April 30, 2005
President Bush gives his opening speech at the White House Correspondents Dinner, but it is quickly taken over by the hilarious First Lady.
UPDATE: You can also grab the video here, thanks to the kind folks at The Smoke Filled Room
VIDEO IN EXTENDED ENTRY
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77 Responses to “President Bush / First Lady White House Correspondents Dinner (VIDEO)”
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11:12 pm [ Quote ]
What a funny video. Self-depracating humor is always funny. Laura Bush is a very classy woman.
12:15 am [ Quote ]
One Classy Lady! Her timing was perfect. She is so bright and pretty. LAURA BUSH for President, 2008
12:15 am [ Quote ]
One Classy Lady! Her timing was perfect. She is so bright and pretty. LAURA BUSH for President, 2008
1:32 am [ Quote ]
Thanks so much for making this available. I was unable to see it through and was delighted to find it here. I love that Midland gal! She’s a class act!
2:17 am [ Quote ]
You go, girl!
Laura Bush stole the show at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner with a comedy…
2:57 am [ Quote ]
Laura Bush: First Lady, Desperate Housewife
Laura Bush has allowed her charm and wit to show through on several late night appearances, and on Saturday night she brought down the house at the 91st annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. The First Lady brought the audience…
5:50 am [ Quote ]
Laura has as good a sense of humor as her husband. How refreshing, honest, decent people as President and First Lady.
8:00 am [ Quote ]
Thanks for the video! I fell asleep before the party started, and hated to miss the Bush’s speeches.
8:08 am [ Quote ]
Laura doen’t have a clue. George is a great guy? He and his neo-con cabal fabricated evedince that got us into a war that has cost the precious lives of 1600 Americans.
Someone remind Laura this war will push the half trillion dollar mark by the end of the decade. He and his cronies have also managed to ruin the lives of somany National Guardsmen. Men and women who have returned home to wrecked families. Many find their homes are on the verge of being foreclosed on. For what? To remove a dictator that posed no threat to the US?
I think of the moms and pops who were sitting at home brooding over the loss of son while it was fun and games in DC.
Don
8:36 am [ Quote ]
Wow, what a lady!!
George and laura are a great couple and a great blessing from God to America.
Let george continue the great leadership he has shown us he is capable of doing
8:37 am [ Quote ]
Obviously, according to the above comment, we did the right thing by ignoring the killing of nearly a million people in Rwanda, the elimination of a quarter of the people in Cambodia, the destruction or historical, sacred objects in Afghanistan, the genocide and/or the displacement of a million Serbs from Kosovo while destroying 125 Christian churches. Yep, we did the right thing and it’s downright terrible that we stopped the killing of hundreds of thousands of Kurds and Shiites. Yeah, that was a bad thing to do.
8:40 am [ Quote ]
Ok! Well thanks for that Don, and good luck with your “issues” with that whole neo-con cabal thing. Time to up the dosage I think.
Great video! Laura is so fun to watch, gotta love her =) Thanks for putting this up.
8:56 am [ Quote ]
Pure class. All elegance. Wonderful material. Only in America. Ever notice how we never hear from those Saudi Sheik’ concubines? Why is it we’ve never heard from Mrs. Castro? No recordings of Mrs. Stalin? Or Mrs. Chavez down in Venezuela? Only in America can a delightfully classy woman roast a world leader and acceptably charm the media. We’re very blessed to have Laura Bush as our First Lady.
9:00 am [ Quote ]
What a delight! Laura rules!
9:20 am [ Quote ]
Talk about a National treasure! Laura Bush is a woman to be admired and respected. She’s charming, witty, poised and just lovely.
9:37 am [ Quote ]
What a relief to have a First Lady who is so elegant and has a wonderful sense of humor. Thanks to the well mannered press (for a change). We all appreciate her loyalty to her husband.
9:50 am [ Quote ]
[...] ething I would expect out of Laura Bush… he he UPDATE: Political Teen has the video here…
[...]
10:19 am [ Quote ]
I thought Condi was the classiest woman in America. Now I see there are two—and George has both of them.
How does such an “evil” and “stupid” man manage to do that?
