Marie Laveau
Franck Schneider after George Catlin
c. 1920s
Oil on canvas
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.
Thank you.
What a piece of trash Desiree looks like, and outside of the State Dinner the other night (when Michelle looked outstanding, truth be told), Sarah in waders looks better than both of these women.
You can get the girl out of the ghetto, but, you can’t get the ghetto out of the girl.”
Is there anyone in this administration that isn’t some sort of freak. Seriously...
Desiree Rogers is an arrogant know-nothing trying to look like a 17 yr old model in a rag dress. She is too heavy and the dress is ugly. She is just one more freak in a carnival administration.
I keep thinking I am going to wake up and none of this really happened.
Let's see.....Hmmmmm, adoring press, bumbling incompetence but still praised, is she....? Yep, thought so, she's another affirmative action black liberal socialist, praised solely for her skin color AND her liberal socialist ideology.
Looks like phatass maBelle michele also needs a tummy tuck to get rid of her beer gut!!!
Two obviously incompatible cultures trying to blend...oil and water...and America is drowning.
I know that’s not Desiree. They do look somewhat different.
I was responding to an earlier post, that’s all. Several of us were interested in her appearance in that pic.
I am actually surprised she isn't eating.
When your boobs are six inches or more LONG, it's never a good thing.
Marie Laveau
Franck Schneider after George Catlin
c. 1920s
Oil on canvas
It was taken yesterday at a college football game, team that her brother coaches. A Motley looking Crew, ay?
Affirmative action hires...
Musrt be a voodoo-queen regalia outfit...
My take on the invited guests at the White House.Maybe purposely done and known by Obama. Perfect way of firing all security and CIA in the White House and Obama appointing his own.
Ultraviolet sensitive cameras are so revealing.
Marie Laveau, who lies in one of the most famous, most visited graves in New Orleans.... looks better dressed in that oil painting than any of the attendees of this state dinner, and her outfit is infinitely more appropriate than that of her alleged gggggggg-granddaughter Desiree, LOL
LOL, do you really think that Little "I'll never grow UP" Katie Couric will ever consider herself middleaged, much less OLD?
LOL, Perky Liddle Peter Pans never grow up, much less OLD!
It's just pathetic that an oil painting of a Voodoo High Priestess of past centuries shows better fashion sense than the current crowd in D.C.
Here’s an oil painting of Marie Laveau. The travel channel has some documentary about graves of the rich and/or famous, and they spend quite a bit of time at her grave in New Orleans where 1000000s of people come to “pay respects,” and leave prayer requests and/or “payments” for same.
That is just so wrong on so many different levels. The whole outfit makes her head look as if it’s been photoshopped on a too small body. Then the no bra look mixed with deflated breasts. Guess she invested money in her statement necklace instead of buying a can of Static Guard for the skirt.
The necklace is also way too heavy a piece to be worn with such a skinny outfit and it really should have had some turqoise to tie the skirt with the bad top. Adding the belt is overkill.
This outfit actually makes The Mummy dress look halfway decent.
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