Posted on 11/29/2009 4:38:09 PM PST by kristinn
White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers has been dodging the heat so far for her failure to ensure the first state dinner by the Obama administration went off without embarrassing the Obamas.
Worse still, her failure resulted in a potentially lethal security breakdown that has international repercussions.
Slowly the press, which adores Rogers almost as much as they adore her boss First Lady Michelle Obama, are beginning to look past the acknowledged faults of the Secret Service to Rogers' failed stewardship of the dinner.
Rebecca Dana and Lloyd Grove have a devastating article at the Daily Beast that noted several previous White House social and press secretaries who were aghast that Rogers was so derelict in her duties:
How on earth did it happen? Since when can someone throw on a red sari, knot a bowtie around her husband’s meaty neck and traipse into the White House, makeup artist and camera crew in tow? And—in a question asked over turkey and stuffing at the homes of several former White House social and press secretaries yesterday—where, oh where, was Desiree Rogers?
Breaking with tradition, Rogers was a guest to the state dinner, which honored Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife. She arrived solo, in a cream-colored Comme de Garcons dress, a curious choice that has since been the subject of considerable sniping online.
In the past, White House social secretaries have worked, not partied, on the nights of major events, racing around to make sure everything is going according to plan. But Rogers has occupied a bigger spotlight than her predecessors, doing more interviews, making more public appearances, and generally cutting a more glamorous figure. Just a few weeks after President Obama swore the oath of office, Rogers turned up at New York Fashion Week, sitting in the front row of three shows and taking photographs with Anna Wintour. According to three former White House officials, Rogers made it clear from the beginning that her approach to running presidential social functions would be a sharp break from past custom.
In February, 2009, in a longstanding tradition, all of the former White House social secretaries gathered for a private luncheon at the Four Seasons to welcome Rogers to the post and pass on their collective wisdom. Said one person in attendance: “She was very friendly, but her position was clear: They’re different. They got here differently. These are different times. The old rules are going out and the new rules are being made up.” Rogers told the Associated Press Thursday that no one from her office had been at the security checkpoints to assist Secret Service members in managing the flow of guests and verifying their place on the list. The former White House officials, all from previous administrations, said they considered this a jaw-dropping oversight.
Michael "Spikey" Isikoff reported at Newsweek today that back in February Rogers had essentially eliminated the position of the person in her office assigned to greet guests at the gate to ensure things went smoothly.
Isikoff also reports the Obama administration is putting all blame on the Secret Service and is dismissing any inquiries as to the responsibilities that night of Desiree Rogers:
The White House staff member whose job was to supervise the guest list for state dinners and clear invitees into the events says she was stripped of most of her responsibilities earlier this year, prompting her to resign last June.
The account of Cathy Hargraves, who formerly served as White House "assistant for arrangements," raises new questions about whether changes that she says were made by President Obama's social secretary, Desiree Rogers, may have contributed to the security lapses...
Her job duties included overseeing the invitations for guests at state dinners and keeping track of RSVPs, she says. On the evening of state dinners, she says, she physically stood at the East Gate portico entrance and greeted each of the guests as they arrived, checking their names off a computerized printout of those who had been invited.
But when she met with Rogers last February and went over her job responsibilities, she says the new social secretary told her, "We don't feel we have a need for that anymore." Rogers's explanation, according to Hargraves: "In these economic times, I don't think we're going to have very many lavish expensive dinners. It wouldn't look very good."
A White House official (who asked not to be named because of the ongoing investigation) has refused to comment on any aspect of Hargraves account, saying, "it doesn't matter," because the Secret Service has already publicly apologized for violations of its own procedures that allowed the Salahis to crash the Tuesday night event.
In case Rogers is wondering what effective guest security at a presidential dinner is like, she can watch this video by Politico of herself and fellow Obama administration muckety-muck Valerie Jarrett being forced to present proper identification before they enter the magnetometers at the White House Correspondents Dinner last May at the Hilton Washington.
Those pics are of Anna Wintour, not Desiree Rogers. What’s the connection other than that she was in an earlier pic?
[Piper unwraps his present.....]
