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Sunday, Apr 28, 2013 1:45 PM UTC

All you need to know about #nerdprom — in 10 tweets

Don't waste your time reading about Washington's annual spectacle of self-love and debasement. Just read this

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Topics: White House Correspondents' Dinner, Barack Obama, Conan O'Brien, Politico, BuzzFeed

All you need to know about #nerdprom -- in 10 tweetsComedian Conan O'Brien talks to U.S. first lady Michelle Obama during the White House Correspondents Association Dinner (Credit: Reuters)

What happened at this year’s White House Correspondents Dinner was, by and large, what happens at every White House Correspondents Dinner. A quick tour through the hilarious and infuriating proceedings:

1). Lots of partygoers adopt the adorable term “nerdprom” for the night — which you should roll your eyes at and be appropriately skeptical of:

2). People who most feel left out invariably throw a snit about the whole thing:

(Greg Mitchell posted four photos of Palin from 2011’s “nerdprom.” Did she not get an invite this year? )

3). Conan O’Brien, a funnyman, was funny! Best joke:

(Watch entire video of O’Brien here)

4). Barack Obama: Even funnier — maybe because a slight contempt for the proceedings seems to come through:

(Watch entire video here)

5). Steven Spielberg:  Funny, in a probably multimillion-dollar produced short:

6). Lots of giddy journalists belly up to poor unsuspecting TV stars:

7). A certain desperation sets in to say something meaningful about an utterly meaningless spectacle:

8). Some inevitably stay up way past their bed times, and freak out a little:

9). Imagined WHCD proves vastly more amusing than real one:

10). Politicians use the event to flatter journalists, cruelly prey upon their low self-esteem. Journalists lap it up:

Oh, and: Politico finds some new original way to drive everyone crazy, even more than they already do.

Kerry Lauerman

Kerry Lauerman is Salon's Editor in Chief. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. More Kerry Lauerman.

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