Keller @ Large: Celebrate What's Right With America

BOSTON (CBS) - Because I have a life and was living it over the weekend, I just now got a chance to watch comedian Jimmy Kimmel's routine at this weekend's White House Correspondents Association dinner.

Listen to Jon's commentary:

This is the annual event where a cross-section of the DC power structure stuff themselves into formal wear and sit around checking each other out and hoping they're a big enough deal to be name-checked by the comedian of the evening.

It is rarely all that funny, and this year was no exception, although Kimmel did make me laugh when he said he never watches Al Gore's cable channel, Current TV, because he doesn't get channel one million.

But one line of Kimmel's did get me thinking:

"Here in one room we have members of the media, politicians, corporate executives, advertisers, lobbyists and celebrities. Everything that is wrong with America is here in this room tonight."

Obviously, that's a gross exaggeration to get laughs, but I suspect more than a few people watching on TV nodded in agreement with that one.

When we complain about what's wrong with American politics and culture, we often wind up pointing the finger at one or more of those groups, and they usually deserve it.

Their laughter at the dinner as Kimmel mocked their shortcomings deemed nervous and defensive.

If the president's smile were any tighter, it would have shattered.

But I felt sorry for Kimmel if he really felt he was spending his Saturday evening with everything that's wrong with America.

I was luckier.

I attended a birthday dinner for a friend, where the guests took turns celebrating his devotion to his family, his work, and his community in glowing terms.

There are hundreds of thousands of other men and women just like him out there right now.

To me, they're everything that's right with America, and our corner of it.

Someone should throw them a dinner one of these days.

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.