Charlie Neibergall / AP Photo
Stars of all political stripes, including Sarah Palin, breached protocol to line up and shake President Obama's hand at last night's “off the record” Alfalfa Club dinner. Obama, for his part, tried out his stand-up routine: “In just the first few weeks, I’ve had to engage in some of the toughest diplomacy of my life,” he said. “And that was just to keep my BlackBerry. I finally agreed to limit the number of people who could e-mail me. It’s a very exclusive list. How exclusive? Everyone look at the person sitting on your left. Now look at the person sitting on your right. None of you have my e-mail address.” Obama pointed out that the dinner began nearly 100 years ago to celebrate the birthday of Robert E. Lee. "If he were here with us tonight, the general would be 202 years old—and very confused,” Obama said. The president also mentioned that notorious potty-mouth and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel had the idea "to do the swearing in ceremony again...Of course, for Rahm, every day is a swearing-in ceremony." But Obama left the best bit for Palin, expressing surprise at seeing her among the Washington elite, “palling around with this crew.”