Bush: Poke fun at leaders
2007-04-22 10:13
Washington - President George W Bush deferring to the tragedy at Virginia Tech, passed up any attempt to be funny at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, leaving those efforts to the host, comedian and impersonator Rich Little.
The glitzy dinner on Saturday night was attended by Bush, cabinet secretaries, foreign dignitaries, Hollywood celebrities and members of the press. The annual event dates back to the 1920s.
Bush said it was important for people in Washington "to learn to laugh" and that the ability for a nation to poke fun at its leaders is good for democracy.
"I was looking forward to doing a little poking myself but in light of this tragedy at Virginia Tech I decided not to be funny," he said.
On Monday, 23-year-old Virginia Tech student Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and himself in a shooting rampage on the campus.
Bush noted that many journalists in the room have had a tough week, reporting from Virginia Tech and said "this dinner comes at a good time." With that, he introduced Little for the laughs.
Little's material on Saturday night was safe if occasionally a little raunchy. He dusted off his impersonations of six presidents, from Richard Nixon to the current occupant of the White House, and avoided any reference to current political issues.
After one joke bombed, he said, "And you thought (Stephen) Colbert was bad."
Colbert, host of Comedy Central's news satire "The Colbert Report," was the host last year. He lampooned the administration and the Washington press corps as Bush looked on unamused amid a crowd's laughter that was nervous at times.
However, Colbert was a hit with the general public - a YouTube video of his performance last year was viewed 2.7 million times in less than 48 hours - and liberal bloggers have expressed anger over the decision to have such an innocuous entertainer.
Little made fun of Bush's occasional difficulties with language -imitating Bush talking about this "warathon thing against all extreministic fractions" - but even that was inadvertently upstaged by Bush himself.
Before Bush and Little spoke, late night TV talk show host David Letterman made a video appearance from his studio with a top 10 list of taped vignettes showing some of the funniest Bush flubs of the past year.
Among the guests at the People Magazine table was Sanjaya Malakar, the American Idol finalist who became famous for his hair despite singing that got mixed reviews. He was voted off the show last Tuesday night.
More traditional celebrities on the correspondents' dinner guest list included country stars Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, singer Sheryl Crow, actor John Cusack, actress Mary Tyler Moore and comic Larry David.
Washington heavyweights invited by various news outlets included Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and CIA director Michael Hayden.
The association presented a $5 000 cheque to the Virginia Tech student paper to help its coverage in the aftermath of the massacre.
- SAPA