snugs, you aren't accounting for the massive EGOs of the "Inside the Beltway" crowd. It's all a very social game, who knows whom and what do they know about them, and what invitations do they receive. Hobnobbing is 'the job' for everyone who's anyone in DC, partisan or ideological positions notwithstanding. Meirs came to town with Pres Bush in '01, worked long days and nights at the WH, then went home. SO she is not part of that crowd, and they find it infuriating.
That is part of what I meant by they are peeved that she is not one of their crowd.