Laura Bush's Coming-Out Party

Laura Bush's uproarious and ribald roast of her husband at Saturday night's White House Correspondents' Association Dinner didn't just win laughs.

It also capped a slow and up until now subtle transformation during which the first lady has emerged with a new assertive style in the East Wing of the White House, becoming an increasingly confident dabbler into public policy, and by a large margin the most popular face of the Bush administration.

Not to mention a natural at stand-up.

President Bush was the ostensible headliner of the night, but the sustained and rousing applause that greeted his arrival at the podium quickly turned into stony silence when he launched into a recitation of some of the worst jokes from his recent barnstorming tour of the country.

It was a mercy -- and a carefully choreographed one -- when the first lady rose from her seat at the head table, sent the president back to his -- "Not that old joke, not again" she said -- and delivered a perfectly paced monologue written for her by Landon Parvin, a longtime political joke writer. Those who were seated much closer than I told me the president laughed and blushed so much his face turned bright crimson.

Here's the video of the night's events from C-SPAN (the Bushes start their act at about 1:14.) Here's the full text of their remarks. This Associated Press photo captures the president's reaction.

Among the first lady's funniest lines:

· "George always says he's delighted to come to these press dinners. Baloney. He's usually in bed by now. I'm not kidding. I said to him the other day, 'George, if you really want to end tyranny in the world, you're going to have to stay up later.' I am married to the president of the United States, and here's our typical evening: Nine o'clock, Mr. Excitement here is sound asleep, and I'm watching 'Desperate Housewives' -- with Lynne Cheney. Ladies and gentlemen, I am a desperate housewife."

· "But George and I are complete opposites -- I'm quiet, he's talkative, I'm introverted, he's extroverted. I can pronounce 'nuclear'. The amazing thing, however, is that George and I were just meant to be. I was the librarian who spent 12 hours a day in the library, yet somehow I met George."

· "So many mothers today are just not involved in their children's lives. Not a problem with Barbara Bush. People often wonder what my mother-in-law's really like. People think she's a sweet, grandmotherly, Aunt Bea type. She's actually more like, mmm, Don Corleone."

· "I saw my in-laws down at the ranch over Easter. We like it down there. George didn't know much about ranches when we bought the place. Andover and Yale don't have a real strong ranching program. But I'm proud of George. He's learned a lot about ranching since that first year when he tried to milk the horse. What's worse, it was a male horse."

· "Now, of course, he spends his days clearing brush, cutting trails, taking down trees, or, as the girls call it, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. George's answer to any problem at the ranch is to cut it down with a chainsaw -- which I think is why he and Cheney and Rumsfeld get along so well."