Wait wait, do tell...NPR show riffs on Bush

Today on NPR's "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me," host Peter Sagal and his panel of funny journalists (and one actual comedian) talked about President Bush's role in the Wall Street crisis.

Their riffs were not flattering, and perhaps not even fair (Bush seemed proactive last week.) But they were funny.

Sagal, who hosts the weekly news quiz show, began with this:

We feel the need to remind people from time to time but the current president of the United States is George W. Bush. He used to own the Texas Rangers.

With the economy pulling a Hindenburg, Mr. Bush made a statement saying he was worried too, he was worried enough to cancel a fundraiser and that he was staying in Washington to meet with his advisors.

And that was about it from the president. So he got some criticism after that brief statement after three days of inaction that he wasn’t doing enough. So the president flew Air Force One in a circle around Lower Manhattan and looked out the window with a pained look on his face...Then he announced FEMA would be providing penthouses to affected bankers.

To which Paula Poundstone replied, "Now that the dollar has so little value you could put him on it."

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images, of Bush with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and SEC Chairman Christopher Cox