The Queen's Riddle
Barack Obama met with the Queen of England. He asked her, "Your Majesty,
how do you run such an efficient government? Are there any tips you can
give me?"
"Well," said the Queen, "I've found that the most important thing is to surround yourself
with intelligent people." Obama frowned, and then asked, "But how do I know
the people around me are really intelligent?"
The Queen took a sip of tea. "Oh, that's easy; just ask them to answer
an intelligent riddle." The Queen pushed a button on her intercom. "Please
send Tony Blair in here, would you?"
Tony Blair walked into the room and said, "Yes, Your Majesty?" The Queen
smiled and said, "Answer me this please, Tony, your mother and father have a
child. It is not your brother and it is not your sister. Who is it?"
Without pausing for a moment, Tony Blair answered, "That would be me."
"Yes! Very good," said the Queen.
Obama went back home to ask vice president Joe Biden the same
question. "Joe, answer this for me. Your mother and your father have a
child. It's not your brother and it's not your sister. Who is it?"
"I'm not sure," said Biden. "Let me get back to you on that one." He went
to his advisors and asked every one, but none could give him an answer.
Finally, he ended up in the men's room and recognized Colin Powell's shoes
in the next stall. Biden asked Powell, "Colin, can you answer this for me?
Your mother and father have a child and it's not your brother or your
sister. Who is it?"
Colin Powell answered back, "That's easy, it's me!"
Biden smiled, and said, "Thanks!" Then, he went back to speak with Obama.
"Boss, I did some research and I have the answer to that riddle. It's Colin
Powell!"
Obama got up, stomped over to Biden, and angrily yelled into his face, "No, you idiot! It's Tony Blair!"