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.
___
Good point! I was thinking how Clinton felt obligated to control the event. He looked angry at having to be self deprecating
LOL! I think that is why Steve pointed out (as Bush's alter ego) "Why dan't I have dinner with the 36% that DO LIKE ME?"
It was WONDERFULLY written and BRILLIANTLY DELIVERED!
The Dims were there. She's not high on their list and there are lots of thoughts about how to get her off the ticket in 08
He made great comments about how immigrants must learn English and must sing the national anthem in English
Hi, www.cspan.org has a link on the upper right that says television schedules, so you can see what's on today and tomorrow-- I didn't find it and when I clicked on yesterday's link for the dinner, there was an ad to buy it for some 25 dollars :-(
What you could do is to call CSPAN and ask when it will be aired again
:-) It's like the Soviet Union never went away. It's the opposite of what they say.
LOL
:-) I loved her movies too.
Thanks for that information. I thought that they were friends :-)
:-) It was great to display the gap. It can only help us in the coming election
:-) That's wonderful that they did invite them -- Joe
Wilson is an embarassment to the Left.
What was the purpose of the Helen Thomas piece? Was it that once one is exposed to such ugliness, there is just no escaping it? That was just stupid.
Saw the replay on CSPAN a short time ago and changed the channel after five minutes of this Clymer. Not funny at all. The audience responded accordingly.
This has been an ongoing event since 1928. I think people who complain about the President joking with these people during wartime, etc., should take a look at the history of the Correspondents' Dinner, which took place through World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. It's part roast, part the president getting to let his hair down, so to speak. Some presidents have been better at this than others, it's always good to see that Bush hasn't lost his sense of humor over the past six years.
I do think Colbert was trying, it just wasn't the right forum and he's not that talented.
They were polite
I did enjoy the two Presidents! I loved how W could hardly hold his laughter back :-)
Oh come on...this dinner has been going on since 1914...there's NO way he could bow out.
"Same old big brother, different stripes."
And just where did it say that this was an unregulated public forum?
The owner of the website has a responsibility to monitor and curtail violations of posted rules and violations of civic liability (and has been involved in several lawsuits because of not stopping certain violations soon enough).
How about you provide full fiscal financial responsibility for FR, then you can decide who says what????
Clinton was unhappy with himself, and justifiably so.
I loved the line he had to memorize since it was so complicated then botched it anyway..."Nailed it!"
Everybody in the room was howling. That had to be the best gag ever given.
Then he is followed by a braindead hatefilled lib trying to bash the President at his dinner. Pathetic.
Pray for W and Our Troops
:-)
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