This Article is From May 10, 2009

Obama pokes fun at himself

Obama pokes fun at himself

AP image

Washington: President Barack Obama poked fun at himself and the Washington establishment.

Obama spoke at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner. He took playful digs at his frequent use of a teleprompter and Vice President Joe Biden's knack for speaking off the cuff.

Republicans were also a target. Obama joked that former Vice President Dick Cheney could not make the dinner because he is writing his memoir, "How to shoot friends and interrogate people."

It was a reference to Cheney's support of harsh interrogation and his accidental shooting of a hunting companion.

Obama also turned serious and talked of the financially struggling media industry, praising journalists for holding government officials accountable.

The president wasn't the only one to tell jokes.      

Tart-tongued comic Wanda Sykes, the dinner's entertainer, poked fun at Obama giving the Queen of England an iPhone during a recent visit. "What are you going to give the Pope, a Bluetooth?," asked Sykes.

And she questioned First Lady Michelle Obama having patted the queen on the back "like she just slid into home plate way to go, queen!"

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