Sheryl Crow and Laurie David Argue With Karl Rove at Correspondents' Dinner

Karl Rove found out Saturday evening that the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner isn’t just about comedians and members of the press telling jokes at the Administration’s expense.

Depending on whose account you believe, it is also about invited guests having the opportunity to confront White House staff in order to give them indigestion before their meal.

*****Updates at end of piece from Washington Post and AP.

As reported by Editor & Publisher Sunday (emphasis added throughout):

Sheryl Crow, on a cross-country global warming awareness trip, got into it with Karl Rove. Jawing like a baseball manager and an umpire arguing a call, Crow and Rove were disagreeing over global warming, with Crow’s pal, Laurie David, offering support.

Approached afterward about the exchange, Rove said he was enjoying it all, “if I can get to my meal.”

That’s not the way Crow and David saw the exchange, as this is how they reported it at the Huffington Post:

We asked Mr. Rove if he would consider taking a fresh look at the science of global warming. Much to our dismay, he immediately got combative. And it went downhill from there.

We reminded the senior White House advisor that the US leads the world in global warming pollution and we are doing the least about it. Anger flaring, Mr. Rove immediately regurgitated the official Administration position on global warming which is that the US spends more on researching the causes than any other country.

What was Rove’s take? Well, the Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz reported the following on CNN's “Reliable Sources” Sunday:

But it was Rove who felt put upon by Crow, telling the Washington Post, “She came over to insult me, and she succeeded.”

Who’s right? Maybe we’ll never know. However, the following paragraph from David and Crow’s post at HuffnPuff offers some insight as to how full of themselves these two Hollywood elites are:

In his attempt to dismiss us, Mr. Rove turned to head toward his table, but as soon as he did so, Sheryl reached out to touch his arm. Karl swung around and spat, "Don't touch me." How hardened and removed from reality must a person be to refuse to be touched by Sheryl Crow?

Imagine the arrogance: Anyone that would refuse to be touched by Sheryl Crow is “hardened and removed from reality.”

Actually, ladies, the better question to ask is how hardened and removed from reality must somebody be if they believe that everyone would want to be touched by them.

*****Update: The Associated Press is now reporting:

Karl Rove's debate with singer Sheryl Crow and producer Laurie David about global warming heated the atmosphere at a black-tie Washington dinner.

On the eve of Earth Day, Crow and "Inconvenient Truth" producer David walked over to the presidential adviser's table at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner Saturday night at the Washington Hilton.

Their differences on global warming quickly bubbled over, the Washington Post reported Sunday.

"I am floored by what I just experienced with Karl Rove," David said later. "I went over to him and said, I urge you to take a new look at global warming. He went zero to 100 with me. ... I've never had anyone be so rude."

Rove said: "She came over to insult me, and she succeeded."

Here is the Washington Post piece on this issue:

Global warming was the talking point last night at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner when singer Sheryl Crow and "Inconvenient Truth" producer Laurie David walked over to Table 92 at the Hilton Washington to chat with Karl Rove -- and the resulting exchange was suitably heated.

And, maybe most important from the Post piece (emphasis added):

News of the dust-up filtered quickly through the room. Some witnesses said David was very aggressive with Rove; a shaken Crow later said that Rove was "combative and unresponsive."

Hmmm.