Obama Not Joking About Importance of Free Press

Check out President Obama's hilarious turn at the mic at last night's annual White House Correspondents' Dinner, including a "Wassup?" shout-out to GOP chair Brother Michael Steele. C-SPAN's server is a bit balky this morning, but it's worth the wait. And stay tuned for the last quarter, where the President says some serious things about the vital role a vigorous press plays in keeping America great. Mr. Obama quotes Jefferson:

The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them. [Thomas Jefferson to Edward Carrington, 1787].

Obama notes Jefferson didn't have to put up with cable news. Jefferson also didn't have to put up with bloggers... but I suspect he'd love us.