10 memorable White House Correspondents Dinner jokes from the last 10 years The White House Correspondents Dinner is something of an enigma these days. The event referred to as "Nerd Prom" used to be a traditional dinner thrown by the White House Correspondents Association, the group that's responsible for things like credentialing reporters to cover the Oval Office and even setting up the seating chart for the White House press room. While the president and vice president have always been regular guests of the dinner, the remaining guest list has grown larger and less elite, for lack of a better word. Recent attendees have included Lindsay Lohan, Kim Kardashian, Uggie the dog from the film The Artist, and the Duck Dynasty cast. It's also an uncomfortable display of rubbing elbows between the President and the press corp charged with objectively covering him every day. But despite the criticism, it's become a big event thanks, in part, to the big names brought in to give the keynote speech every year (in addition to the President who also gives remarks) and the fact the event is now televised. And the jokes fly fast and furious every year as the event usually serves as something more of a roast than a celebration. Sometimes, those jokes wind up causing a ruckus or lingering into the news cycle for days and years to come. As the world hunkers down for this year's event, hosted by SNL actress Cecily Strong, here are some of the more memorable moments from the last 10 years of White House Correspondents dinners. Depending on who you ask, this may have been a low point or high point for the White House Correspondent's Dinner. Host Stephen Colbert, in character as his television persona, delivered a blistering roast of President George W. Bush, much to the delight of W's detractors. The audible gasps of the crowd add another level of delight to the event; it's as if no one in charge had ever bothered to watch The Colbert Report. The performance angered officials so much, they swung back the other direction the next year to the ultra safe, long time impressionist Rich Little. But Bush was hardly alone; the press themselves felt the heat of some of Colbert's barbs. The entire Colbert speech is worth watching but here are a few of the best gems. Colbert cracks on Bush's approval rating On the President's never ending photo opps Colbert takes the press to task 2009: Obama vents some steam at Boehner To say that President Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner have had a contentious relationship may be one of the biggest understatements of Obama's presidency. While Boehner gets to fire shots at the President in the press, Obama at least gets to vent his frustrations at his political adversary under the guise of "jokes." Though how much Obama's zingers are rooted in truth is left up to the listener to decide (but the answer is probably "a lot). Here, he gets in a solid shot at his very first dinner. 2009: Wanda Sykes, nailin' Palin While it wasn't the most controversial joke of her speech that would have been the one calling Rush Limbaugh the 20th 9 11 hijacker it was still one that pushed the envelope with Sykes hitting former GOP VP candidate Sarah Palin with a barb on abstinence. 2012: Jimmy Kimmel goes after Carney Kimmel brought the same razor sharp jokes to his year behind the podium as he does to many of his appearances and his own show. While he didn't take the same satirical approach as Colbert, Kimmel was just as cutting in his remarks, as evidenced by his cracks at the expense of then White House Press Secretary Jay Carney whom Kimmel took to task over the Hilary Rosen affair. But perhaps his most pointed jokes were aimed at President Obama who was coming off of a tough first term and heading into a heated election. Among the best was Kimmel poking fun at the embattled president's 2008 campaign and the steep hill Obama had to climb ahead of him to win re election. 2013: Conan O'Brien tweaks Mitt Romney With hosts like Meyer, Kimmel, and O'Brien, the move had been made back toward comedians who had a bit of an edge to their jokes but wouldn't thrust the president or the press as deep into the fire as Colbert did in 2006. In fact, most of O'Brien's jokes were light hearted and reminiscent of his show's humor. But he did land a particularly good dig at Romney. 2014: Joel McHale casts a wide net McHale's stint was much like his hosting gig, The Soup: a wide variety of targets on the receiving end of biting quips. But it was no less funny than previous hosts. Skewering everyone from the president to Donald Sterling to Rob Ford, McHale saved his best bit for the Kardashians while also getting in some great shots at Republicans.