NYT pity party for Obama bundler-turned-bungler Desiree Rogers
The New York Times lends more than 2,000 words to console laughingstock former WH social secretary Desiree Rogers.
Bring a Kleenex to the pity party:
The rise and fall of Desirée Rogers, the glamorous Harvard-educated corporate executive who brought sizzle to the State Dining Room but became a victim of a publicity stunt by a pair of aspiring reality show stars, is a tale familiar to almost any White House. A new president comes to town and installs friends he trusts, but inevitably some of them wind up burned by the klieg lights and corrosive politics of Washington.
While it has happened to past presidents, though, this was the first time it has happened to Mr. Obama, who prided himself on running a campaign free of the typical petty rivalries and personal subplots that distract other politicians. And it happened with a friend who at first was celebrated for personifying the fresh, new-generation approach that the Obamas promised to bring to Washington.
For Ms. Rogers, associates said the episode proved a searing experience that has soured her on Washington. She believes she was left largely undefended by the White House, by her colleagues, including Mr. Axelrod, Robert Gibbs and even her close friend, Valerie Jarrett. And while she is unwilling to discuss her story publicly, several associates shared her account in the belief that her side has been lost in the swirl of hearings, backbiting and paparazzilike coverage.
“As she put it, ‘They never lifted a finger to help me set the record straight,’ ” said one of the associates, who insisted on not being identified to avoid alienating the White House. “She didn’t get any help from Gibbs, no help from Axelrod, no help from Valerie Jarrett. Nobody came to her defense.”
Visions of Icarus dance through our heads:
Tall and striking, Ms. Rogers can easily pass for younger than her 50 years. She seemed to the Obamas to be a natural for White House social secretary. The first African-American to hold the job, she swept into Washington brimming with ideas for executing the Obamas’ vision of opening the White House to a wider circle of people, and became an instant magnet for attention.
After taking an apartment in the same exclusive Georgetown building as her friend, Ms. Jarrett, Ms. Rogers quickly became a hot Washington draw. She posed for a spread for Vogue and later accompanied its editor, Anna Wintour, to Fashion Week in New York. Within months, other magazines came calling, including Town & Country, Vanity Fair, Michigan Avenue and Capitol File.
But it was a spread in The Wall Street Journal’s magazine, WSJ, with the expensive clothes and jewelry provided by the magazine, that got her in trouble in the White House.
Mr. Axelrod called her in for a long conversation about her interviews and photo shoots, warning her explicitly that she was flying into dangerous territory and that Washington loves to watch people become too big and ultimately crash and burn, according to people familiar with the conversation. Ms. Rogers noted that everything she had done had been approved by the White House. She viewed her trips to fashion shows and other events as a way to make connections in the creative community and find talent to perform at the White House.
And the requisite race-card climax:
Lisa Caputo, who worked in the East Wing under Mrs. Clinton when she was first lady, said Ms. Rogers had weathered the hothouse glare of Washington with grace. “She’s done a fantastic job of opening the White House,” Ms. Caputo said.
“She was put in a position where the spotlight was put on her in a different way,” Ms. Caputo added, “coming in as someone who was not a Washingtonian, coming into a high-profile senior role and being the first African-American in that role. The combination of all three makes it not easy. I would venture to say she’s had a larger mountain to climb.”
One of my favorite GOP congressmen, Louis Gohmert, has a better take in The Hill:
Gohmert called the White House’s handling of the incident “incompetent.”
“The point here is that this is a circus over there,” he said. “Nobody seems to know what’s going on and when accountability was demanded and the social secretary was requested by members of Congress to come testify, they said we’re not going to let you come testify.”
“It is a circus going on over there and now the people of the circus want to be in charge of your healthcare. Good grief, it’s time to say we don’t want clowns in charge of something as important as our healthcare. I don’t even want them in charge of algae blooms.”
Gohmert said that before the “gate-crashing” incident, the White House used to require 24-hour notice from members of Congress to run security checks using their social security number and date of birth. But since the incident, members of Congress have to provide 48-hours notice, he said.
A White House spokesman referred questions of its security measures to the Secret Service, which did not immediately return requests for comment.
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Categories: Desiree Rogers
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So, flipping McCain the bird was what, exactly?
