They Can't Handle the Truthiness

Almost a year after Stephen Colbert delighted the crowd at last year's White House Correspondents Association dinner, his effects are still being felt. As quoted by Editor & Publisher, White House Correspondents Association president Steve Scully is out to make this year's bash "a comfortable venue that is enjoyable, funny and interesting." Wow, that's something to look forward to. But to make sure no one gets the wrong idea, he adds, "But you don't want to offend anyone." Not that anyone was offended last year. No, sir. "I think some of the criticism of Colbert was overblown. We didn't hear anything from the White House."

And to make sure they don't hear anything from the White House this year, either, Scully has made a very shrewd choice. Fresh from David Letterman's Impressionists Week, this year's host is Rich Little. Scully did indeed get the idea of booking Little after seeing him on Letterman (you can see Little's performance on his Web page).

I don't actually mean to be hard on Rich Little. I always enjoyed him back in the day, and he does good impressions of Johnny Carson and Richard Nixon. He's offered a gig, so why shouldn't he accept it? My only problem is that he's not exactly a timely choice. I'd love nothing more, though, than for Little to step up with some challenging material. Maybe he can do a Stephen Colbert impression.

Scully only failed in one aspect of his self-imposed mission. He told Yeas and Nays at the Washington Examiner that he wanted to select someone who had never headlined the event. Unfortunately, according to E&P, Little will be celebrating the 23rd anniversary of the last time he was the host. Oh, well. As long as he keeps the Bob Novaks of the world happy.