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She came to the White House as a FOO (Friend of Obama) of the highest rank, with a fine New Orleans pedigree and a reputation for high style.
But after a White House dinner gone wrong, she became a punching bag for critics of the Obama administration who labeled her as the face of incompentent political cronyism.
Now embattled White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers, criticized for her role in the state dinner party fiasco in November, is resigning her administration post.
Rogers, a New Orleans native and personal friend of First Lady Michelle Obama, came to the White House to oversee social events at the White House.
Rogers, however, came under severe criticism, after party crashers Tareq and Michaele Salahi visited the White House state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on November 24th. The Salahis didn't have invitations to the dinner, and the episode brought in to question White House security operations.
For a time, members of Congress sought to force Rogers testimony on the chain of events that brought the Salahis to the White House for the state dinner. White House officials, however, rebuffed those overtures even though a representative of the Secret Service was permitted to testify.
If Rogers had nothing to hide, why would the White House fight to keep her from testifying?
That question made the rounds among Washington power brokers and sealed Rogers fate.
It's hard to tell if Rogers deserved such a brief and embarrassing exit from the White House, because she never had the opportunity to fully explain her role in the state dinner mess. Rogers acknowledged that she didn't have her staffers checking identification as guests checked in to the party, but was that the sole reason the security breach occurred?
It's a game as old as politics themselves. Someone had to take the fall for such a high-profiled White House gaffe and it turned out to be Rogers.
By all accounts, President Obama is fiercely loyal to his friends and associates. But when they become political liabilities, personal relationships go straight to the back burner.
Comments: (20)
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By: Myshel on 2/26/2010 4:01PM
It's about time hiring friends..in-experience ones. She did a horrific job!! Race does not have anything to do with it she should have resigned long before this I am sure Michelle and Barack had to make sure she had a new job first. She is not friendly and quite stuck up!!
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By: OOOZZZZZ on 2/26/2010 5:48PM
No suprise here. No suprise at all.
She was not qualified for the job and she made a huge error allowing Tareq and Michaele Salahi, the "party crashers" into the White House since she did not have her ish together by not having herself or one of her workers at the door, with updated checklist in hand, alongside the Secret Service Agent, to properly greet, screen, check & wave through screen guests into the State Dinner Party.
Instead, she was busy hogging & primping for the cameras on the formal red carpet in her expensive designer gown and chatting up the guests at the party instead of being on her job.
Also, there wasa another person who snuck into the same State Dinner Party in addition to the Salahis' and when the Secret Service were ordered to testify before a Congressional committee investigating the incident, she refused to testify (hid behind her friendship with the Obamas) and the Secret Service bit the bullet & ended up firing three Secret Service Agents.
And from a previous article months ago, the social secretary for the 8 years of the Bush adminstration, who was responsible for the transition of social secretary duties with Ms. Rogers, stated that Ms. Rogers changed some of the vital requirements that she used to enforce during social functions, stating that Ms. Rogers told her "that things are going to change around here and we will not be having these expensive dinner functions that were happening here".
Ms. Rogers also fired that woman, the previous social secretary, who still wanted to keep her job in the Social Secretary department, working in another capacity.
This is what happens when you hire "friends & collegues" instead of the proper people; highly qualified experienced people to perform these vital functions that allow for zero tolerence & no mistakes, especially when it comes to critical national security and protecting the President.
Hopefully the President & First Lady has learned a hard lesson but then again many of his staff and advisors are also friends, collegues or people who help him win the Presidency but then again all President tend to do it.
Ms. Rogers, through her relationship with the Obamas, got the hook up and she failed in her duties.
Having an Ivy League (Harvard) education & relying on friendships to get ahead, does not mean that you're qualified and that you know what in the f_ _ _ K you're doing.
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By: Godsdiva2u on 2/26/2010 7:38PM
I agree with you. Drama happens EXACTLY like this in the little town I moved to.
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By: michelle on 2/26/2010 7:29PM
what a shame that the secret service personnel are not being held accountable for this invasion. How could the person responsible for planning social events possibly be made responsible for the security and safety of the president and the invited guests. Surely the secret service should have been in direct communication with Ms. Rogers as to how the guest were to be checked in and how best to secure the entrances. She is a better person than most and i sure she will be a success wherever her new endeavors should take her.
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By: OOOZZZZZ on 2/26/2010 8:22PM
The responsibility lies in both agencies but mainly with Ms. Rogers.
The Secret Service, their main job and their only job is the protection of President and the job of the Social Secretary, who in this situation and all White House social functions, was ultimately responsible for the State Dinner sending out invitations, compiling the guest list, upsate the guest list computer data base, receive all the RSVP's and the actual screening of the arriving guests once they arrive at the door.
The Secret Service don't work in the Social Secretary's office and Secret Service personnel does not know beforehand who will be attending, they don't make the list of guests and they should not be checking guests off the list by themselves once they arrive. That's the job of the Social Secretary Agency's office.
The problem in this situation is that once all the guests started arriving, including the Salahi's, the only person at the door was a Secret Service officer alone with the guest list and no one from the Social Secretary's office standing with the guest listing working beside him.
So the only thing that the Secret Service did/could do was take the list of guests that was given to him by someone in the Social Secretary's office, greet the guests, take the invitation and let guests into the dinner.
Ms. Rogers dropped the ball and allowed the Secret Service to handle all the guests entering the dinner without herself or someone from her staff working the door.
