Briefly, White House Is All Comedy Central, No C-SPAN

WASHINGTON -- President Bush gave reporters here a look Saturday at “what life is really like inside the Bush White House,” showing off his collection of “actual, never-seen-before photos.”

One of the good things about life in the mansion is that his wife, Laura, is always on hand to help him out, he said displaying a photograph of the first lady standing with her hands on each side of his face.

“Here she is helping me pronounce ‘Azerbaijani,’” said Bush, who is known to sometimes stumble over long words.

Bush and top members of his administration mingled with reporters and other Washington insiders at the annual White House Correspondents dinner.

Comedian Drew Carey was on hand to provide the entertainment during the more than three-hour event, doing stand-up comedy for the president and more than 1,800 guests, including White House advisor Karl Rove and rock star Ozzy Osbourne.

Bush noted that Carey is the host of a television show that “is totally improvised.”

“Drew,” the president said, “got any interest in the Middle East?”

Osbourne and his wife, Sharon, were the guests of Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren. The couple and two of their three children are stars of the hit MTV reality show, “The Osbournes,” which chronicles the family’s home life.

“The thing about Ozzy is, he’s made a lot of big hit recordings--’Party With the Animals,’ ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath,’ ‘Face in Hell,’ ‘Black Skies’ and ‘Bloodbath in Paradise,’” the president said.

“Ozzy. Your mom loves your stuff.”

The correspondents dinner, in its 88th year, has become an occasion for self-deprecating humor from presidents. Last year, Bush presented a slide show of his family accompanied by a joke-riddled speech about the 2000 presidential election recount.

The year before, President Clinton put together a farewell video in which he pretended to be at loose ends in the final lame-duck months of his presidency.

Honored guests included the winners of the White House Correspondents Assn.’s annual journalism awards. Most of the winning entries were about the terrorist attacks last year on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The Edgar A. Poe Award went to four Newsweek journalists--Evan Thomas, Mark Hosenball, Martha Brant and Roy Gutman--for their reporting on terrorism.

The association was formed in 1914 as a liaison between the press and the president. Every president since Calvin Coolidge has attended the group’s annual dinner.