D.C. Famous Party with Inexplicably Famous at Correspondents Bash

MCCARTHY HEARING Just a kiss o' the Colin (Powell) (Photo: Getty Images) As any media outlet knows, the way to attract the attention of the D.C. big wigs at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, held Saturday, is to seat celebrities at your table. It's like bringing cheerleaders to a chess club social (except in the case of President Bush, who was a cheerleader and doesn't really understand chess). For the stars' part, it's their chance to prove they aren't all airheads. So they strutted up a red carpet into the so-called Hinckley Hilton in Washington, posing for CSPAN, screaming fans, and the paparazzi. Then inside, away from the brain-numbing flashbulb frenzy, they pretended to find the President's speech remotely entertaining. It was a clip reel, really, but then again last year, he canned his speech out of respect for the Virginia Tech massacre victims. And everyone, really.

We're getting ahead of ourselves, though. First, to the red carpet!