Posted on 04/30/2006 3:43:25 AM PDT by saveliberty
By ELIZABETH WHITE, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 20 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - It was twice the fun for members of the White House Correspondents' Association and guests Saturday night when President Bush and a look-alike, sound-alike sidekick poked fun at the president and fellow politicians.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I feel chipper tonight. I survived the White House shake-up," the president said.
But impersonator Steve Bridges stole many of the best lines. Vice President Dick Cheney and his hunting accident were targets of his humor on a couple of occasions.
"Speaking of suspects, where is the great white hunter?" Bridges said, later adding, "He shot the only trial lawyer in the country who supports me."
Bush continued a tradition begun by President Coolidge in attending the correspondents' dinner.
He invited Bridges to play his double. The president talked to the press in polite, friendly terms. Bridges told them what the president was really thinking.
Bridges opened like this: "The media really ticks me off the way they try to embarrass me by not editing what I say. Well, let's get things going, or I'll never get to bed."
"I'm absolutely delighted to be here, as is (wife) Laura," Bush replied.
"She's hot," Bridges quipped.
The featured entertainer was Stephen Colbert, whose Comedy Central show "The Colbert Report" often lampoons the Washington establishment.
"I believe that the government that governs best is a government that governs least, and by these standards we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq," Colbert said in a typical zinger.
He also paid mock tribute to Bush as a man who "believes Wednesday what he believed Monday, despite what happened Tuesday."
Yet it's the Who's Who of power and celebrity in the audience invited by media organizations to their dinner tables that draws much of the attention.
Joining ABC were former Ambassador Joseph Wilson and his wife, Valerie Plame, the CIA officer at the heart of a leak investigation that has reached deep into the White House.
Others on the guest list included rapper-actor Ludacris; James Denton, the hunky plumber on ABC's "Desperate Housewives"; "Dancing With the Stars" winner Drew Lachey; New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin; tennis player Anna Kournikova; and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
Award winners honored at the dinner were:
_Deb Riechmann of The Associated Press and Terry Moran of ABC News, Merriman Smith Awards, the top journalism award for White House reporting under deadline pressure.
Riechmann was recognized for breaking the news of Bush's choice of John Roberts for the Supreme Court. Moran was cited for his broadcast coverage of Bush's first visit to areas hit by Hurricane Katrina.
_Carl Cannon of the National Journal, the Aldo Beckman Award for his profile of presidential adviser Michael Gerson. The award is given for repeated excellence in White House reporting.
_Marcus Stern and Jerry Kammer of the Copley News Service, the Edgar A. Poe Award for a series of stories on Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who resigned in disgrace and pleaded guilty to accepting $2.4 million in bribes. The Poe award recognizes excellence in news of national and regional importance.
The association was established in 1914 as a bridge between the press corps and the White House. The current president is Mark Smith of AP Radio.
___
Colbert's bit dragged on and on and on ... He just wasn't very funny.
And with Joe Wilson and his wife, of all people.
I just felt so embarassed for Colbert last night; NOTHING he said was funny, nor did it get many laughs from the audience. The video with Helen Thomas was funny at times, but because its premise was attacking the President about Iraq, it seemed hostile overall.
I think so. Didn't they work together at least once?
I know, the DBM just invited these treacherous liars to rile us.
It just reaffirms who these scum are in the DBM.
They were at the table where grubs and worms were served, weren't they? That's what moles eat........
W should refuse to attend such an event, breaking this "tradition" once and for all.
This President has demonstrated that he is absoulutely clueless when it comes to dealing with his domestic enemies on the left, de facto enemy allies in that they are more effective at destroying our will to fight than some smelly one eyed subhuman towelhead camel jockey could ever hope to be.
Hard to believe that it has been less than 5 years since 9/11 and more than half of the population want us out of Iraq and Afghanistan and believe that there were no WMD.
The propaganda of the left has been unbelievably effective, they are running around with straight faces saying Iraq has nothing to do with the WOT, and people are buying into it.
The American left should be assailed by this President, its political leaders shamed and silenced and its propagandists in the press jailed .
Iran knows that the left is its biggest ally and is acting accordingly.
Didn't Helen Thomas come in for any ribbing for her slamming shots with a Mexican poolboy or whatever it was she was up to a few weeks ago?
" Anna Kournikova"
Rules.......
OK, here.....take a quick look, then get to church.
;-)
I didn't even get to see Ben Roethlisberger. Bummer. Die Hard Pittsburgh Steeler Fan Ping!
IT'S A 'BURGH THING!
That whole list of celebrities sounded like the lineup on Hollywood Squares: "I'll take Joe Wilson to block, please."
ABC is only following form, after all they hired half the Clintonistas ... Coumo, Georgia Stef, Clark, etc..
President Bush was the star all the way around. Class 100%. Most of the audience, as well as most of the stage personnas, reeked with self-importance. Big media inviting the likes of Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame, George Clooney, Ludicrus, etc. The media elites came but lost this battle BIGTIME. Our President comes out unscathed.
:-) I agree. He made the President look classy and brilliant, which clearly was the inverse of what he thought he was doing
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