Quote of the Day

Thank g-d I know she had writers because this is actually funny.

"If the election had turned out differently, I could be the one overseeing the signing of bailout checks and Vice President Biden could be on the road selling his book, Going Rogaine."

-- Sarah Palin, quoted by Politico, at last night's Gridiron dinner.

Blog-Iron: A Club and Presidential Dinner for Bloggers

By GottaLaff

Huh? What? Did someone mention bloggers?

President Obama's snub of the annual spring Gridiron Dinner hosted by big-deal old-school reporters has inspired new-media bloggers. Steve Clemons, Washington Note blogger and director of the New America Foundation, is pushing for the creation of a highbrow blogger club and a rival annual presidential dinner for his ilk.

He just wanted to say "ilk". Ilk! Ilk! Love that word.


Ilk.

Our own opinion editor and blogger Robert Schlesinger tagged it Blog-Iron. At a dinner where Clemons raised the possibility, Gridiron members feigned outrage. But likely Blog-Iron members said they felt confident that Obama, who chatted online himself this week, would attend.

Oooo, watch out, the bloggers are taking over. The world is about to end.

Time for Another Stand-Up Comedy Blog: V.P. Joe Biden edition

By GottaLaff

F.I.L. (Father In Law), move over. Joe Biden's in town, at the Gridiron Dinner, no less:

'Axelrod really wanted me to do this on teleprompter -- but I told him I'm much better when I wing it. ... I know these evenings run long, so I'm going to be brief. Talk about the audacity of hope. ... President Obama does send his greetings, though. He can't be here tonight -- because he's busy getting ready for Easter. He thinks it's about him.

'I know that no president has missed his first Gridiron since Grover Cleveland. Of course, President Cleveland really did have better things to do on a Saturday night. When he was in the White House -- he was married to a 21 year old woman. ... I understand these are dark days for the newspaper business, but I hate it when people say that newspapers are obsolete. That's totally untrue. I know from firsthand experience. I recently got a puppy, and you can't housebreak a puppy on the Internet.

'Now let's see: we have a Republican speaker who was born in Austria, and tonight's Democratic speaker was born in Canada. Folks, this is Lou Dobbs' worst nightmare. ... We are now two months into the Obama-Biden administration and the President and I have become extremely close. To give you an idea of how close we are, he told me that next year -- maybe, just maybe -- he's going to give me his blackberry email address. ... But the Obama Administration really is a good team. I am the experienced veteran. Rahm can be an enforcer. And Tim Geithner is always there when you need to borrow money. And no questions asked.

'You know, I never realized just how much power Dick Cheney had until my first day on the job. I walked into my office, and you know how the outgoing president always leaves the incoming president a note in his desk? I opened my drawer and Dick Cheney had left me Barack Obama's birth certificate. ... I now realize that we have to be extra careful when we annunciate new policy ideas to make sure they don't look like they're personally motivated. For example, the other day there were a whole bunch of stories about the President's hair going gray; the next day there's a story about a Vice President who's trying to grow new hair, and then the day after that, the two of us come out in favor of stem cell research. That looked bad.

'I'd like to address some of the things I said: Like when I said that 'JOBS' is a three-letter word. I did say that. But I didn't mean it literally. It's like how, right now, most people think AIG is a four-letter word. ... Or when I announced our stimulus package website, I was asked how you get to it: All I said was I didn't know the website number. What I really meant to say was, 'Ted Stevens didn't tell me what tube the website is in.'

Bada bing! Rimshot!

Thanks for the transcript, Buzzflash!

Quotes of the Day

They really are villagers. On President Obama missing the Gridiron Dinner-

Former White House spokeswoman Dana Perino- "For some people it might seem silly, but Washington is a town of traditions," Perino said. "It seemed like a deflating moment. If you can do Jay Leno but not this one, I'm sure people were disappointed."

Sam Donaldson- "Well, I mean, he's a family man, he wants to be with his children at Camp David, and that's fine. Some day he may want a little credit from the bank and it won't be there but that's alright, at the moment he's riding high."

Catty little shits aren't they?

President Obama Will Not Attend Annual Gridiron Dinner

If you have the stomach, go check out the comments at the link. You'd swear that the President had said he was going to visit Al Quaeda for spring break instead..

A Gridiron Club member tells FBDC first that President Obama will not attend this year's dinner next Saturday, March 21st. He will be the first president since Grover Cleveland not to attend the first Gridiron Club Dinner of his presidency.

This year's date coincides with the spring break of President Obama's daughters' school and club members have been informed the Obama family will be out of town, likely in Chicago.

Vice President Joe Biden will attend and speak at the dinner in his place. This member tells us the club is delighted to have Vice President Biden, but that there will be some very disappointed guests.

Each year the dinner includes satirical musical skits choreographed by the members, and remarks by the president and various members of each party. President Obama spoke as a Senator at the March 2006 dinner.

Pic is from the President's 2006 appearance at the dinner.