Posted on 04/30/2005 7:56:02 PM PDT by wjersey
WASHINGTON - First lady Laura Bush stole the show with a surprise comedy routine that ripped President Bush and brought an audience that included much of official Washington and a dash of Hollywood to a standing ovation at a dinner honoring award-winning journalists.
The president planned a speech late Saturday at the 91st annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner, but was quickly "interrupted" by his wife in an obviously planned ploy.
"Not that old joke, not again," she said to the delight of the audience. "I've been attending these dinners for years and just quietly sitting there. I've got a few things I want to say for a change."
The president sat down and she proceeded to note that he is "usually in bed by now" and said she told him recently, "If you really want to end tyranny in the world you're going to have to stay up later."
She outlined a typical evening: "Nine o'clock, Mr. Excitement here is sound asleep and I'm watching `Desperate Housewives'." Comedic pause. "With Lynne Cheney. Ladies and gentlemen, I am a desperate housewife."
But she said they obviously were destined to be together as a couple because "I was the librarian who spent 12 hours a day in library and yet somehow I met George."
Joining the Bushes were Vice President Dick Cheney and wife Lynne, nine Cabinet members and two Supreme Court justices, Antonin Scalia and Stephen Breyer.
News organizations hosted show business and sports stars such as Goldie Hawn, LL Cool J, Richard Gere, Jane Fonda and the starting quarterbacks of this year's Super Bowl, Tom Brady of the New England Patriots and Donovan McNabb of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Award winners announced earlier this month:
_Ron Fournier of The Associated Press, the Merriman Smith Award for presidential coverage under deadline pressure for his stories on Bush's victory over John Kerry.
_Susan Page of USA Today, the Aldo Beckman Award for her stories on the presidency and the presidential campaign.
_Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Edgar A. Poe Award for a series of stories on athletes' steroid use.
Presidents since Calvin Coolidge have attended the dinner hosted by the association, which was established in 1914 as a bridge between the press corps and the White House.
I joined it "in Progress"...& Laura was wonderful. Cspan is repeating it right now 1020pm CDT.
I'm not getting it on CSPAN or CSPAN2. Is it on CSPAN3??
Never mind [/emily litella]. They were showing the pre-made intro film and it looked like something from BookNotes.
Great idea. She might be able to stop Hillary.
CSPAN1
Nothing like watching Ron "Kerry's Unofficial Press Secretary" Fournier posing and shaking hands with the President he tried so hard to unseat.
Anyone could stop Hillary. She's only popular among those who vote consistently Democrat, which is 43% of the Democrat party, by default.
Re-run has just started on C-Span.
Jane Fonda, eh. Treason will get you anywhere these days.
Yes, C-Span re-run in progress and surely this guy will sit down soon and we get to see Laura again.
Another class act. The Bushes make good humored fun of themselves. The Democrats make bad humored attacks on their enemies.
She did a fabulous job...and I don't think that I have ever seen her look more beautiful.
Laura Bush was fantastic. She's got such great timing and I loved the way she would look over at Lynne Cheney to see her reaction to the joke.
Yes, she did!...And I was howling, too!
Laura is hilarious. :D
I had the pleasure of meeting her during the recent campaign. She just glows. Her goodness is like an aura that surrounds her. It's really quite astounding to be near her.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.