Free Republic

...Palin shared the bill at the black-tie dinner of the 124-year old club with Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.). She was joined by her husband, Todd Palin, and her parents. Palin -- a potential 2012 presidential candidate -- is touring the nation promoting her memoir, Going Rogue: An American Life. Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, just published a biography titled Barney Frank: The Story of America's Only Left-Handed, Gay, Jewish Congressman. At the reception, Palin mingled and posed for pictures. She told me, when I asked, that her purse was made from otter. Todd Palin explained to...

Clarence Page, of The Chicago Tribune, attended Washington’s Gridiron Club and met Tood and Sarah Palin: Palinpalooza goads media into laughter Palin not only interrupted her book tour, dubbed Palinpalooza by headline writers, to speak to a roomful of those darned media representatives Saturday all gussied up in gowns and tuxedos, but she held her own against this year's Democratic speaker, the liberal master of pithy one-liners, Rep. Barney Frank of MA. If Palin won the evening -- and even my own Hyde Park-raised, liberal wife believes she did -- it is largely because everyone expected Frank to be funny,...

Excerpts: ... showed up at one of the toughtest venues in town -- as the Republican speaker at the winter dinner of the venerable Washington Gridiron Club ... The mere politeness that normally prevails in this setting disappeared in a welter of good will and produced at times the most extraordinary scene inside-the-Beltway cynics asking for autographs, an event almost as phenomenal as she is. ... her Counterpart for the night, veteran Democratic Rep. Barney Frank, ... sat unsmilingly and obviously uncomfortably throughout Palin's appearance, obviously aware that he was upstaged ... ... capable of charming an audience that fashions...

It is the joke told by Sarah Palin on Saturday at the Gridiron Club that has spread far and wide. It was featured by many websites and news outlets including Politico and U.S. News & World Report. Here is how the Associated Press reported the joke: Palin targeted her hosts, Democrats and Sen. John McCain's campaign staff, as well as herself.If the election had turned out differently, she said, "I could be the one overseeing the signing of bailout checks and Vice President Biden could be on the road selling his book, 'Going Rogaine.'" Biden has sparse hair. For your...

Sarah Palin may not be your huckleberry when it comes to the presidency but she came to town the other night and proved once again what has been undeniable for some time: She has more political appeal than anyone on the scene with the exception of Barack Obama. The former Alaska governor and last year's much maligned GOP vice presidential nominee and now author showed up at one of the toughest venues in town -- as the Republican speaker at the winter dinner of the venerable Washington Gridiron Club, a bastion of opinion makers who over 125 years have roasted...

I posted several photos of Sarah & Todd Palin at the Fairfax book signing and the transcript of Sarah's Gridiron speech.

Journalists.....and the "tonge in cheek" dinner Gridiron Dinner... See below - the posting below is the speech Governor Palin (I am told) gave last night to the big media dinner in Washington, DC. I was not at the dinner but the speech was just emailed to me by someone who did go (no, Governor Palin did not email me her speech...) Congressman Barney Frank also spoke and I would love to likewise get his speech and post here. The speeches are supposed to be funny ...and poke fun at everyone and everything. Here is Gov Palin's speech to the media...

WASHINGTON (Dec. 5) -- Sarah Palin poked fun at herself in a speech to journalists Saturday night, drawing laughter when she announced she "came down from my hotel room and I could see the Russian Embassy." The 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate also joked that she had orginally thought of titling her book "How To Look Like a Million Bucks For Only $150,000" before settling on "Going Rogue." In one of the controversies surrounding her candidacy, the campaign spent about $150,000 on her wardrobe. Palin was the Republican speaker at the winter dinner of the Gridiron Club, an organization of...

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20091206/D9CDHPGG2.html. Palin made some nice jokes. She is good!

Sarah apparently rocked the house tonight. From John King: Gov palin speech done. Full of funny zingers. Says if McCain won, Biden book would be "Going Rogaine". 34 minutes ago Palin Gridiron speech Steve schmidt dig\joke: "if I need a bald campaign manager, I guess all i am left with is james carville." 32 minutes ago Gov palin at gridiron jokes normally dem speaker next but: "McCain campaign staff asked if they could have that time for rebuttal." 28 minutes ago Gov Palin opens w joke about first McCain mtg: she has lenghty concerns re goby bailouts and wall st...

