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.
___
Instead he's partying with them.
Not too bright.
Look for the leftstream media to report that there was something that didn't go right, and that it was W's fault.
"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."
LOL...Thats just funny...
OK....they're neither famous nor powerful. An obvious ploy by one of the press members. Marginalize this person/paper/network. Give them the Helen Thomas treatment.
Too bad it's not true in DC.
I just watched a replay of it on C-SPAN. The President and the impersonator were terrific. Colbert was pretty good, but the venue makes it difficult for a large crowd to whoop it up. The tape production that Colbert presented was excellent, imo.
Actually, I thought he showed a lot of class and that they shot themselves in the proverbial assets
LOL! I noticed that Elizabeth White had to say that Bridges stole the best lines, when it was clear that it was orchestrated that he deliver the funniest ones.
There were times when the President had a difficult time containing his laughter.
ABC invited them to embarass the President and the Wilsons didn't even make an impression (except to the BDS afflicted members of the Press)
Wow, I came away with a different impression. I watched it last night and thought Colbert was not that good because his jokes seemed to be too small minded. He was funny when he first talked about the head vs gut, but then it was time to move onto something else. :-) The beauty of liberty is that there's something for everyone.
Captain Ed was watching Fox and he gave this perspective
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/006875.php
:-) That was a good one
LOL! It didn't work too well, did it?
OK, I'll ask a girlie question. I didn't see it, was Val pretty or average?
But when the Chicago Times editorialized, “We then repeat the question as to what adequate motive we have for inaugurating a civil war?”
In a short time, a military officer arrived at the newspaper, shut it down and sealed its presses.
Eventually over 300 northern newspapers would be closed by Union troops and the journalists who dared question Lincoln’s actions were jailed.
-David O. Jones
She was pretty. She wore an ivory sleeveless dress.
Yeah, he's no Claudette.
LOL! That's for sure. Was she a friend of Reagan?
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