10:20 am [ Quote ]
Oh Condi was a great sport last night .. I thought Cedric’s “Condi” and “Leeza” bit was great.
10:39 am [ Quote ]
Laura Bush is outstanding A First Lady I am proud Of. I think she Keeps W on his toes
I also wish I knew her beauty secrets. She gets more beautiful each time I see Her. maybe she might share them with us
12:57 pm [ Quote ]
I’ve made the complete transcript of the speech. You can find it on my blog at http://lvb.net/item/1083
1:21 pm [ Quote ]
Who wrote that for her?
1:28 pm [ Quote ]
Hi and thank you very much…missed this on the tube and it was fantastic. Such a class Lady. We’re fortunate indeed to have her as First lady and the class she brings to the White House as opposed to previous first ladies (Barbara Bush excepted)
1:45 pm [ Quote ]
Simply disgusting. Children can see this. If it were on NBC/CBS/ABC/FOX, it would be fined for indecency.
I’ve never liked Whora Bush anyway.
2:19 pm [ Quote ]
President Bush / First Lady White House Correspondents Dinner (VIDEO)
President Bush / First Lady White House Correspondents Dinner (VIDEO)
2:51 pm [ Quote ]
The President and First Lady are a class act and a couple all American should be proud of respect them for their good-ness and decency. They make the Clintons so pale in comparison when you put George and Barbara Bush, then Laura and the President after. To even think about the 8 disastrous years of the Clinton’s make me shudder and only wish President Bush could run for more terms. God forbid we have to ever put up with the Clinton’s again, they brought shame and disgrace to the White House and the country. God bless the President and First Lady. the Bush’s’.
3:15 pm [ Quote ]
How can you not love that woman.George is a lucky man to have such a partner in life. God bless both of them.
3:32 pm [ Quote ]
What a fabulous, clever, wity lady. If anyone can keep George W. on track, she can!
4:49 pm [ Quote ]
Laura Rickles
Take My Husband. Please!At the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner last night at the Hilton Washington, Laura Bush made…
5:08 pm [ Quote ]
To Jar Jar, You are a very sick person. To call a classy lady like Laura Bush “whora” is beyond decency & common sense. Just vicious as well as ridiculous.
6:14 pm [ Quote ]
The lusty month of May
Brian Williams of FOXNews nabs Wonkette for post-WHCA-dinner girl talk this afternoon. What a coup. Is she easy on the eyes, or what? And smart and funny and sweetly raunchy—everything you could want in a FOXNews Inside-the-Beltway commentator.
6:58 pm [ Quote ]
Laura Bush was sensational
What a great Texan our first lady is
HEEEE HAAAWWWWWWWW
9:14 pm [ Quote ]
Laura the Comedian
Laura Bush took over from W at last night’s annual White House Correspondents’ Association and did a marvelous job of lampooning her husband. She starts with:George always says he’s delighted to come to these press dinners.Baloney.He’s usually in b…
5:12 am [ Quote ]
She said it all when she said that W’s answer to everything is cut it down with a chainsaw. That is NOT the kind of President I want. He’s doing that with the UN, with women’s rights, with lack of funding for AIDs, etc. etc. She gave a nice speech but I’d rather not have her as our 1st lady since she’s married to him.
10:37 am [ Quote ]
This was the most painful thing to watch. I was embarrassed for them.
2:42 pm [ Quote ]
Hardy Har Har, that is just soooo funny, watching a room full of rich, pathetic buffoons break their arms patting themselves on the back while laughing at the most ridiculous excuse for humor since Reader’s Digest jokes. I guess if you have an IQ of barely over room temperature, and have no concept of how pathetic this country has become in the past 5+ years, then laugh away at this, since it truly is a joke. A huge joke.
2:49 pm [ Quote ]
Keep drinkin’ the kool-aid, Dash and Ken. Just tell yourself it’s yummy, and it will help you fight commies abroad, and godless fags on the home front enough times and you won’t even notice it’s starting to make you very sleepy.
I’ve never seen so many gullible, naive posts in one place as on this site. I have some swamp land in FL for sale, close to Jebbie Bush’s place even. Anyone interested in buying? LOL.
