Washington Post "Reliable Source" gossips Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts chronicled the jokes at Thursday night’s Washington Press Club Foundation dinner, including the ones at the expense of the liberal media:

Sen. Mitch McConnell dryly scores with his line about the Dem race between "a New York senator who was born in Illinois, and an Illinois senator who was apparently born in a manger." Sen. John Cornyn makes his point more sharply, noting that the New York Times declined to attend this year. "Their table didn't go to waste. They just donated it to MoveOn.org at a discount." An "ohhhhhh" fills the room, followed by a lone hiss...

For once, Nancy Pelosi gets into the sassy, hazing spirit of these things. "I knew I had arrived in Washington when Helen Thomas played me in a skit at Gridiron. Remember that?" she coos. "I do." She blows a kiss to the veteran correspondent -- but zings: "That was Italian." (Get it? Kiss of death!)

For those who think that the Clintonistas reach a feverish level of self-delusion about Bill Clinton’s appetites, former Clinton aide Rahm Emanuel’s jokes suggested otherwise:

Rep. Emanuel recalls his days in the Clinton White House. "Back then the words 'stimulus' and 'package' had a whole different meaning." Not to mention "a surge, a two-pronged thrust and a phased withdrawal." And how about that Fred Thompson? "He had an interesting take on No Child Left Behind. He married her." Emanuel pitches himself as the ideal VP candidate: "I've spent more time in the executive branch than Barack, and I've spent more time with Bill than Hillary."

The Washington Press Club was founded by female journalists in the nation’s capital in 1919 as the Women's National Press Club because they weren't allowed to join the male preserves of the National Press Club and the Gridiron Club.

—Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center