President Bush and the asparagus showdown

It all began last week at a news conference in Germany when President Bush and First Lady Laura thanked Chancellor Angela Merkel for dinner. "The German asparagus are fabulous," President Bush raved. That caught the ear of Sen. Patty Murray, who's dad grew up picking asparagus in the Tri-Cities area. Murray said the president was just "being polite" in his praise of German asparagus. "I wanted him to have some truly great asparagus from Washington state," she said. So she and Rep. Doc Hastings sent 10 pounds of asparagus from Gourmet Trading in Pasco, Wash., to the White House. "Mr. President, if you liked the German variety, we guarantee that you will love Washington state asparagus," the two said in a letter to the White House. Washington Asparagus Commission Director Alan Schriber says Germany's white asparagus variety not only is less tasty, at $8 a pound (versus $2-$4 a pound for Washington asparagus) it's much more expensive. Washington State is the second largest producer of asparagus in the nation, producing 53 million pounds of asparagus this year and bringing in $28 million to the economy. (Via Countdown to Crawford and KNDO)