Excerpts of Barack Obama's Alfalfa Club Dinner Remarks

Update: From a pool report, McCain was also at the dinner, and spoke, but Palin apparently did not:(via email)

Reports from inside the Alfalfa Club dinner are that Sen. McCain spoke, and there were several good-natured jokes lobbed at Gov. Palin, who was in attendance.

Any regular readers of this page will tell you that I've had a real bug up my urethra over this Alfalfa Club Dinner. First, I wrote about its connection to Robert E. Lee, then about how nobody wanted to report it.

Well, the White House has released excerpts of the president's remarks, and he does address the Lee issue, much as I would have thought he would. Here's what the White House put out:

Excerpts from the Remarks of President Barack Obama

Alfalfa Dinner

Saturday, January 31st, 2009

Washington, DC

I am seriously glad to be here tonight at the annual Alfalfa dinner. I know that many you are aware that this dinner began almost one hundred years ago as a way to celebrate the birthday of General Robert E. Lee. If he were here with us tonight, the General would be 202 years old. And very confused.

Now, this hasn't been reported yet, but it was actually Rahm's idea to do the swearing-in ceremony again. Of course, for Rahm, every day is a swearing-in ceremony.

But don't believe what you read. Rahm Emanuel is a real sweetheart.

No, it's true. Every week the guy takes a little time away to give back to the community. Just last week he was at a local school, teaching profanity to poor children.

But these are the kind of negotiations you have to deal with as President. In just the first few weeks, I've had to engage in some of the toughest diplomacy of my life. And that was just to keep my Blackberry. I finally agreed to limit the number of people who could email me. It's a very exclusive list. How exclusive?

Everyone look at the person sitting on your left. Now look at the person sitting on your right. None of you have my email address.

Well, I guess I should just say, "You're welcome."

Barack Obama is expected to have a sense of humor about this. I still don't. The Alfalfa Club does not amuse me, even if it does amuse itself.

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