I doubt she is really gone. She is just been put in another title someplace under this bho and mo.
L
Visions of “The Peter Principle,” too — only with this administration, those visions aren’t confined to Desiree Rogers…
Glamorous? It looks like she is wearing one of Obama’s rent-a-doctor coats in that pic above.
I doubt the party interlopers are to blame for her demise. They just exposed her incompetence in a very public manner. Had she been doing her job, the two probably wouldn’t have gotten past the front door (or back).
Incompetence seems to be the norm with this administation.
Incompetent…that’s a big word. Can all you Harvard graduates spell it? It doesn’t matter, you’ll get promoted anyway.
Incompetent defines this administration to a T.
And you expected otherwise? Why? What characteristics of these people would ever lead you to think that? Naive child!
That’s what happens when you cross in front of the bus.
Yeah, that’s that large woman. She is very large around the middle. She must eat a lot of food.
“Victim”? Right, just like Mike Brown was a “victim” of Katrina.
As opposed to professionals in the field? Wasn’t this sort of thing referred to as “cronyism” during the last administration? Hard to keep up with the latest revisions that the Party has decreed.
She should have known never to upstage a narcissist.
Naturally the slum-lord Jarrett lives in Georgetown. PS – Note to Rogers, Jarrett has no friends.
Axelrod: “Look, can’t you just put on a $500 pair of sneakers and dole out soup to the homeless?”
Which is a blatant duck-for-cover on the part of the White House spokesman. Since when did the Secret Service ever comment on questions of security? They very properly do not discuss their methods.
Can all you Harvard graduates spell it? It doesn’t matter, you’ll get promoted anyway.
if you’re black… sorry, it’s true.
It is hard to argue with this one point. In fact, it seems Ms. Rogers routinely left the front door propped wide open!
I think the real problem is she is way better looking than Michelle Obama…
Well, you can put lipstick on a pig, but… oh, wait. That’s one’s been taken.
That’s it right there. Surely you don’t expect her to stand at the door with a guest list, and actually, work. Work is for those peons in the Secret Service.
It’s called guilt by association. They’re just playing CYA. If someone in this administration is having trouble and you are asked about it, you make laudatory statements about their education and the work they’ve done, but you distance yourself in case the effects of the disease are contagious.
Bimbolicious. Easy money. She was into the party thang for sure. Lay out a few place mats and name tags, collect the big gubmint check, then it’s time to get jiggy ‘widdit.
What’s the big deal? Did anyone expect she could actually to the job for which she was hired? She’s just another entitlement baby after all. I wonder if she attended any classes at Harvard, in between having her hair and nails done.?
Said the indignant yet insistently unidentified co-worker…..
I’m sure the irony of the situation never crossed that vapid little mind.
Y’all need a serious date with reality. I read this article and came away with a very negative picture of Rogers.
Quoting someone who appreciates the import of being the first of one’s race to hold a position does not equal playing the race card. To play the race card would be to say that Michelle Malkin has a near-obsessive hatred of liberal black women. Which is also the truth.
Here’s my take: I think she made Valerie Jarrett look bad….and nobody, nobody makes Valerie look bad. After all, Valerie knows where the money came from to elect her chosen One. Ha! This is what happens when you swim with sharks!!
Getting mighty crowded under that bus, eh?
Red State Peptic said:
To play the race card would be to say that Michelle Malkin has a near-obsessive hatred of liberal black women. Which is also the truth.
Red State Peptic: Examples please? I suggest you put up or shut up.
darn, I should’ve used “Septic” …. next time,,,
Can I be the first to ask…
Has anybody called a Whaam…bulance?
On March 12th, 2010 at 3:23 pm, Ron said:
Can I be the first to ask…
Has anybody called a Whaam…bulance?
Right Ron, just let me call
“Whine Whine One”
Seriously? You’re looking at it. MM devotes way more time harping on relatively powerless black females like Rogers, Michelle Obama and Valerie Jarrett than she does on the real boobs in the White House.
I think Red State Skeptic just revealed she is a very liberal black woman.
Did you also read about the new WH social secretary? Julianna Smoot is the “anti-Desirée Rogers.” Change is good.