2:50 pm [ Quote ]
This is just a script design and manufactured to soften Bush’s image. Perhaps they should have had Cedric do the jokes and then let Bush be a good sport about it.
3:18 pm [ Quote ]
Sorry mS, but you’re mistaken. Both domestic and global AIDS funding has increased sharly under the Bush administration. As far as the UN, it’s done more damage to itself with the UN “peacekeeper” rape scandal in the Congo and the shameful oil-for-food scandal than Bush’s chainsaw ever could. You probably don’t read much about the UN scandals in the American press, but you really should take time to get know a little bit more about the UN before you bemoan its demise.
And Sam, good thing for you someone’s fighting those “commies” abroad. See if and when the “commies” start fighting us on our own soil, they’re not going to give a crap that you hate George Bush. They’re going to kill you dead despite the fact that you’ve basically been rooting for them. You’ve sided with the wrong team dude.
4:07 pm [ Quote ]
As a proud voter for Reagan and even the first President Bush, I am sorry to say that this so-called President has done more harm to the Republican party and to America than any Democrat in the last 100 years. While our country rolls up trillions of dollars in debt and our soldiers are dying in record numbers in Iraq – Bush and his wife can sit up and make jokes during one of the worst times in recent American history.
Where are the proud Republicans who are for smaller government? Where are the pround Republicans who are for keeping the government out of our private lives? Where are the proud Republicans for fiscal responsibility?
Laugh all you want George while 45 million Americas are suffering without health insurance. Will the real Republicans please stand up?? Anything would be better than this idiot that calls himself a President. I never thought I would say this but even a Democrat would be better than this brain dead jerk.
4:30 pm [ Quote ]
Laura Bush ROCKS!
I was over visiting Sissy Willis where she has been commenting on the talk given by Laura Bush at the White House Correspondents Dinner. Sissy has a link to the transcript – if you’d like to read it. I decided…
4:37 pm [ Quote ]
um, yeah, yt… good thing someone’s fighting dem “commies. So who exactly are the commies this time? They are apparently not yet fighting us on our own soil, but it’s on the way? It’s a team sport too, apparently? You’re an idiot if you really think anything we are doing in Iraq to fix dubya’s daddy’s mess from the last time over there (and I was there, fighting in that one, btw – so yay, team, yay… u moron) is going to fix problems in the middle east. We are fanning the flames; and the Bush dynasty could care less, as long as they continue to make their millions, pal around with the biggest terrorist harboring and most backwards nation on the planet (Saudi), and pay lip service to undereducated fools, such as apparently yourself, whilst raping the environment for corporate buddies and killing our servicemen for family namesake.
4:49 pm [ Quote ]
I doubt you were ever a republican and if you were then I’m glad to see you switch over.
Record numbers of deaths in Iraq you say? How many died in WW2 and Vietnam? Tens of thousands more, and if those 45 million people who already leaching off the system want healthcare tell ‘em to get a damn job and start providing for themselves rather then waiting for the lefty lunch wagon to come around the block.
Stay former and remember your parties moto, a hand out is way better then a hand up!
5:09 pm [ Quote ]
Anyone who has that much disdain and distrust for any president of this great county is clearly motivated by bitter partisain hate and not rationale thinking. No matter how much I disagreed with some of Bill Clinton’s policies or felt disappointed by his personal behavior, when it came to national secutiy and the lives of the men and women of the armed forces, I never for a moment believed that he had anything other than this country’s best interests at heart. You, on the other hand, are willing to believe that George Bush knowingly sent thousands of men and women to Iraq, without a thought as to their fate, out of simple greed, a childish whim, a family vendetta and/or boredom. You have choose to believe that the leader of this nation is evil and traiterous in order to support your own biased caricature of him. That is unspeakable.
5:11 pm [ Quote ]
Excuse the typos in my previous post. Sam makes me angry, but that’s no excuse for poor grammar!
5:45 pm [ Quote ]
I was one of the Christian conservatives who voted for the Bushes in 2004. Never again. Obviously. Seems their handlers are trying to soften the Christian base and define deviancy down for the 2008 nominee, a liberal like Rudy Giuliani or John McCain. Simply disgusting.
