulations!  You've won a day's free pass to the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas.