Rare Case of Pretzel-Induced Amnesia, White House Doctor Says
President Bush has "fully recovered" from a fainting spell he suffered after swallowing a pretzel yesterday, a White House doctor says, with one very minor side effect: partial amnesia.
The bump that Mr. Bush took on the head during his fall has left the President with no memory of ever having spoken to anyone from Enron, the Houston-based energy giant.
"Apparently, the very minor trauma to the President's head only affected that part of the human brain that processes memories related to embattled enery companies," said Dr. Richard Tubb, the offical White House physician.
While unusual, pretzel-induced amnesia is not without precedent, medical experts say.
In the mid-1980's, President Bush's father, then serving as Vice-President, swallowed a pretzel which caused him to forget crucial details of the Iran-Contra scandal.
And a late-night pretzel-swallowing binge caused former President Bill Clinton to forget temporarily that he had ever had an "inappropriate relationship" with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
In Mr. Clinton's case, the pretzel-induced amnesia eventually wore off, with the former President recovering his memory, albeit partially, while giving a deposition under oath.
As of last night, things were "back to normal" at the White House, with one observer reporting that Attorney General John Ashcroft, Vice-President ****** Cheney and other key administration officials were seen sharing a big bag of pretzels.
