The White House Correspondents Association Gala Becomes a Retirement Dinner for President Obama

The White House Correspondents Association dinner has become a fixture of Washington, DC's social, political and journalistic life. It nurtures the long-standing tradition of the simultaneously supportive and conflicted relationship between the Constitutional structures of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of government and the Fourth Estate ‐ the press. More to the point, the dinner encourages a deeply rooted American tradition of employing humor to speak the truth to power. In recent years the glitterati of stage, screen and television have been added to the traditional mix of literati and politicos. In the process the paparazzi have proliferated to record it all. C-SPAN was there to record the after dinner remarks for posterity meaning the electronic vaults of its website. CNN provided live coverage with commentary . . . meaning they had a lot of air time to fill as guests arrived and dinner was served before the evening's jousting began. And, the dinner has become only the center ring event in a circus of pre-party receptions and after-party galas that provide opportunities for those not attending the dinner to bask in the reflected celebrity limelight of those who made the invitation list. The dinner has become a command performance for American Presidents with the understanding that the evening is much more than a gala gathering. It is also an occasion for high (and low) political humor ‐ a mix of biting satire, topical jokes and scathing irony leavened with a deft touch of self-deprecating humor. The goal is to simultaneously celebrate the traditions of journalism and the realities of politics while bursting the blather and pretense that often characterize performance journalism and career politicians. For one night, at least, almost anything is fair game and the boundaries of propriety are stretched, without quite completely violating them. This year was President Obama's eighth and final appearance at the dinner, and he proved himself to be a "stand-up" guy. In the parlance of show-biz the President's shtick outshone the cringe comedy routine, or was it just brutally honest observational comedy, offered up by Larry Wilmore, host of Comedy Central's "The Nightly Show." Nobody ever said the Commander-in-Chief was an easy act to follow. Obama proved to be a master of comedic timing knowing when to wait a beat or two or three as when he identified Bernie Sanders as the "bright young face of the Democratic party" adding, "Bernie you look like a million bucks." Waiting a beat the President translated into terms candidate Sanders would understand, "That's 37,000 donations of $27!" Hillary Clinton was not exempt from the President's surgically scathing wit either. Obama announced that if his comedy material worked at the Correspondents Dinner, then after his second term was over he was planning on taking it on the road to Goldman-Sachs so he could earn himself some "serious Tubmans." The hit of the evening, however, was Obama's crisis of consciousness over his impending retirement from politics. No less than the Vice-President of the United States, Joe Biden, played along for a recorded bit that pondered the most stylish sunglasses for an ex-President on the golf course. Obama even brought former Speaker of the House John Boehner into the White House for movies, advice on what to do after retirement from political office, surreptitious cigarettes behind the first Lady's back, and many rounds of golf. CNN's Wolf Blitzer and Gloria Borger got into the comedy as well reporting on Obama's 347 consecutive rounds of post-presidency golf. When Blitzer asked Borger for commentary on what this might mean, she offered a priceless insight, "I don't know. I can't even think of a reason to care." The evening might have begun with "Hail to the Chief," but Obama's routine ended with a poignant yet comic reflection on life after the White House. Borrowing a media culture note from the ubiquitous Ryan Seacrest of "American Idol" and "American Top 40" fame, the President pronounced "Obama out!" and dropped his microphone to the floor. Obama, whose eight years of endless testing under the pressure of a divided nation and tumultuous world events visibly greyed his temples and lined his face and yet who always retained the ability to laugh at himself, silently walked away from the podium. A standing ovation followed.