At press dinnerPalin "joked" person next to her on plane looked at picture of obama and chinese leader and asked which one is the communist 10 minutes ago from TwitterBerry lots of other jokes including: said if GOP ticket had won last year, she would be veep and Biden would be "selling his book, Going Rogaine." Palin takes a shot at steve schmidt, telling #gridiron: "if I ever need a bald campaign mgr,it appears all I am left w is james carville."

"Thanks to Sarah Palin and Barney Frank, it looks like we'll have the biggest turnout in many years," Gridiron secretary Carl Leubsdorf told FBDC. They expect about 190 guests.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm said she won't apologize to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for her crack at last weekend's Gridiron Dinner that the former Republican vice presidential candidate "really set back the cause of hot governors." At the exclusive Washington dinner on Saturday, which was packed with top elected officials, Granholm also used the quip to needle Pennsylvania's governor. "You know where I'm coming from, Ed Rendell," she said.

Barack Obama is the first president since Grover Cleveland to skip the Gridiron Club’s annual dinner. Somehow Joe Biden was sent instead to the formal press event where politicians essentially roast each other. True to form, the vice president hit a big nerve. He set up a joke by pointing out that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was a speaker at the event, was born in Austria. He then explained that Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, also a featured speaker, was born in Canada. Biden’s preliminary punch line was, “This is going to be Lou Dobbs' worst nightmare.” Having broached the...

Loyal to Liberty Today WND reports that Congressman Bill Posey is being jeered at and ridiculed by the leftist media and some of his colleagues in the US Congress. Why? He dared to propose a piece of legislation "that would require future presidential candidates to document their eligibility." Apparently the idea that people in Congress would actually fulfill their oaths of office and seek the information required to assure respect for the US Constitution is now considered insane. Ridicule is a standard tactic of deceivers trying to discredit anyone who draws attention to their dishonesty. With respect to the eligibility...

WASHINGTON – While the subject of Barack Obama's birth certificate is still a topic most press outlets refuse to cover, it became a matter of sport in Vice President Joe Biden's Gridiron Dinner address this weekend. After mentioning one of the Republican speakers for the evening, Arnold Schwarzenegger, was born in Austria and that one of the Democratic speakers, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, was born in Canada, Biden chortled: "Folks, this is going to be Lou Dobbs' worst nightmare. From there, Biden transitioned to the birth certificate controversy.

In Obama's absence, Biden delights in bashing boss 5 hours ago WASHINGTON (AP) — With President Barack Obama absent, Vice President Joe Biden poked fun at his boss' do-no-wrong reputation during an annual white-tie gathering of journalists and government officials. Obama was the first president in decades not to attend the Gridiron Club dinner during his first year in office. He spent the weekend at Camp David with his family, skipping the Saturday night event because he was busy preparing for Easter, Biden said. "He thinks it's about him," Biden said of the holiday.

Vice President Joe Biden told a joke about Barack Obama's birth certificate at the Gridiron dinner in Washington, D.C. last night.The joke was reported by Mike Allen at Politico in his article about Biden's intentionally funny speech (as opposed to his usual foot in mouth routine.):"You know, I never realized just how much power Dick Cheney had until my first day on the job. I walked into my office, and you know how the outgoing president always leaves the incoming president a note in his desk? I opened my drawer and Dick Cheney had left me Barack Obama’s birth certificate."Numerous...

It's not exactly a revolutionary act but President Barack Obama has certainly put a few noses out of joint by deciding to shun - gasp - the Gridiron Club at this year's annual dinner. For those not in the know, the white tie Gridiron dinner the most exclusive ticket in town as Washington's elite journalists gather to entertain, schmooze and gently rib their sources. At first it was intimated that he was going to be in Chicago for spring break with his wife and daughters, but then it emerged he would be at Camp David. That's the presidential retreat in...

A Gridiron Club member tells FBDC first that President Obama will not attend this year's dinner next Saturday, March 21st. He will be the first president since Grover Cleveland not to attend the first Gridiron Club Dinner of his presidency. This year's date coincides with the spring break of President Obama's daughters' school and club members have been informed the Obama family will be out of town, likely in Chicago. Vice President Joe Biden will attend and speak at the dinner in his place. This member tells us the club is delighted to have Vice President Biden, but that there...