Every year, the White House Correspondents’ Dinner boasts an eclectic guest list, and last night’s was no exception. Stars of the political world — including Colin Powell and Chris Christie — were joined by Hollywood stars including George Clooney, Steven Spielberg, Kevin Spacey and Lindsay Lohan. Late night TV host Jimmy Kimmel provided after dinner entertainment, but — as last year — the best jokes came from Barack Obama.
He poked fun at himself:
‘Some have said I blame too many problems on my predecessor. But let’s not forget, that’s a practice that was initiated by George W Bush.’
The Republican primaries:
‘[Mitt Romney] took a few hours off the other day to see The Hunger Games. Some of you have seen it. It’s a movie about people who court wealthy sponsors and then brutally savage each
other until only one contestant is left standing. I’m sure this was a really great change of pace for him.’
Mitt Romney:
‘It’s great to be here this evening in the vast, magnificent Hilton ballroom — or what Mitt Romney would call “a little fixer-upper”.’
And even recent Republican attempts to whip up outrage over
Obama’s admission that he once tried dog meat when living in Indonesia:
‘Even Sarah Palin’s getting back into the game, guest hosting on the Today show. Which reminds me of an old saying: What’s the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? A
pit bull is delicious.’
‘My stepfather always told me, it’s a boy-eat-dog world out there.’
The President also gave the star-studded audience ‘a quick preview of the secret agenda you can expect in a second Obama administration’, which included:
‘In my first term, we repealed the policy known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”. In my second term we will replace it with a policy known as “It’s Raining
Men”. In my first term, we passed health care reform. In my second term, I guess I’ll pass it again.’
The Correspondents’ Dinner is always a chance for Presidents to show off their funny sides, although Obama has been distinctly light-hearted of late anyway — whether singing Al Green or ‘slow-jamming the news’ on late night TV. But these are really just brief respites from the
serious business of campaigning, of which negative ads such as this and this are far more
representative.
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