Lame Duck Sings Swan Song for Press

Two years after Stephen Colbert stunned the Washington press corps by not just roasting but slamming the guest of honor at the Gridiron dinner, this year's dinner wasn't televised. But a bootleg of President Bush's swan song promptly appeared on YouTube. He performs “Auld Lang Syne” and joins hands with—and then kisses—Helen Thomas.

“You have just witnessed the final performance of Bush and the Busharoos,” the star of the show says after leading a Texas-waltz version of “The Brown, Brown Grass of Home” in white tie and cowboy hat. The Chicago Tribune details Saturday evening's wit and winces, notably Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's prediction of a great year for the GOP, which "started outreach many, many months ago, in the airport men's room." (More George W. Bush stories.)