Sitting at the table with President Biden tonight are

[BootinUp]

Thought this was interesting.

[Bucky]

1. That's a huge table.

Where the heck is Jill?

[Deuxcents]

4. Doesn't include spouses so I would assume it's business/policy going on

[ShazzieB]

8. Doug Emhoff was there.

Sounds like he may be the only one.

[NanaCat]

10. It's the Gridiron Dinner

It's sort of like a roast where people get to make jokes about themselves and others.

Ms. Biden is scheduled to make an appearance in Puerto Rico today (17 March), and was most likely preparing for that, headed there or already there.

[elleng]

2. BIG table!

Slainte!

[TheProle]

3. One of these things is not like the others

[Celerity]

6. bottom

[BaronChocula]

11. Hopefully he had a PRIME seat

by the restrooms.

[CANADIANBEAVER69]

5. I can't even imagine how TSF would even be able to sit at the adult table

He would not be able to hold a conversation. Heck, I would be a bit intimidated sitting there, to tell the truth.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

7. Jeff Bezos?

Wonder if he wants to counter Mnuchin's offer to buy TikTok.

[PlutosHeart]

9. I am actually

pleasantly surprised that Bezos is there. He could be helpful oddly. Need more media owners on our side and WaPo has been doing some good reporting.

[DFW]

12. If the table setup hasn't changed recently

This was not some huge round table. It was one long table, with the Gridiron president and POTUS in the middle, where the podium is. That whole thing is elevated, where the rest of us are at tables one level down. Seating is assigned, with name cards for every attendee. Each Gridiron member is allowed an allotted number of invitees, and in DC, even members of Congress lobby to get invited. Even as the son of a member, I couldn’t have gotten an invitation every year.

That’s how it was the couple of times I was there, anyway. The last time was a while ago, though, when my dad was president of the Gridiron Club. Much water has flowed under the bridge since then. He was such a beloved songwriter for that event that I got the honor of being asked to write some songs for them after he passed, even though only active members are supposed to do that. I was invited to the dinner where my stuff was being performed, but I didn’t go. The thought of seeing Bush and Cheney in person as our country’s leaders was too much.

[SheilaAnn]

13. Oh DFW, such interesting information I was not aware of about you. Songwriter...hmmmm. Happy St. Patrick's Day to you.

[DFW]

14. And a happy St. Pat's back!

Our dear friend, Helen Thomas, had a great JFK story about St. Patrick's day. She and JFK were in some deep discussion about something, and JFK was scheduled to join a St. Patrick's Day parade, but didn't want to break the conversation off. So, he told Helen to walk with him. Helen was about five feet tall, dark haired, and looked very much like the Arab (Lebanese) she was. She reminded him that she wasn't Irish. Kennedy said, "nobody's perfect," and had her tag along with him.

Here is a photo from the last time I was at the Gridiron, when my dad was president. The Gridiron president and his family always get a meet and greet with POTUS and the VP, when they are attending. Al Gore and I were discussing who came the longest was for the event. I thought I had won with Düsseldorf, but Gore had just arrived that evening from Saudi Arabia, so I had to concede. My wife was swooning over him, but freely admitted it was a temporary fetish. It was 13 years before we met up with him again, so I indeed had nothing to fear



What different days those were. And we thought we had problems then!! These were the darkest days of Gingrich's "Contract With America", and re-election wasn't looking like a certainty. But Clinton's speech was both hilarious and masterful, and even Gingrich, who was Speaker at the time, leaned over to my mom, whom he was seated next to up on the president's level, and told her, "anybody who thinks this guy will be a pushover in the next election is fooling themselves."