Laura leaves 'em laughing, gasping

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Who knew?

First lady Laura Bush took over the podium from her husband at Saturday night's annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner and knocked 'em dead, keeping Washington's most powerful politicos in stitches as she worked the ballroom like a seasoned stand-up comic.

"George always says he's delighted to come to these press dinners. Baloney. He's usually in bed by now," Mrs. Bush said. "I'm not kidding. I said to him the other day, 'George, if you really want to end tyranny in the world, you're going to have to stay up later.'"

Her scripted "interruption" of the president's traditional speech -- mostly written by Landon Parvin, a longtime comic adviser to presidents back to Ronald Reagan -- included such zingers as: "George and I are complete opposites -- I'm quiet, he's talkative; I'm introverted, he's extroverted; I can pronounce nuclear. ..."

Mrs. Bush's impeccable delivery and timing -- at one point, she said her "Aunt Bea"-like mother-in-law is "actually more like ... hmm ... Don Corleone" -- was a surprise to most in the crowd, who have seen the former librarian only stand by her man and smile smartly.

"I am married to the president of the United States, and here's our typical evening: Nine o'clock, Mr. Excitement here is sound asleep, and I'm watching 'Desperate Housewives' -- with [Vice President Dick Cheney's wife] Lynne Cheney," Mrs. Bush said. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am a desperate housewife. I mean, if those women on that show think they're desperate, they ought to be with George.

"One night, after George went to bed, Lynne Cheney, [Secretary of State] Condi Rice, [Bush adviser] Karen Hughes and I went to Chippendales," she said, referring to a strip club where women tuck cash into male dancers' skimpy thongs. "I wouldn't even mention it except [Supreme Court Justices] Ruth Ginsberg and Sandra Day O'Connor saw us there. I won't tell you what happened, but Lynne's Secret Service code name is now 'Dollar Bill.'"

The 2,500 people packed into the Washington Hilton ballroom exploded in laughter. Even Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, sitting at a Washington Times table, appeared to enjoy the joke.

Although Washington's movers and shakers laughed at Mrs. Bush's performance, some in the press woke up with a Sunday morning hangover and began to criticize her monologue as immodest at best and downright bawdy at worst.

"Laura Bush cracks risque jokes at the White House Correspondents' dinner," sniffed Agence France-Presse.