6:13 pm [ Quote ]
Yes yt… and I’m sorry to tell you that there is no easter bunny, and professional wrestling is fake too. Santa Claus? Sorry pal. Hopefully you too will one day wake up and understand what it is that drives the politics, “morals” and decisions of this country. Every administration has its faults, for sure, but this one is the worst I have ever seen in my lifetime. I would almost rather have a blantant crook like Nixon (or pardon me, do you also think that his Vietnam decisions regarding our soldiers were altruistic, with our nation’s best interests at heart, just like your hero, Dubya’s – since he too was a commander in chief? I pity you if you’re really that stupid) in charge than a lying snake that nearly half our country don’t perceive to be what he really is. Amazing, but then the average American watches over 6 hours of TV per day and eats fast food at least 6 times per week… and is 55+ pounds overweight. So I guess I shouldn’t really be surprised.
11:22 pm [ Quote ]
I love and admire George W. and Laura Bush. I’m proud to be serving under such a Commander-in-Chief, and I thought Laura’s speech was fantastic.
2:10 am [ Quote ]
whcad
I must admit, I liked watching The White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. Now it’s online, and if you missed it, you can watch it, too. Laura’s performance was pretty f’ing funny….
9:24 am [ Quote ]
Sam and Jar Jar, I think you are both sick. You are the epitome of what is wrong with this country. Luckily the normal-decent citizens spoke up and decided to change a few things by electing a decent human being. Largest voter turnout = BUSH.
Jeff and yt great job on stating the opinions of many other readers.
9:32 am [ Quote ]
Soldier’s Morn, maybe you should consider that most of the reason for the large voter turnout was people who realized they needed to get rid of Bush. He won by less than 2%, which at least was a lot better than losing popular vote the time before. Some people, like me, as much as we see what a dangerous man he is, still voted for him as the “lesser evil” with the hopes that keeping the same commander in chief would finish the bloodbath for our troops in Iraq more quickly than switching off leaders. I regret that decision now.
Frankly, I think you’re the one who’s sick, Soldier’s Morn. I agree with Sam, and if he was in Desert Storm, I’m not sure where you get off saying he’s not a “normal, decent” citizen. What is a “normal, decent” citizen exactly? Are you the one who wrote the definition? Neither Jeff, nor yt, nor a number of other posts here are stating my opinions, and I’d bet I’m pretty much a “normal, decent” citizen by most people’s standards too. So what’s your problem?
9:51 am [ Quote ]
This is a really interesting thread. So many different opinions. Some of them really are funny too, I mean, the way they are written.
I have to post here too, just as a comment, I think everyone deserves a chance to state different opinions, because that’s what makes this country so great.
Soldier’s Morn, you should probably think more about what the USA is really about. I agree with Greg’s comments on that subject.
11:12 am [ Quote ]
Sam, How funny that you actually believe that you’re just plainer smarter than everyone else. Bush voters are dumb, that explains it all. Your disdain for the American people is palpable and your willingness to believe in the wildest of conspiracy theories is telling.
A normal decent citizen should respect the office of the presidency, no matter who is occupying it, and debate the issues with reasoned arguments, not hyperbole. A normal decent citizen should not defame the president with over-the-top and baseless “Bush is Hitler” comparisons. Visit Aushwitz people and get some perspective please! Just calm down Democrats and understand that there are good and decent people on the right, including George Bush, with whom you may not agree, but need not villify. Such heated rhetoric does nothing to advance the discussion of how best to protect and care for this country and its citizens.
11:42 am [ Quote ]
I enjoyed seeing Laura’s comments. To me that was entertaining. Normal decent human beings, in my humble opinion behave like the Bush’s. I do not think ranting and raving like madmen (or women) about the devil or hitler constantly about the President of the United States is normal behavior. It is self-serving and one-sided possibly even irrational. Largest voter turnout elected Bush, it did not remove him from office. That means, in your opinion, Greg, Sam and Jar Jar, that there must be more stupid, nor normal Americans than there are people as “normal” as you all. Interestingly, I am pleased to be on the other side of this fence.
11:43 am [ Quote ]
Well, yt, I’m not sure if I’m “plainer smarter” than everyone else, as you state; but there’s no doubt in my mind that if you took an IQ average of Bush voters vs. non-Bush voters, the Bush voter average would be at least 10-15 points lower – that’s not saying EVERY Bush voter, just plenty of them to lower the average.