Ever hear of accepting the responsibility of your job and admitting to a mistake, Ms. Rogers?
Where do you learn character like that? Evidently not Harvard.
Uh yeah, 30 years in Chicago politics, running a slum and collecting tax money for it while taking advantage of other blacks who can’t afford better, raising tons of cash for the Obamas – yeah, she’s powerless alright, and MM has an obsessive hatred of liberal black women for pointing all that out.
On March 12th, 2010 at 3:33 pm, Dave Turson said:
I think Red State Skeptic just revealed she is a very liberal black woman.
Oh no she dit-ten!
…huh? Her skin color matters in what way and to whom? The Democrats control the House, Senate and the White House — is Ms. Caputo really calling them racists? Skin color sure seems to matter to Liberals — as for me and mine, we’ll judge based on the content of their character (paraphrasing someone famous who stated that once long, long ago – conveniently forgotten by liberals).
They were not comenting on the import of of being the first African-American in that position, they were making excuses for her, as if the job is harder for an African-American. What does her race have to do with it? Any job in the white House is difficult no matter your color, and your color isn’t to blame if you make a mess of things.
Safe to say you’re the only person here who voted for that boob.
Would there have been this much ‘pity’ had Ms. Rogers been white?
It almost seems like the ‘left’ (e.g. NYT) holds people of color to a lower standard.
She goofed and two-faced Washington DC backed away from her. Happens all the time, and in technicolor.
Don’t smear me bro!
What are you doing linking the New York Times when there are far more reputable news agencies out there?
Only extreme liberals have viseral hatred for WorldNetDaily.
Well, you have to admit the number of abject idiots in the Obama White House kind of make it a target-rich environment when hunting boobs. Michelle just has to call them as she sees them. And, besides, I am sure that Michelle will give Biden sufficient time when he resigns. But we probably agree he is in the top 20 boob list…
Their shamelessness knows no depths.
Really. Normal people would be ashamed to find themselves the subject of such a puff piece.
The Obama White House -
bigger boobs than Marjorie Main
She’s a natural law, she leaves me in awe
She deserves the applause, I surrender because
She used to look good to me, but now I find her
Simply irresistable
Simply irresistable
Now the wheels of the Barry Bus will make tread marks on her designer duds. So sad, but I’m so glad. See ya sis.
So do you agree with the article’s description of her as a “victim” of the party-crashers? That would imply that she wasn’t responsible for what happened to her. Apparently the author of the article thinks so:
“…but inevitably some of them wind up burned by the klieg lights and corrosive politics of Washington.”
Right, it was “corrosive politics”, not her own incompetence, that caused her demise. If you call this a negative article, I’d be fascinated to know what you think a sympathetic one would look like.
Noticeably missing from that list: Barack and Michelle.
Not that there’s anything wrong with algae blooms.
Dezzi got legs like baseball bats.
“Nobody came to her defense.”
Boo-frickin’-hoo.
I hate to be petty but this woman has the face of a weasel. I’m serious. Keep her away from the hen-house.
“Tall and striking”
“glamorous Harvard-educated”"brought sizzle” “she swept into Washington” “hot Washington draw” “with grace”
Whew…*smokes cigarette*
birish said:
I hate to be petty but this woman has the
faceheart of a weasel.FIFY
***
I don’t think it is fair to “case” on Desiree Rogers. She seems like a clone of most of Comrade Obama’s (PBUH) choices for high government positions and White House advisors.
***
As far as the NYT article claiming this was the first problem personnel pick–what about Van Jones (9/11 truther, open communist), the many persons with tax problems, the CZARS The Messiah put in high positions–without Senate confirmation hearings, etc?
***
The NYT does believe in selective “transparency”–they couldn’t see or find a Catholic in the Vatican–not even on Easter Sunday when the Pope celebrates Mass–unless it advances their agenda. They don’t notice that the emperor and his picks have no clothes–they are just transparent.
***
John Bibb
***
And now, the nominees for “Most Likely to Induce a Spit-Take”: First, the NY Times:
Seriously, folks, do we even need to read the other nominees?
That’s a polite way of saying she was off screwing around somewhere and not doing the job she was being payed good taxpayer money to do…..Poor baby!