The nation's first African-American president attended his first
Alfalfa Club Dinner as commander in chief last night, and Barack Obama
got into the spirit of the evening with jokes aimed at the dinner
itself, his famously profane chief of staff and even himself.
According to the White House, among the jokes the president told were:
"I am seriously glad to be here tonight at the annual Alfalfa
dinner. I know that many you are aware that this dinner began almost
one hundred years ago as a way to celebrate the birthday of General
Robert E. Lee. If he were here with us tonight, the general would be
202 years old. And very confused."
"Now, this hasn't been reported yet, but it was actually Rahm's
idea to do the swearing-in ceremony again. Of course, for Rahm, every
day is a swearing-in ceremony."
"But don't believe what you read. Rahm Emanuel (Obama's chief of
staff) is a real sweetheart.
"No, it's true. Every week the guy takes a little time away to
give back to the community. Just last week he was at a local school,
teaching profanity to poor children."
"But these are the kind of negotiations you have to deal with as
president. In just the first few weeks, I've had to engage in some of
the toughest diplomacy of my life. And that was just to keep my
BlackBerry.
"I finally agreed to limit the number of people who could e-mail
me. It's a very exclusive list. How exclusive?
"Everyone look at the person sitting on your left. Now look at the
person sitting on your right. None of you have my e-mail address."
As the Associated Press notes, among the others in attendance at the
Capitol Hilton in Washington were 2008 Republican presidential nominee
John McCain, a senator from Arizona, and his running mate, Alaska Gov.
Sarah Palin.
The dinner is supposed to be off-the-record, but reports of what was
said always leak out.
Politico reports that:
Looking to Joe Lieberman, the Democrat-turned-independent-turned
McCain supporter, Obama told the Connecticut senator he had no hard
feelings.
The door is always open, Obama assured Lieberman, who observes the
Sabbath, so feel to drop by -- any Saturday afternoon.
To Palin, Obama expressed surprise to see her with such members of
the Washington elite she railed against during the campaign. Or, as he
termed it in language Palin is familiar with, "palling around with
this crew."
The Washington Post says that Lieberman, who also spoke, "noted that
former vice president Richard B. Cheney injured himself while moving
into his new home, according to a source inside the dinner. 'I had no
idea waterboards were so heavy,' Lieberman quipped."
And, the Post reports:
The incoming club president, Sen. Christopher S. Bond, R-Mo.
reminded guests that a newspaper recently published a list of the 25
people most responsible for the global economic meltdown. "You know
who you are," he said, according to the source. "And it's good to see
you here tonight."
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2009/02/62218794/1
