Monday, February 16, 2009

PRESIDENTS DAY QUIZ

Match the quote with the President. The quote is taken from an Op Ed piece each president wrote for the NY Times at some time, not necessarily during the time they were in office.  Answers tomorrow.  Hint: just because you can figure out the date of the quote, does not mean the president at that time wrote it. 



1) If we must resort to military force to drive Saddam Hussein from Kuwait, it will not be a war about democracy. While our goal is to restore Kuwait's legitimate Government, it is hypocritical to suggest that we hope to bring democracy to Kuwait. Except for Israel, there are no democracies in the Mideast, and there will be none in the foreseeable future. The Emir of Kuwait is among the world's more benevolent dictators, but once he is back in his palace in Kuwait City, he will still be a dictator.



2) I never permitted religious services to be held in the White House. With as little publicity as possible, we worshiped at the nearest Baptist church when we were in Washington, and at Camp David the chaplain from a nearby Army base conducted private services for us and a few of the Navy families stationed there. Yet I prayed more during those four years than at any other time in my life, primarily for patience, courage and the wisdom to make good decisions. I also prayed for peace -- for ourselves and others. 


3) While there has been a Federal law on the books for more than 20 years that prohibits the sale of firearms to felons, fugitives, drug addicts and the mentally ill, it has no enforcement mechanism and basically works on the honor system, with the purchaser filling out a statement that the gun dealer sticks in a drawer.
The new bill would require the handgun dealer to provide a copy of the prospective purchaser's sworn statement to local law enforcement authorities so that background checks could be made. Based upon the evidence in states that already have handgun purchase waiting periods, this bill -- on a nationwide scale -- can't help but stop thousands of illegal handgun purchases.



4) Those who think we're powerless to do anything about the ''greenhouse effect'' are forgetting about the ''White House effect.'' As President, I intend to do something about it. In my first year in office, I will convene a global conference on the environment at the White House. It will include the Soviets, the Chinese, the developing world as well as the developed. All nations will be welcome - and indeed, all nations will be needed.
The agenda will be clear. We will talk about global warming. We will talk about acid rain. We will talk about saving our oceans, and preventing the loss of tropical forests. And we will act.


5)  We enter the new territory of modern science, the choices will only grow more difficult. The new technologies we create -- with their potential to cure disease and relieve suffering -- may well define our age. But we will also be defined by the care and sense of self-restraint and responsibility with which we took up these new powers.


6) After vetoing two earlier versions, I signed welfare reform into law. At the time, I was widely criticized by liberals who thought the work requirements too harsh and conservatives who thought the work incentives too generous. Three members of my administration ultimately resigned in protest. Thankfully, a majority of both Democrats and Republicans voted for the bill because they thought we shouldn't be satisfied with a system that had led to intergenerational dependency.


A) Clinton; B) Nixon;  C) Carter  D) George H W Bush (41); E) George W Bush (43); F) Reagan. 

Be careful. It's trickier than it looks.  Each president wrote one of the above quotes. 

14 comments:

  1. Bush I
    Carter
    Clinton
    Reagan
    Nixon
    Bush II

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  2. Nixon
    Carter
    Bush I
    Bush II
    Reagan
    Clinton

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  3. getting better. 3 right.

    Tricky, huh?

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  4. Nixon
    Carter
    Reagan
    Bush 1
    Bush 2
    Clinton

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  5. Nixon
    Carter
    Reagan
    Bush I
    Bush II
    Clinton

    Also--Let's play Stump Rump, although this question is easy. Who was the last Supreme Court Justice who took his or her seat without any prior judicial experience?

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  6. BINGO. You got it.

    Should be Ruth Ginsburg, right?

    The Nixon analysis, done in 1991 right before the first Gulf war was right on the money. He was pretty sharp in foreign affairs. Always was.

    Carter never held religious services in the White House, and Reagan was talking about the Brady Bill. Bush I always had progressive ideas, but had trouble getting real actions on them, and Bush II is just a dope.

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  7. I'm wrong but your question threw me.I thought it said "her seat" but I then realized that Rhenquist was the last Justice who was approved without any prior judicial experience. He was a DOJ Hack under Nixon.

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  8. Rumpole-the clerk's office website has been down since Friday. My staff and I can't get any work down. Please use your influence.

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  9. DOJ Hack?? I beg your pardon. William Rehnquist emerged from the highest circles of the Republican machine and was part of Nixon's Watergate crowd from Phoenix... think Richard Kleindeinst (1st Attorney General ever convicted of a crime) and Robert Mardian (one of Watergate Four convited with Haldeman & Erlichman, Phoenix construction executive). Rehnquist earned his stripes in the voting rights section sitting on petitions to recall AZ Gov. Jack Williams filed by the United Farmworkers Union. While DOJ ultimately overruled AZ Atty Gen'l and OK'd petitions, Rehnquist sat on it long enough that governor's term expired in the meantime. AZ Atty Gen'l promoted to Bankruptcy court by Nixon. Prior to going to D.C. with Maricopa Mafia (second in conservative influence only to Orange County) Rehnquist distinguished himself as a "Poll Watcher" in south Phoenix to help suppress the Chicano vote (same tactics seen today with Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio). Yes,... sorry to report, even "Sandy Baby" O'Connor was a fellow traveller.

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  10. Fake Risivy is now on Twitter. He is funny, pithy, smart, engaging, and has hundreds of followers. He's the real deal.

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  11. Rumpole, we are deeply offended and insulted that you chose to lump George W. Bush in with us. He is a moron, not a dope.

    We are giving serious consideration to hiring a famous South Florida attorney known as the "Q" to puruse legal action against you. We would have used Jack Thompson, but from what we understand he has some issues with The Florida Bar.

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  12. Can we have a redo on the Clerk race? WTF on the clerk site being down all weekend. ETA when it will be back on-line Mr. Ruvin?

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