Two eyeballs? Lol.
He’s still eating turkey!
Some awful clothes these women wear, no wonder Michelle often dresses so badly.
not just anyone gets to sit by THE Anna Wintour at a fashion show.
Oh, Gawd.
And no bra. She’s got two pancakes under that top. Now, that’s really disgusting.
Aha!...
http://emperorsoldclothes.blogspot.com/2009/11/desiree-rogers-suffers-from-acute.html
“So with the appointment of Anna to the President’s Arts Council I can’t help but think Desiree is behind the scenes waving her twisted wand”
I thought of that gif when I saw the ‘mummy wrap’ dress, lol.
‘’I am SPEECHLESS!! I am ALSO DISGUSTED!!!!’’
Yeah , and what happened to any whites being hired in this administration ???
:-)))
(no link)
No rest for White House party czar - Social director has hosted 50 events in 60 days
Chicago Sun-Times (IL) - Sunday, April 12, 2009
Author: Kate Andersen, The Chicago Sun-Times
Desiree Rogers went from herding 160 middle-schoolers to an a capella concert in the White House East Room to seating 50 governors at a black-tie dinner.
(snip)
While the United States is mired in recession, the White House entertainment scene is booming under Rogers , the 49-year-old social secretary who was a Chicago friend of the Obamas.
In her first 60 days at President Obama’s White House, Rogers has coordinated more than 50 events — twice as many as President Bush held during the same period of his first term. The Obama effort surpasses even the pace of the party-loving Clinton White House, says Dee Dee Myers, who was President Bill Clinton’s press secretary.
“Glamor is a force-multiplier,” says Myers. “The Obamas are creating a sense of optimism and fun.”
(snip)
A fashionista — she has worn trendy black nail polish to White House events — Rogers was recently declared “Washington’s best-dressed woman” by the Huffington Post.
She’s in charge of planning all events on White House grounds, from bill signings and Cabinet appointments to cocktail parties and state dinners. The first African-American to hold the position, she’s making her mark by defying tradition in her duties, as well: for example, mixing and matching china from different eras at formal dinners and including Republicans in every congressional event.
Rogers , who met the president and first lady through her ex-husband, says her job is more than planning seating charts and hors d’oeuvres. “President Obama wants to show that, even though we might disagree on issues, it is so important to develop relationships,” she says.
(snip)
Some critics, though, question how appropriate the festivities are with the nation going through an economic slump. The president should show a “certain amount of humility and shared sacrifice with the American public,” says Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan budget-watchdog group in Washington.
Rogers says there’s a serious purpose to the partying. She’s helping Obama fulfill a pledge to reach out to Republicans.
“I think that the environment is so important in terms of what kind of relationships you might be able to create, how people get to know each other,’’ she told the Washington Post. “I’m from New Orleans, and I know that people do like to sit and talk and drink and, you know, have conversation, you have dialogue.”
LOL!
No, Michelle has someone worse who picks out her clothes. Desiree must have borrowed this from Michelle and figured no one would notice, because she was not wearing the boob belt with it!
You’re welcome. IIRC - Ms. Wintour is also the inspiration for “The Devil Wore Prada.” She always strikes me as being constipated.
Community organizers, the Chicago mob and clowns are running the country. We are so screwed. They don’t have a clue what they are doing.
Easy to see why!
It’s beyond belief that anyone could “design” something like that with a straight face. Sometimes I wonder if they don’t come up with this ridiculous mess just to see if phony elitists will actually wear it. The more ridiculous thing is that they DO wear it, and pay huge sums of money for it.
I agree with you. We all laugh at some of Michelle's get-ups but it looks like she is surrounded with women who dress like this.
I always laugh when I see the “runway style-shows” and the awful things they are wearing. Wondered WHO would buy it and now I know, lol.
With friends like Desiree Rogers, the Obamas don’t need enemies.
What could she possibly have said if something bad happened to the president?
Is that Anna Wintour?
“parachute dress?”
LOL-finally I remember, this outfit does look like a jump suit a friend of mine used to wear (hey, it was the 80s!) that was indeed made from an actual parachute. It was silk, you see.
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