I’m not sure if you’re referring to me on the “Hitler” thing, but if you can read above, you will see that I certainly have made no such statements. Nor has anyone else on this thread that I can see – maybe I’m missing something. I’ve been to Dauchau, btw.
As to respect for the office of the presidency, are you referring to the right wing “respect” of Clinton that wasted millions of dollars in a ridiculous hearings over his personal life? Maybe the same repeated vilification that this country was subjected to for years by conservatives, while he was in office? Get real – most politicians are 99% scum. There may be some that start out with higher ideals, but those get quickly swept under the carpet as they do what they need to in order to rise to the top. This is my opinion, but I think you’re pathetically naive if you believe anything to the contrary.
I’m kicking a dead horse, but yt apparently believes that the repeated lies told to get everyone behind him and march into Iraq, killing well over 100K civilians (let me guess, yt, that’s ok because most of them aren’t Christian?), ruining the lives of 10’s of thousands of national guard and reservists, through the “back door” draft, selling out the environment to corporate interests… the list could go on and on, but I’ll keep it to the facts that are highly provable, and could not even by someone as yourself be considered “hyperbole” – unless you have never read a newspaper, listened to the news, and live in a cave. It’s not even necessary to use reasoned arguments, as you state. Just read the news for a change, and you can see it for yourself.
11:47 am [ Quote ]
Ah, Soldier’s Morn… So if I behave like the Bush’s I would be a normal decent human being? That’s not even worth arguing over, because it’s such a ridiculous statement. You obviously are on the “stupid” side of the fence, but ignorance is bliss, as they say; so enjoy your bliss.
1:31 pm [ Quote ]
Sam,
You win. America is led by villainous traitors who are mindlessly followed by nose-picking yahoos. You must suffer from real depression, I truly feel sorry for you.
2:25 pm [ Quote ]
I love this kind of stuff, it is so easy to get the liberals screaming. It is almost like teasing spoiled children.
2:28 pm [ Quote ]
Yes it is depressing. I notice you cry for “reasoned arguments,” yet when any are presented you immediately change the topic with your own hyperbole. Typical, but just another example of the blinders you and your fellow Bush supporters love to wear. Blinders on the side, rose-colored lenses on the front. Great view, enjoy.
2:36 pm [ Quote ]
Soldier’s Morn, must suck for you to lose arguments so thoroughly, eh? All you can do is pretend to sit back with a forced smile about how “you meant to sound like an asinine retard all along, just to ‘goad’ the liberals” rather than risk looking even stupider than you already do by actually displaying anything remotely resembling logic.
Alrighty, this was my last post. It was fun though, kids. buh bye.
3:09 pm [ Quote ]
Logic escapes you completely. I do feel confident in stating that.
4:17 pm [ Quote ]
haha, ur name should be “soldier’s moron” not “soldier’s morn.” U got owned big-time. i love it!
4:20 pm [ Quote ]
THE WONKETTE-IZATION OF LAURA BUSH
Reviews of the First Lady’s stand-up routine at the White House Correspondents Dinner keep pouring in. John Tierney gives it two thumbs up. Wlady Pleszczynski hated it. The Washington Post rounds up more reaction and there’s a spirited debate over…
9:21 pm [ Quote ]
What a breath of fresh air Laura is! It’s nice to have a respectful president & First lady. (Yes! LADY)
Looks like Sam got a royal spanking around here and is heading for his mommy.
His Idol Bill was the inspiration for 9/11. Osama wathced the “black hawk down” situation and figured we wouldn’t fight back.
If Sam had his way, we wouldn’t be fighting back now, and osama would be getting a nuke ready to try and ‘finish off the USA’.
12:10 am [ Quote ]
I have never seen the country in such serious trouble as it is now in my lifetime and I have never seen or could have even imagined a first lady or president acting like a bunch of party animals when people are seriously suffering in this country from problems we could have easily prevented.
8:44 am [ Quote ]
David M,
Are you saying Clinton was responsible for 9/11? OMG, is it possible that you are really that much of a retard?
