Llewellyn
King
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May 14, 2009
White House Correspondents Dinner: First the Party, Now the
Hangover
By the time the
Washington press corps struggled into the Washington Hilton for the
annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, we were pretty
bedraggled.
So much news. There was
the Obama puppy; the White House vegetable garden; Michelle’s arms;
Barack’s chest, his hot dog, his mustard; and to cap it all, the
knife-edge issue of whether Miss California would keep her crown. One
suspects the Supreme Court was ready for an expedited hearing on that
one.
So 2,400-plus
journalists (most of whom have never been near the White House) and
guests, after many fights over tickets, struggled into the crowded
confines of the Hilton to drink too much, fawn over actors and other
celebrities and talk on a leveled playing field with cabinet secretaries
and service chiefs.
Make no mistake – this
is the big one in Washington: The must-be-seen-at event.
This is Washington’s
Oscar Night. Every year, many news organizations throw elaborate before
and after parties. Organizations that value their dignity – like The
Washington Post and The New York Times – or those, as so many
are, that are in bankruptcy, do not throw parties. But ABC, Atlantic
Media, Bloomberg, Business Week, CBS, CNN, Congressional
Quarterly, Newsweek, Time and Reuters all vied to give
the working press the works. The press drank deeply.
Of course, not all
those enjoying the largesse of the publishers had tickets to the dinner.
Many jumped into dinner suits or evening gowns (show lots of skin,
darling) and enjoyed the cocktails and the celebrity-watching before
going home to see the show on television.
Actually, these
crashers are smart and necessary. They fill the cocktail parties, so the
hosts feel loved, and they meet their friends, schmooze and scram before
they make fools of themselves. They also are spared the pitched battle
for tickets that precedes the dinner every year.
It is a battle between
those with the big bucks and swagger, like the television networks, and
those who actually write or broadcast about the White House. It is an
unseemly struggle. The big outfits want as many as eight tables of 10,
whereas many smaller outfits, like Human Events, do not pass the
glamour test. Even Barron’s complains.
I used to fight to get
one table. Now, I settle for four seats for my wife and myself and two
friends. But every year, trade associations, lobbyists and journalists,
who are not members of the White House Correspondents’ Association,
implore me to get them in. I have started to affect hearing loss.
Year after year, the
drill is the same. An inebriated audience listens to the president
making jokes, usually at his own expense, then a comedian, chosen
exclusively by the president of the association, tries to better the
president and the effects of the liquor on the revelers.
Comedian Drew Carey,
who can handle just about any audience, from Las Vegas to The Price
Is Right, told me that the WHCA dinner was the one that had made him
the most nervous of any standup engagement, and that he thought it was a
difficult audience.
One year, Laura Bush
stole the show when she spoofed her husband. In other years, George W.
Bush stole the show with his self-mockery.
This year, Obama was
funny but not uproarious.
Things were headed down
the predictable slippery slope of after-dinner festivities when Wanda
Sykes, the comedian known for her acerbic and sometimes blue humor,
intimated that she would not shed a tear if Rush Limbaugh went to the
great studio in the sky.
This did not cause
supporters of Rush to walk out en masse. On Monday, Fox News, which was
well represented at the dinner and had Todd Palin as their prized guest,
decided that a sacrilege had been committed against the sainted Rush.
Led by Bill O’Reilly, Fox wanted an apology for the keeper of the
conservative covenant. Their indignation was right up there with, you
know, the Obama puppy, the White House vegetable garden, Michelle’s arms
and Barack’s torso.
For those of us who are
not in the small space to the right of Fox News, a vulgar comedian made
an unfunny joke about a vulgar broadcaster. We should concentrate on the
big stuff, like Miss California and her political philosophy.
© 2009 North Star
Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.
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