WASHINGTON -- He may hail from a place called Hope, but President Clinton admits that the Year of Monica taught him first-hand about life in another realm.
"I still believe in a place called . . . hell," Clinton said, reprising his 1992 campaign mantra Saturday night at the Gridiron Club's annual dinner-cum-presidential roasting.Clinton's peccadillo predicament -- and the impeachment it spawned -- gave Gridiron journalists plenty of material to work with, resulting in the type of lighthearted lampoonery that the Gridiron has dished out for 114 years.
Every president since Benjamin Harrison has tolerated the ribbing -- with the exception of Grover Cleveland, who stiffed the club through two disconnected terms. Clinton seemed to hold up well under the humor.
"I had a wonderful time tonight," Clinton said. "You did singe, but you did not burn."
This year, the super-sharp barbs hit more than Clinton. House Republicans were reduced to clowns who bungle verdicts. Vice President Al Gore begged for impeachment so he could be popular.
Others lampooned themselves. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., draped a blue sash full of medals and ribbons around his neck and delivered a speech rife with references to his status as a bonafide war hero. He said the nation deserves a president who is a war hero, and did he mention that he was a war hero?
A squad of Monica Lewinskys, all wearing angled berets and soiled blue dresses, paraded on stage. And columnist Carl Rowan, who is black, donned a blond wig to drag out a portrayal of Linda Tripp.
First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton pleaded for votes disguised as a pea-green Statue of Liberty:
"I'll show those right-wing nuts, this broad's got more than guts," she sang. "Come on, come through, New York, New York!"
The real first lady was not there. She had departed earlier Saturday on an 11-day tour of Africa.
But another lady of firsts, possible GOP presidential candidate Elizabeth Dole, was there to see a send-up of her husband Bob's endorsement of the impotency pill Viagra: "With her husband wolfing down those little blue pills, the question is, 'Is Mrs. Dole running for the White House or away from Bob?"'