BTW, where’s Osama? Oh that’s right, still on the run, but nobody even remembers he was the original “reason” for Afghanistan, and Iraq became the cover-up for our incompetent fool of a president. So tell me, David, exactly what have we accomplished in Iraq? Is there peace in the middle east now? Gee, good thing it’s not Bill Clinton, or else we’d all be at war with Brazil, Japan, and ummm…. Indonesia, yeah, that’s it. I love it when morons like you say things like “If soandso was still president…”
LOL, it’s ok, just sit yerself back down, crack open another budweiser and watch another rerun of dukes of hazzard, while yer trailer park TV still has good reception, befer that ternader hits.
9:16 am [ Quote ]
thanks for putting this video clip up on your site. very informative to see something like this. i feel sick to my stomach after watching it though.
i totally agree with j.c. stevens on his post above. oh, and david, after reading through this thread, it appears to me that the only spankings around here were handed out by sam, not received. looks more like he probably got tired of playing with the neo-con idiots, who haven’t presented anything senseless quips in response to the beat downs he was giving.
9:21 am [ Quote ]
Because I am one of a relative small group of pro-Bush people over here I sent the link to all my friends & family. It is a hilarious video. One of you said “..only in America..” and I totally agree. This coming weekend your president, his wife and Condy Rice, will be in the Netherlands to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of WWII. I am looking forward to this day and not in the least because Mrs Bush will be here!
Bye! Ymor.
10:19 am [ Quote ]
Ymor, did u used to play the internet game of UO by any chance, on a player-run server? I used to know someone from the Netherlands who started his name(s) with “Y” like that on all his characters. Maybe it’s a Dutch thing though.
1:06 am [ Quote ]
Mrs. Bush the Comedian
I know it’s late, but the bug in WORLD’s blog software kept me from referring to it yesterday… What is it with the families of conservative, “born again” presidents? We suffered through the turmoils of the Reagan years when it…
4:16 pm [ Quote ]
Had my speakers turned off….
Interesting experience, and you should all try it once.
Try to understand Bush’s thoughts from his facial expressions. It is quite obvious he does not have any …. other than trying to recite or act the part right.
11:39 am [ Quote ]
Love to write into repblican blogs…
3:37 pm [ Quote ]
I think that was a great video! She is such an awesome person and a great role model for girls these days.
11:39 am [ Quote ]
Just found this video and am pleased to see some insight into this administration’s humor, however staged and edited it may be.
The comments on this site are an interesteing mix of reactions. Yes, this is a terrible time for our nation, and yes, most Americans are deeply concerned about the decisions of our leaders. That is why I would like to see a clearer sense of the personalities, perspectives, and humor of our President.
The stupid* comments seem to come from people who dramatically oversimplify or ignore the complexity of our nation’s crises. This is intensified by the extreme secrecy around our leaders’ personalities.
Anything that shows us they are aware of their flaws is helpful.
*By stupid, I mean intentionally framed in order to provoke contentious responses, not just ignorant or unable to mentally process information.
3:30 pm [ Quote ]
Only liberals can see such a tastefully produced video, deserving much eclat and commendation and then spew out such polemical gibberish!
Great work, Laura!
1:11 am [ Quote ]
Luckilly the LIAR and LEAKER IN CHIEF will be impeached soon. It would be fitting for him and the other rape-publicans like Tom Delay, Duke Cunningham, Bob Nay, Karl Rove, Scooter Libby and all the other hundreds of Rape-publican criminals to spend a few years in Abu Graib getting what they so richly deserve.
1:25 am [ Quote ]
Of course, the video has been carefully edited to only show Bush and his Robot wife Laura. The only really good part of the event was a bit done by Stephen Colbert, here’s how that went:
A blistering comedy “tribute” to President Bush by Comedy Central’s faux talk show host Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondent Dinner Saturday night left George and Laura Bush unsmiling at its close.
Earlier, the president had delivered his talk to the 2700 attendees, including many celebrities and top officials, with the help of a Bush impersonator.
Colbert, who spoke in the guise of his talk show character, who ostensibly supports the president strongly, urged Bush to ignore his low approval ratings, saying they were based on reality, “and reality has a well-known liberal bias.”
