Lynn Sweet

(White House photo)

WASHINGTON--What! Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, palin' around with a group of elite journalists? She was, the Gridiron Club winter dinner, where she took shots at herself and the journos in the audience.

I'm taking a quick break from the dinner to file this, so I'm not ready to say yet if she has given one of those speeches that turned around her image. But in her 11 minute, 36 second speech, she did no harm to herself. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) speaks in about 15 minutes.

Some of Palin's lines:

"You betcha. Who talks that way?"

On deciding to speak to the Gridiron Club "Sometimes you just got to trust your instincts. And when you don"t, you end up in places like this."

"At least now I can put a face to the newspapers I do read."

WASHINGTON--Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) are keynoting the Gridiron Club Winter dinner tonight. Palin is here with husband Todd. Palin and Frank will be speaking later at this dinner sponsored by the journalists group.

At the reception before the dinner, Palin told me she will be Tweeting later on tonight. She is carrying a purse made out of otter. (How do I know one fur from another. I don't. I asked her.)

It's snowing here--unusually early. Todd Palin told me they brought the weather with them. The event is black tie; Todd Palin's blue cummberbund is based on the Alaska state flag, with the Big Dipper and the North Star--for the most north state in the nation.

Earlier Saturday, Palin, who is on a book tour for her "Going Rogue," did a book signing at a suburban Virgina store.

WASHINGTON--White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers does not deserve the bum wrap she is getting over the Salahi gate crashing at the Obamas Nov. 24 state dinner for the Prime Minister of India. My 2,072-word "In Defense of Desiree Rogers" is here.

Bo the Obama dog decked out for Christmas (White House photo)

WASHINGTON--A contingent of Illinois political officials and activists with ties to President Obama and wife Michelle attended a holiday party at the White House on Thursday, featuring new, tighter security measures installed after wannabe reality TV show stars crashed a Nov. 24 state dinner.

One of my spies told me that White House staffers sat at tables at the entry gate checking off guests as they arrived; in all ID's had to be shown at three checkpoints before guests enterred the East Wing and passed through the magnetometer. This triple checking comes after Michaele and Tareq Salahi sailed past checkpoints and were able to enter the White House even through they were not on any guest list. A House committee on Thursday held a hearing on the security breach.

The holiday party food: shrimp, roast beef, turkey, smoked salmon, shrimp. Choirs, I am told, were singing in the different rooms of the White House.

Obama briefly spoke. No photo line. Chicago Obama staffers White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers, FLOTUS Chief of Staff Susan Sher; Public engagement chief Tina Tchen were seen at the party.

The Illinoisans at the Obama party included:

OFFICIALS
Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan
Illinois State Senate President John Cullerton
Illinois House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie
Illinois State Sen. Iris Martinez
Illinois State Sen. Terry Link
Former Illinois Senate President Emil Jones mentor to then state Sen. Barack Obama
Former Illinois State Rep. Robin Kelly, chief of staff for Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and state treasurer hopeful.
Cook County Clerk David Orr
Cook County Board Member Forrest Claypool
Illinois State Rep. Art Turner
llinois State Board of Education Chair Jesse Ruiz
Chicago Ald. Toni Preckwinkle

LABOR
Dennis Gannon, CFL
Tom Balanoff, SEIU
Henry Tamarin, UNITE
Ron Powell UFCW

POLITICAL ACTIVISTS
David Wilhelm
Michael Bauer
Roger Simon
Judy Gaynor
Susan and Lewis Manilow
Abner and Zoe Mikva