Aaron Sorkin, father of The West Wing, posits how a conversation between Barack Obama and West Wing President Jed Bartlet would go.

I haven’t read Maureen Dowd in years, but this is totally worth it.

I have a couple of questions for the current president…who, by the way, is no Martin Sheen:

1. Why doesn’t the Bush Doctrine apply to the economy if it’s such a great solution? The current state of the economy and the failure of the massive companies so recently in the spotlight is NOT A SURPRISE. Congress warned years ago about Fannie and Freddie in particular, and you told them to shut it. Tell me why a preemptive strike is appropriate without evidence, but not with it.
2. If you’re going to nationalize companies, why not start with some profitable ones? If I were getting a check out of the Exxon coffers, it might be easier for me to overlook the fact that the party that wins on staying out of business affairs has made a habit of bailing out select companies with…questionable ethics and business practices. In point of fact, if you’re all about the American entrepreneur, how about bailing out the small businesses that can’t stay afloat in the economy you’ve wrecked?
3. Obama’s national healthcare plan, fully operational, will cost less than $70 billion a year. I realize I’m oversimplifying a bit, but tell me why 10 YEARS of that isn’t more of a priority than this corporate bailout for companies that knew what they were doing?
4. Remind me — which MBA program did you attend? Because I want to avoid any one that fails to teach the difference between a recession and a depression. Lesson 1: We’re in a recession. Lesson 2: Depression comes next, once we experience negative growth.

Read the Dowd article/script. If anyone needs me, I’ll be adding the complete series of West Wing DVDs to my wishlist.