WASHINGTON - President Bush wowed them at the annual Gridiron Club political press dinner Saturday night, which turned into a de facto roast of Vice President Cheney. With impeccable timing, the President tossed off one great line after the next about the Vice President's recent hunting accident. (The President's comments are not reprinted here, consistent with the policy of this news source not to print "jokes.") But Bush saved the best for last. In a spectacular finale that provoked riotous laughter and cheers, Bush strode over to the Vice President, doused him with lighter fluid, lit a match and tossed it on his shoulder to set him ablaze. A stunned Cheney screamed and tried to no avail to douse the conflagration with a pitcher of water.
"It's amazing how fast he went up," guffawed the Vice President's wife, Lynne Cheney, obviously enjoying herself immensely. "This is the best of these dinners we've ever attended," she remarked.
Fire crews and paramedics rushed to the stage and had the fire under control in a matter of seconds. One of the paramedics remarked that the Vice President may have suffered a mild heart attack from the incident. Bush, overhearing this, put his hand over his mouth to muffle embarrassed laughter.
Bush's popularity rating jumped 18 points following news of the incident. Some Democrats who were on the floor with laughter at the sight of Cheney on fire later expressed concern, noting that the President's stunt was "the most popular thing" he could have done, short of having Cheney's hunting victim Harry Whittington make a guest appearance at the dinner in order to shoot the Vice President.
