[dhoward]

John Kerry meets with the Queen of England. He asks her, "Your
Majesty, how do you run such an efficient government? Are there any tips

you can give me?"

"Well," says the Queen, "the most important thing is to surround yourself

with intelligent people."

Kerry frowns. "But how do I know the people around me are really
intelligent?"

The Queen takes a sip of tea. "Oh, that's easy. You just ask them to
answer an intelligent riddle. " The Queen pushes a button on her intercom.
"Please send Tony Blair in here, would you?"

Tony Blair walks into the room. "Yes, my Queen?"

The Queen smiles. "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 answers, "That would be me."

'Yes! Very good," says the Queen.


Kerry goes back home to ask John Edwards, his vice presidential choice
the same question.

"John. 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," says John Edwards. "Let me get back to you on that
one."

Edwards goes to his advisors and asks every one, but none can give
him an answer. Finally, he ends up in the men's room and recognizes Colin
Powell's shoes in the next stall.



Edwards shouts, "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 yells back, "That's easy. It's me!"

Edwards smiles, and says, "Thanks!" Then, Edwards goes back to speak
with Kerry. "Say, I did some research and I have the answer to that
riddle," he says. "It's Colin Powell."

Kerry gets up, stomps over to John Edwards, and angrily yells into his
face, "No, you idiot! It's Tony Blair!"