He attacked those in the press who claim that the shake-up at the White House was merely re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. “This administration is soaring, not sinking,” he said. “If anything, they are re-arranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg.”
Colbert told Bush he could end the problem of protests by retired generals by refusing to let them retire. He compared Bush to Rocky Balboa in the “Rocky” movies, always getting punched in the face—“and Apollo Creed is everything else in the world.”
Turning to the war, he declared, “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.”
He noted former Ambassador Joseph Wilson in the crowd, just three tables away from Karl Rove, and that he had brought ” Valerie Plame.” Then, worried that he had named her, he corrected himself, as Bush aides might do, “Uh, I mean… he brought Joseph Wilson’s wife.” He might have “dodged the bullet,” he said, as prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald wasn’t there.
Colbert also made biting cracks about missing WMDs, “photo ops” on aircraft carriers and at hurricane disasters, melting glaciers and Vice President Cheney shooting people in the face. He advised the crowd, “if anybody needs anything at their tables, speak slowly and clearly into your table numbers and somebody from the N.S.A. will be right over with a cocktail. ”
Observing that Bush sticks to his principles, he said, “When the president decides something on Monday, he still believes it on Wednesday – no matter what happened Tuesday.”
Also lampooning the press, Colbert complained that he was “surrounded by the liberal media who are destroying this country, except for Fox News. Fox believes in presenting both sides of the story — the president’s side and the vice president’s side.” In another slap at the news channel, he said: “I give people the truth, unfiltered by rational argument. I call it the No Fact Zone. Fox News, I own the copyright on that term.”
He also reflected on the alleged good old days for the president, when the media was still swallowing the WMD story.
Addressing the reporters, he said, “Let’s review the rules. Here’s how it works. The president makes decisions, he’s the decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Put them through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know—fiction.”
He claimed that the Secret Service name for Bush’s new press secretary is “Snow Job.”
Colbert closed his routine with a video fantasy where he gets to be White House Press Secretary, complete with a special “Gannon” button on his podium. By the end, he had to run from Helen Thomas and her questions about why the U.S. really invaded Iraq and killed all those people.
As Colbert walked from the podium, when it was over, the president and First Lady gave him quick nods, unsmiling. The president shook his hand and tapped his elbow, and left immediately.
Those seated near Bush told E&P’s Joe Strupp, who was elsewhere in the room, that Bush had quickly turned from an amused guest to an obviously offended target as Colbert’s comments brought up his low approval ratings and problems in Iraq.
Several veterans of past dinners, who requested anonymity, said the presentation was more directed at attacking the president than in the past. Several said previous hosts, like Jay Leno, equally slammed both the White House and the press corps.
“This was anti-Bush,” said one attendee. “Usually they go back and forth between us and him.” Another noted that Bush quickly turned unhappy. “You could see he stopped smiling about halfway through Colbert,” he reported.
After the gathering, Snow, while nursing a Heineken outside the Chicago Tribune reception, declined to comment on Colbert. “I’m not doing entertainment reviews,” he said. “I thought the president was great, though.”
Strupp, in the crowd during the Colbert routine, had observed that quite a few sitting near him looked a little uncomfortable at times, perhaps feeling the material was a little too biting—or too much speaking “truthiness” to power.
Asked by E&P after it was over if he thought he’d been too harsh, Colbert said, “Not at all.” Was he trying to make a point politically or just get laughs? “Just for laughs,” he said. He said he did not pull any material for being too strong, just for time reasons. (He later said the president told him “good job” when he walked off.)
Helen Thomas told Strupp her segment with Colbert was “just for fun.”
In its report on the affair, USA Today asserted that some in the crowd cracked up over Colbert but others were “bewildered.” Wolf Blitzer of CNN said he thought Colbert was funny and “a little on the edge.”
Earlier, the president had addressed the crowd with a Bush impersonator alongside, with the faux-Bush speaking precisely and the real Bush deliberately mispronouncing words, such as the inevitable “nuclear.” At the close, Bush called the imposter “a fine talent. In fact, he did all my debates with Senator Kerry.” The routine went over well with the crowd—better than did Colbert’s, in fact.