Here is the joke — a White House official yesterday briefed an auditorium full of journalists on President Bush’s upcoming State of the Union address and demanded that he remain anonymous.
Here is the punch line — they went along.
According to The New York Times:
The White House official who briefed reporters on the speech said Mr. Bush would take detailed positions on Social Security in coming weeks and months, but only to the extent that doing so would help Congress move forward. The official, who spoke before an auditorium full of journalists, insisted on not being quoted by name. Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, said the goal in not allowing the use of the official’s name was to keep the focus on Mr. Bush.