A day in the life of President & Mrs. Bush (5/1/05): photos of the roast

Yahoo News Photos ^ | 5/1/05

[Wolfstar]

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: The President and First Lady attended Sunday morning church services at St. Johns, and were spending a quiet day at the White House.

TRANSCRIPT OF THE DAY: While I could not find an official transcript of the First Lady's remarks last night, I didi find the next best thing by cobbling together several news reports.

First Lady Laura Bush has stolen the show with a surprise comedy routine that teases her husband President George W Bush.

The performance at a dinner honouring award-winning journalists brought a standing ovation from the audience -- that included much of official Washington and a dash of Hollywood.

The president pretended to start a planned a speech last night 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."

GWB sat down and Laura 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." Comedic pause. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am a desperate housewife."

The First Lady went on to quip that one night she went out to Chippendales, a male strip bar, with Lynne Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and top Bush aide Karen Hughes.

"I wouldn't even mention it, except (Supreme Court Justices) Ruth Ginsberg and Sandra Day O'Connor saw us there," she said. "I won't tell you what happened. But Lynne's secret service code name is now 'dollar bill'."

Laura Bush also joked about the president's mother Barbara Bush. "People think she's a sweet grandmotherly aunt Bea type. She's actually more like (fictional Mafia capo) Don Corleone."

She said that her husband actually knew little about ranching when they bought their ranch in Crawford, Texas.

"I'm proud of George. He's learned a lot about ranching since that first year, when he tried to milk the horse. What's worse, it was a male horse," she said.

The president now often spends time at the ranch clearing brush and cutting trails. "George's answer to any problem at the ranch is to cut it down with a chainsaw. Which I think is why he and Cheney and Rumsfeld get along so well."

[Wolfstar]

Although Laura was postively hilarious, she concluded her remarks on a serious and loving note. She said that she's always believed people choose their spouses to complete something lacking in themselves. She said as an only child, she found her brothers and sisters in the Bush family. She said that she's introverted, while her husband is extroverted. She poked fun at herself in saying that, as a librarian, she spent 12 hours a day in the library, so it was amazing she ever met George. She also told the crowd she loves her George.

[Wolfstar]

Pinging you to a Sunday Dose. Lots of photos today, and they deserve their own Dose thread.

[gopwinsin04]

Top 10!

[Wolfstar]

PHOTO OF THE DAY: A mischievious President Bush answers a reporter's question before getting into his limo outside St. John's Church today. GWB told reporters he is proud of his wife's comedy routine last night at the banquet.

[squarebarb]

Top ten!

[squarebarb]

Top ten!

[Wolfstar]

Leaving church today. (This certainly has been a lovely tribute-to-Laura weekend on the Dose.)

[Wolfstar]

The First Lady smiles as she "interrupts" her husband and prepares to roast him last night. Behind her, the President looks like the cat that ate the canary. (News reports recently have noted Laura's sky-high approval ratings, but sniped that she "doesn't say" anything, comparing her unfavorably to Hillary Clinton for that reason. I suspect GWB and Laura cooked this routine up as a subtle response.)

[luvie]

All Riiiiiight! Can hardly wait to see them all! Thanks, Wolfstar!

[Wolfstar]

GWB roars with laughter at his wife's jokes about him.

Our Dubya, who's rarely at a loss for a quip himself, thoroughly enjoyed Laura's routine.

The President did blush when Laura told the joke about how he tried to milk a horse, only it was a male horse. I think this is one of the cutest photos I've ever seen of our Dubya. (Blushing is an autonomic response, and I'm sure he didn't expect it to happen.)

[Theresawithanh]

Yay, I SO need this today! Thanks Wolfstar, can't wait!

[Wolfstar]

The President and Cedric the Entertainer, who was the evening's entertainment headliner (although he was totally upstaged by the First Lady).

[Wolfstar]

As Laura turns to retake her seat, her George reaches out to hug her.

[gopwinsin04]

I really enjoyed the banquet last night. They always have something special cooked up for the correspondants!

[Wolfstar]

Laura gets a standing ovation after her routine. At left is White House press secretary Scott McClellan, second from left is Jim Angle of Fox News, and second from right is Ron Hutcheson of Knight Ridder. The President looks so proud of her.

[StarFan]

MSM seem so enamored of our First Lady's performance last night and have been running sound bites most of the day. She was fabulous.

[Wolfstar]

Vice President Dick Cheney comically raps his glass with a spoon to quiet the crowd at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. Steve Scully (R) of C-SPAN laughs on a night when the head table was kept in stitches by first lady Laura Bush and comedian Cedric the Entertainer. Laura did not spare Dick, Lynne, or Don Rumsfeld during her roast.

The VP jokingly peers into the crowd.

[Theresawithanh]

Oh my, I don't think I've ever seen a picture of President Bush blushing! How cute!

The milking the horse joke must have hit him as a surprise! Good for Laura.

[Wolfstar]

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cracks up as comedian Cedric the Entertainer tells jokes about her at the dinner. Cedric had a tough act to follow, as the First Lady stole the show with a roast of her husband. But Cedric did have some really funny lines about Condi, playing off her unusual first name. He joked that there are two women: Condi, who is the nice one, and Leeza, who is the one with street smarts. Then he did a series of jokes describing how "Condi" and "Leeza" would react differently to world events.

[Wolfstar]

Here's a few more photos of Laura's tour of western states last week to promote her youth initiatives.

The First Lady greets participants at the Helping America's Youth event, Thursday, April 28, 2005, at the Friends of the Children, in Portland, Ore.

Laura hugs Regis Kindred, 15, before addressing participants at the Helping America's Youth event.

The next pic was at the Alameda, CA, event. The First Lady looks positively radient, and clearly she has never lost her love of teaching.