Bruce, baby, Bruce!

The Gridiron Club, that stuffy old Washington press club of which the Providence Journal is a founding member, had its annual roast of politicians and media types recently. Pretty good gag from President Obama, who spoke at the end:

By tradition, the president of the United States gets the last word at any Gridiron dinner. And Obama this year started right off with a surprise. He got up to speak to the strains of “Hail to the Chief.” But at the podium, he pointed to the band and the stage at the other end of the room and said: “Can we go with the song that we talked about?”

Up on stage, Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Kevin Bennear, one of the club's ringers who has a terrific voice, sang “Born in the U.S.A.”

The crowd roared. A grinning Obama said: “Some things just bear repeating.”