It's not exactly reassuring to hear White House press secretary Dana Perino confess that, when asked by a reporter, she didn't know what the Cuban Missile Crisis was.

Her theory?"It had to do with Cuba and missiles, I'm pretty sure."

Rachel Leow - 12/11/2007

not a very excusable position for either Perino or Baker to take, in my opinion. after all, if you come into a movie late, do you not try to find out what happened before? other options are: remain confused, don't care, try to predict the ending, or complain loudly to everyone around you. all these are caricatures of politics.

Robert KC Johnson - 12/11/2007

Perhaps it's so--with the writers' strike, they need new material!

judith weingarten - 12/11/2007

It's simple, really. Art history begins with Andy Warhol and plain old history begins 'before you were born'.

Ed Schmitt - 12/10/2007

Too bad the one self-proclaimed student of history in the administration isn't around anymore to give Ms. Perino an advanced lesson on the virtues of William McKinley.

Manan Ahmed - 12/10/2007

I was more intrigued by the WaPo write up - which had an interesting take on historical memory:

""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. "

So, anything that predates one's birth is a plausibe excuse according to Peter Baker?

Oscar Chamberlain - 12/10/2007

I would like to believe that Perino is auditioning for Comedy Central.