So when the Salahi's arrived and said to the SS that they left their invitations at home, the SS officer (who also made a mistake) did not (or probably did not know) who to radio in order to check their status.
If Ms. Rogers herself or one of her staff, had been at the door alongside the SS officer, with the actual list that they complied, then once they realized that the Salahi's did not have an invitation, then they would have checked the computer data base back in the Social Secretary office and found out that the Salahi's were never invited.
Then the SS would have gone into action; arrested/detained the Salahi's and begin interogations/questioning.
In the end, three SS officer were fired and in reality. it was not their total fault, It was the fault of Ms. Rogers not doing her job and finally, she got fired.
If Ms. Rogers had done her job, then those SS officers would have not lost their jobs.
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By: U. D. on 2/26/2010 8:49PM
But there are so many others that need to go too. Who left after the underwear bomber got caught on the plane?
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By: Mimi on 2/28/2010 3:52AM
WHO LEFT THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION AFTER THE THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WERE KILLED IN THE 911 ATTACK?
HOW MANY PEOPLE FROM THE BUSH ADMINSTRAION LOST THEIR JOBS?
HOW MANY PEOPLE FROM THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION LOST THEIR JOBS WHEN THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS WERE KILLED IN THE 911 ATTACK?
I KNOW YOU HAVE ALZHEIMERS AND ARE NOT AWARE OF THE EVENTS OF 911.
GO TO GOOGLE AND TYPE IN 911 ATTACK HOW MANY DEAD AND IT WILL GIVE YOU THE INFORMATION.
THERE IS ACTUALLY FOOTAGE OF THE ATTACK ON YOU TUBE.
I COULD NOT FIND ANY INDICATION OF ANYONE LEAVING THE BUSH ADMINSTRATION AS A RESULT OF THE DEATHS OF ALL THOSE PEOPLE IN THE 911 ATTACK. I THINK IT WAS CLOSE TO 3,000 PEOPLE WHO WERE KILLED AND YET NO ONE FROM THE BUSH ADMINSTRATION LOST THEIR JOBS....SO WHY IN THE HELL WOULD YOU THINK THAT SOMEONE SHOULD LOSE THEIR JOB IN THE OBAMA ADMINISRATION FOR SOMEONE WHO ONLY INJURED HIMSELF AND NO ONE ELSE ON A PLANE?
HOW MANY PEOPLE LOST THEIR JOBS IN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION AS A RESULT OF RICHARD REID...THE SHOE BOMBER?
HOW MANY PEOPLE IN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION LOST THEIR JOBS AS A RESULT OF RICHARD REID THE SHOE BOMBER?
THE REPUBLICANS ARE PLAYING THE ALZHEIMER'S GAME.
THE GAME GOES LIKE THIS FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DON'T KNOW...ANYTHING THAT HAPPENED DURING THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION THEY HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF.
THESE REPUBLICANS WERE MAKING A BIG DEAL OVER THE MAN WHO DID NO HARM TO ANYONE BUT HIMSELF ON CHRISTMAS DAY....AND YET....THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WERE KILLED IN THE 911 ATTACK AND I DON'T BELIEVE ANY OF THOSE WHO WERE INVOLVED WERE EVER BROUGHT TO TRIAL AND THAT HAS BEEN OVER 8 YEARS AGO...WHY?
ALL OF THIS OCCURED ON BUSH'S WATCH.
I KNOW HOW TO PLAY THE REPUBLICAN ALZHEIMER'S GAME.
HINT:
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DON'T KNOW HOW TO PLAY..."GOOGLE."
THE REPUBLICANS ARE REALLY SICK THEY ARE TRYING TO MAKE LIKE THE CHRISTMAS DAY BOMBER DID MORE DESTRUCTION THAN THE 911 ATTACKERS.
BUT THEN AGAIN MAYBE THE REPUBICANS ARE RIGHT. THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE WHO THINK THE 911 ATTACK WAS AN INSIDE JOB....MAYBE THE FACT THAT THE REPUBLICANS ARE PLACING SO MUCH EMPHASIS ON THE CHRISTMAS DAY BOMBER WHO DID NOT SUCCEED IN HIS ATTEMPT SEEMS TO OUTWEIGH THE 911 ATTACKERS, THE SHOE BOMBER AND ANY OTHER ATTEMPTED ATTACKERS.
MAYBE THE REPUBLICANS ARE FINALLY CONFIRMING WHAT WE HAVE ALREADY KNOWN.
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By: de on 2/27/2010 12:18AM
it's not surprising an inexperienced social climber was not able to effectively handle the managerial duties required in a sensitive position such as hers. Wannabe's looking in from the outside--Ivy League education or not---ALWAYS underestimate the difficulties inherent in high-level management jobs and overestimate THEIR personal skill level and ability to handle the tasks. Does it remind you of any other Ivy Leaguers in top leadership positions who are unable to effectively handle their job(s)?
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By: Jewel on 2/27/2010 8:12PM
Inexperienced? What are you talking about? This woman has organized over 100+ events that went perfectly in 2009. Security is an issue at the White House everyday. People visit it everyday for one reason or the other. You need to read up before making such blatant statements. Before getting approval for the arrangement with the Secret Service the night of the state dinner, there had to be a signing-off by Ms. Roger's superior in the White House. Nevertheless, I will say that someone from her immediate staff should have been present at the East Gate along with the Secret Service personnel as a security reinforcement.
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By: Kamela Coleman on 2/27/2010 8:26PM
Yes, George Bush (Yale, BA; Harvard MBA)
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