Defense Chief: No 'Sissy Sauce'

In her interview with Defense Secretary Robert Gates this week, radio talk show host Laura Ingraham hit all the big topics of the day: whether the "surge" in Iraq is working, the release of 15 British sailors held captive in Iran, and supplemental funding for the military. But then she faced a choice: whether to quiz him on his proposal to grow the size of the armed forces, or to zero in on a more important subject: barbecue. Here's how it turned out:

INGRAHAM: Well, Mr. Secretary, we're running out of time. There are so many issues I wanted to talk to you about, including the size of our military. And I know your proposal to grow the military, which I'm so interested in. But we have to ask you a really important question before you go. Have you found any decent barbeque in the Washington, D.C. area?

SEC. GATES: No. (Chuckles.) I have to go back to Texas for that, I think!

INGRAHAM: Well, you know, Rudy's was my favorite. When I pulled out of College Station a couple of weeks ago, giving a speech down there, I was in heaven at Rudy's.

SEC. GATES: I was a regular at Rudy's.

INGRAHAM: Were you really? What was your favorite? Were you a pulled-pork man, or were you more the beef brisket? What did you do?

SEC. GATES: I'm pork ribs, period.

INGRAHAM: Oh, pork ribs. That is a fascinating look into your psyche that you're a pork ribs person, Mr. Secretary.

SEC. GATES: (Laughs.) With the regular sauce, not the sissy sauce.