Obama cracks wise at annual Gridiron dinner

March 10, 2013 @ 7:39 am


President Barack Obama walks with Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, right, as they leave the Gridiron Dinner through a loading area at a hotel in Washington, Saturday, March 9, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) | Zoom

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama blamed the budget battle if his jokes fell flat at Saturday night's Gridiron dinner: "My joke writers have been placed on furlough."

Always a target for digs, the president tossed out a few of his own during the Gridiron Club and Foundation dinner, an annual event where political leaders, journalists and media executives poke fun at each other.

The so-called sequester that struck the federal budget this month drew another observation from Obama: "Of course, there's one thing in Washington that didn't get cut _ the length of this dinner. Yet more proof that the sequester makes no sense."

The ambitions of 70-year-old Vice President Joe Biden? "Just the other day, I had to take Joe aside and say, `Joe, you are way too young to be the pope. You can't do it. You got to mature a little bit.'"

During a pause in his remarks, Obama took a long, slow sip of water and then said, "That, Marco Rubio, is how you take a sip of water." Rubio took a much-discussed water break while delivering the televised GOP response to the State of the Union address last month.

Obama also mocked the criticism from some quarters that he takes time off from his job. "We face major challenges. March in particular is going to be full of tough decisions. But I want to assure you, I have my top advisers working around the clock. After all, my March Madness bracket isn't going to fill itself out. And don't worry _ there is an entire team in the Situation Room as we speak, planning my next golf outing, right now at this moment."

The dinner was the organization's 128th since its founding in 1885. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar represented the Democrats, while Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal cracked wise for the Republicans.

Klobuchar joked that Obama had aged in office. "His Secret Service name used to be `Renegade,'" she said. "Now it's `50 Shades of Gray.'"

Jindal jabbed at Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, telling the audience that Romney had warned him that "47 percent of you can't take a joke." Referring to his own prospects for a presidential run, Jindal asked, "What chance does a skinny guy with a dark complexion have of being elected president?"

Political disputes and feuds between politicians and the news media provided plenty of fodder. There was Obama's sometimes frosty relationship with the news media, the internal struggles roiling the Republican Party, and journalist Bob Woodward's dustup with White House economic adviser Gene Sperling, who advised Woodward in an email that the veteran Watergate reporter would regret his reporting about the forced spending cuts called a sequester.

Welcoming the 650 attendees, Gridiron President Charles J. Lewis of Hearst Newspapers noted that the organization had promised to keep the evening short, "especially because Gene Sperling said that a late night is something we'd all regret."

With a nod to print reporters' complaints about dealing with the Obama administration, Lewis said he thought he'd overhead Obama say on the way to the dinner: "So many newspaper reporters. So many interviews to turn down."

Musical skits are a tradition at the Gridiron dinner. Using the Beatles song "When I'm 64," one skit featured a look at Hillary Rodham Clinton's future with the lyrics:

"Got a bit older/Growing my hair/Gained a pound or two

"Going home to vegetate in Chappaqua/ I just want to be a grandma

"It was more than a case of Benghazi flu/Still I'll be just fine

"Will you select me/Will you elect me/When I'm 69."

Noting the close relationship between the GOP and the National Rifle Association, Gridiron members sang a tune called "My Gun," a takeoff on the Temptations' "My Girl." The lyrics included:

"If you hate the NRA/Tell my Walther PPK

"You're flirting with disaster/With my Bushmaster

"And when pigs fly away/You can take me away

"From my gun."

The Gridiron Club and Foundation contributes to college scholarships and journalistic organizations. It limits active members to 65 journalists based in Washington.

Except for Grover Cleveland, every president since the Gridiron was founded has addressed it. The club is the oldest and most exclusive for Washington journalists. Its motto is, "Singe but never burn."

No TV cameras were allowed.


(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Comments (6)


  • Add A Comment

  • HPD 5-0 wrote...
    Humor
    March 9, 2013 6:14 pm
    How many liberals does it take to change a lightbulb? 25; 1 to do it and 24 to stand around and get paid for doing nothing since they're unionized.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Pair o'dimes wrote...
    And light bulb changers before unions?
    March 10, 2013 10:05 am
    I would be a child(no heavy ladders required) lifted up by his parent. They would work 6 to 6-1/2 days a week, around 12 to 14 hours a day. The switch would not be turned off, and if the bulb was broken it would be up to the child to figure out some way to protect his hands. If his hands were injured by the work and he was unable to continue, he would be fired, with no medical treatment. He would have no retirement, he would have no health care or safety conditions or safety gear provided on his job. If he called in sick he would be fired. His parents would require him to work because they needed the money, as their wages were also so low that they could not survive without the additional income. It is lost on too many Americans that the decline in the middle class is mirrored by the decline in union membership. While no human enterprise is without greed, selfishness and corruption, it is foolish to assume that by getting rid of unions you do away with those problems. How naive to assume that businesses are pure and selfless and will look out for their employees. They also suffer from greed, selfishness and corruption. The typical response is "just get another job", but that is an ignorant rejection of the reality of market forces. When all the power is placed in the hands of the employer, you will see wages and conditions decline.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • longwayhome wrote...
    humor
    March 9, 2013 7:59 pm
    Something republicans (hpd) do not have. You tell everyone you are in L.E. Most cops I know are union, have you been lying to us? You once told everyone that you are Hispanic, is that a lie too? Consistently negative posters are usually full of crap. Get your lies in order, I realize you're a republican and the truth comes hard, but lie to me once shame on you, lie to me again, shame on me. Never again.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CH wrote...
    Humor?
    March 9, 2013 8:36 pm
    I looked it up in the GOP book of books. On page 666 was a picture of xxxcop. Correction it was page 999 I had the book upside down.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CH wrote...
    know how to make a fool of a republican?
    March 10, 2013 9:48 pm
    give him/her the megaphone. Now that there is funny!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • hnuh wrote...
    Note how out of touch
    March 11, 2013 7:13 am
    Dear Leader is... joke writers... plural... not one, singular, but multiple joke writers... on a side note... The white house employs 4 calligraphers at 170k per year per each. None will be furloughed in the sequester 0bama demanded and got.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }