White House Correspondents Dinner: It's Like Your Prom, But The Dresses Are Uglier

The White House Correspondents Dinner is tomorrow night, and if you yak every time you think of Laura's masturbation jokes from last year, you are not alone. I for one think this year will be ever so slightly better for two reasons:

1. Valerie Plame will be there. Question: What will be printed on her place card? Valerie Wilson? Valerie Plame? Undercover CIA Agent? My Husband Is A Bush Critic And All I Got Was This Lousy Unemployment Check?
2. Stephen Colbert is hosting. I bet 10 to 1 he uses his bon mot, "truthiness."
   

For more yucking it up, today's The Note recaps the Dinners of years past:

2001: Offered up a slide show, featuring a photo of a nude Jeb Bush (aged four). Quote: "Some people have asked me . . . if the vote recount left any hard feelings between my brother Jeb and me . . . Not a bit! In fact, here's a picture of the governor of Florida."

2002: Shared a mindmeld with comeback-king-of-MTV Ozzy Osbourne, thus shifting the focus to the then-hotter-than-hot musician/family man/reality TV star. Quote: "The thing about Ozzy is, he's made a lot of big hit recordings… 'Party With the Animals.' 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.' 'Facing Hell.' 'Black Skies' and 'Bloodbath in Paradise.' Ozzy, Mom loves your stuff." When Ozzy got on the furniture and made homo-erotic eye contact with "someone" on the dais, The Note lost its mind.

2003: [Bush was exempt from cracking wise in 2003, given the war in Iraq, and the deaths of journalists Michael Kelly and David Bloom. His speech was appropriately brief and somber.]

2004: Tossed out a short little speech (ceding the microphone to Jay Leno), albeit one with a widely repeated quip. Quote: "I thought about giving an economic speech tonight. It really gets me when the critics say I haven't done enough for the economy. I mean, look what I've done for the book publishing industry. You have heard some of the titles: "Big Lies"; "The Lies of George W. Bush."; "The Lies & the Lying Liars Who Tell Them." I'd like to tell you I've read each of these books, but that would be a lie."

2005: Allowed First Lady Laura Bush to usurp the stage; she looked luminous and showed off killer timing. Her racy remarks and demure delivery gave her husband a pass for another year. Quote: "Nine o'clock, Mr. Excitement here is sound asleep and I'm watching `Desperate Housewives'. With Lynne Cheney. Ladies and gentlemen, I am a desperate housewife."