As mentioned in a recent link here, the White House Correspondents Association has selected Rich Little as the entertainer at their 2007 dinner. Here's part of this article about it…
Rich Little won't be mentioning Iraq or ratings when he addresses the White House Correspondents' Dinner April 21. Little said organizers of the event made it clear they don't want a repeat of last year's controversial appearance by Stephen Colbert, whose searing satire of President Bush and the White House press corps fell flat and apparently touched too many nerves. "They got a lot of letters," Little said Tuesday. "I won't even mention the word 'Iraq.'"
Little, who hasn't been to the White House since he was a favorite of the Reagan administration, said he'll stick with his usual schtick — the impersonations of the past six presidents. "They don't want anyone knocking the president. He's really over the coals right now, and he's worried about his legacy," added Little, a longtime Las Vegas resident.
I saw Little's "Presidents" routine a few years ago. As I recall, it skewed somewhat pro-Reagan but it was like a Bob Hope monologue: Nothing in there that could make any president the least bit uncomfortable. The jokes about the previous George Bush were about him not liking broccoli, as opposed to jokes about the Gulf War or Iran-Contra.
Booking him for the dinner sounds cowardly…but I think if I were the guy making the selection this year, I might play it safe. Something about this presidency is becoming downright unfunny. Bush had a low approval rating last April but he didn't have the air of gloominess and failure that now seems to hover over his administration and the war. Back then, he was down but he still looked like a guy who might turn it all around. Now, with members of his own party and other traditional supporters deserting him, he's lost a certain smugness and taken on the look of an injured animal. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve criticism and satire. I just think it'll be a lot harder for any comedian to come in and mock the man to his face. And by April 21 — after another three months of war and G.O.P. defections — it'll be harder, not easier.
Of course, if Rich Little has any guts at all, he'll get up there and say, "Thank you. I'd like to start with my newest impression…Stephen Colbert!" That would make for quite an evening.