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.
___
What was it that you said?
"Colbert was a disgrace...nuff said...hope he dies"
Your second post on FreeRepublic. Nice!
Whatever you are or whoever you are, I don't want to be associated with anything you say or stand for. Grow up, get lost or do both.
My thoughts exactly. See above.
Your post reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer refused to wear the AIDS ribbon.
I won't wear the AIDS ribbon . . . no matter what you say, and I thought Colbert had some good lines. The video tape he presented of the WH press room, that also included Helen Thomas, was his best work for the night. W and the impersonator were best of all, however.
Claudette Colbert was a friend of the Reagan's. IIRC there was a big deal made out of a trip President Reagan made to some island and the fact that he couldn't stay at her estate because of security. She is one of my favorite actresses, and I think her version of "Imitation of Life" is much better than the more popular one with Lana Turner.
There are some though, that can't stand to have their sore spot (Bush) poked.
What a room full of Dinosaurs. Why even dignify the Stone-age Press with an appearance. He was hysterical and the following act should fire his writer, painful to watch.
Pray for W and Our Freedom Fighters
Where did this guy, Colbert, come from?
He reminds me of Mel Kiper.
Inviting Plame & Wilson was truly a deliberate attempt by ABC to insult and irritate the Bush administration. Stupid move on their part. Elephants never forget.
The Demo's will never support him no matter what he does nor will the liberal jounalist media so that goal is unattainable.
By attending and "skiting" he laughed at them and their agenda, no small insult. They know he doesn't give a hoot what they think or print and he's not going to change, thank God.
They invited a soldier who lost his legs in Iraq. And the ruse backfired on the press as the President closed his remarks that in all seriousness, not a moment goes by when the President doesn't keep the US troops in mind. Then he said God Bless the Troops and God Bless the United States of America.
:-)
He didn't have to do anything special and he outclassed them.
:-) It shows class and it's also an opportunity to give a little of it back to them, which he did beautifully, he just did it in the guise of making fun of himself.
I think it went to the President's favor
:-) He did well, but the best were Reagan.
One was a clip of Reagan and Nancy, and he called on her to say something nice to the Press. She was silent. He cajoled her more, oh Nancy, say something, anything nice. She quipped, I'm thinking!
There was another Reagan clip in which he told a joke about a Republican politician going on a campaign. He comes to a farm and he asks if he could talk to them about his campaign. They said, sure, but we've never seen a Republican before, let's call the others. So while the folks are collecting, the politician looks for something to stand on so everyone could see and hear him, but all he could find was a pile of manure. No time to waste, he gets up on the pile, gives the speech and afterwards the folks said, wow, that was the first speech I'd ever heard from a Republican candidate! The politician said, that's the first time I gave a speech on the Democratic platform.
LOL
;-) I agree that the President did very well
:-) I agree, but I think that Colbert was just not in his element. A tv show is a lot different than a live engagement.
Plus his material was for a very slanted audience, under the age of what, say 25?
:-) Justice Alito was there. One of the charges by his drunken flatulence of Massachusetts was that Sam Alito was (gasp!) a FReeper.
He could have made it up, but I would like to believe it's true. One of these idiot savant episodes :-)
She needed a jacket
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