WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar represented the Democrats at the 128th annual Gridiron Club Dinner Saturday night at the Renaissance Washington Hotel, amusing a white-tie audience of political and press elites as a humorous counterpoint to Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana.

"I don't want to be judgmental right from the start," Klobuchar began, "but did anyone else notice that Bobby Jindal lip-synced his entire remarks?"

Of course, the most important member of the audience was President Obama, who cracked a few jokes of his own — one at the expense of Minnesota's junior senator. "I am worried about Al Franken," Obama told the gathering. "How do you start off being one of the original writers for Saturday Night Live and end up being the second-funniest senator in Minnesota? … How the mighty have fallen."

The evening featured special guest appearances by Klobuchar's father, former Star Tribune columnist Jim Klobuchar, her lawyer husband John Bessler, and her daughter, Abigail, who's bound for Yale.

Another Klobuchar crack: "I know the governor and the president and I agree on one thing: One day soon, maybe not next year, maybe not in our children's lifetime, but one day you will once again have a white male politician speak at the Gridiron ...

"Now I am under no illusions here. I know I was picked to speak tonight from a binderful of women."

Klobuchar

kevin diaz

Sweden's Princess Lilian dies

Welsh-born Princess Lilian of Sweden, whose decades-long love story with the king's uncle was one of the better kept secrets of the royal household, has died. She was 97. A brief statement on the Royal Palace's website said Lilian died Sunday in her home in Stockholm. It didn't give a cause of death, but Lilian had been in poor health for several years. Lilian met Sweden's Prince Bertil in 1943, but the prince's obligations to the throne and Lilian's status as a divorced commoner prevented them from making their love public, and it would take more than 30 years before they could marry. The couple's sacrifices and lifelong dedication to one another gripped the hearts of Swedes. Their story has been described as one of the most touching royal romances of our time.

News Services