Members of the Washington elite gathered on Saturday night for the 97th annual Alfalfa Club dinner, where Democrats and Republicans exchanged zingers in the name of bipartisan camaraderie.
The exclusive dinner is held at the Alfalfa Club in Washington D.C., and according to the New York Times, the club’s only purpose is to put on this annual dinner.
And what a dinner it was!
Apparently, George H. W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Sandra Day O’Connor, John McCain and Alan Greenspan were among this year’s attendees.
And though President Obama skipped the festivities this year, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner did read a letter from the president to the attendees that explained his absence:
I regret that I’m unable to attend this year’s Alfalfa dinner, but as part of the health care compromise, I’m busy tonight babysitting Ben Nelson’s grandkids.
The Obama letter also addressed Scott Brown’s victory in MA: “It was an election that made clear that voters don’t want left or right. They want centerfold. Which is probably why Chris Dodd is now thinking about running again.”
Outgoing Alfalfa President Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) also joined the fun: “We did save seats for President Obama’s two closest friends and traveling companions — tele and prompter.”
Bond also joked: “We have so many foreign dignitaries here I don’t know who to bow to. Of course as Alfalfa president I would never bow to the Japanese Emperor. Just to Rush Limbaugh.”
Incoming Alfalfa President Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) hinted at what these Alfalfa dinners are really about — self-congratulatory politicians: “I came from humble beginnings. I was the first kid in my family to make $100 million.”
The club’s current nominee for president, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), also gave a speech, sometimes crossing over into “too much information” territory:
My fellow Alfalfans, as your candidate, I will fight as tenaciously as my namesake General Lee. I will do whatever’s necessary to get elected — even appear nude as the newly elected senator from Massachusetts did in the pages of Cosmopolitan.
In my case, back in the days of the old New York Sun I was once the subject of a very tasteful nude Currier and Ives lithograph.
Nothing to worry about, however. I very gracefully put my hand over my private parts . . . which shows that even then I was against the public option!
He concluded by making some cracks about Guantanamo Bay: “All we have to do is change its name. How about calling it the Richard B. Cheney Resort and Rehabilitation Spa? I bet the water sports will be really great.”
Torture is hilarious!
