Under the Bus, Vol. XXXII
[Guest post by DRJ]
Former Social Secretary Desirée Rogers is astounded the Obama Administration threw her under the bus:
“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.”
White House officials who asked not to be named rejected that, pointing to instances where Mr. Gibbs and the others publicly defended her, even if it was not as vigorously as she may have wanted.”
Among Ms. Rogers’ few non-anonymous public defenders were former Bush and Clinton Administration social secretaries and a Republican Congressman, but not the Obamas:
“In interviews afterward, both the president and first lady praised the State Dinner, with Mrs. Obama calling it “an outstanding success” and dismissing the gate crashers as “a footnote.” But she and Mr. Obama bypassed opportunities to defend Ms. Rogers. “I was unhappy with everybody who was involved in the process,” the president said. “It was a screw-up.”
She forgot Obama’s First Rule: Don’t ever make the boss look bad.
– DRJ
Obviously she didn’t pay much attention to the campaign. “Chucking people under mass-transit vehicles” was one of President Obama’s core competencies…
Comment by Scott Jacobs (d027b8) — 3/14/2010 @ 12:04 am
The only person in the Obama White House
not subject to performance evaluation
is Obama.
Michelle and the kids should watch their
step.
Comment by Jack (e383ed) — 3/14/2010 @ 5:08 am
DRJ wrote:
Yeah; that’s his job.
And he does it well!
Comment by The snarky Dana (474dfc) — 3/14/2010 @ 5:12 am
I’ll bet she still falls to her knees and bows her head in reverence whenever Obama’s name is spoken. I bet she still whores herself to every Democrat political and media outlet she can. I’ll bet this doesn’t even start to wake her up as to the horror she’s helped put into power.
Comment by Metallica (bb58d8) — 3/14/2010 @ 5:44 am
Well, I’m sure she will have a fine career in the fast foods or home cleaning industries.
Comment by corwin (eab206) — 3/14/2010 @ 5:53 am
I’m not an apologist for Obama but the cardinal rule of thumb is to never, ever make the boss look bad be it in public or private. That’s pretty much the bottom line everywhere. If you want to make a boss look bad, make sure your path and fingerprints are invisible. Otherwise suffer the consequernces. Fired.
Comment by Mason88 (2b0033) — 3/14/2010 @ 7:00 am
Well, it was a screw-up. The President was right about that.
And as Ms. Rogers is unwilling to discuss this publicly, it’s hard to ascertain whether there really was any behavior on her part worth defending. She did herself no favors appearing stand-offish and aloof in the aftermath.
On the upside, she has a great eye for fashion, will no doubt land someplace important, and will be able to include this tale of woe in a future book.
This was from the press briefing after the dinner:
Q. Has there been any concern about Desiree Rogers’ performance prior to this instance?
Mr. Gibbs: No.
Q. No one has questioned the president or told the president that she is a very last-minute person, poor planner?
Mr. Gibbs: No, I think you — you all have been to and seen, either whether you’re part of a pool, whether some of you’ve been to receptions, the remarkable work that they have done in pulling off a lot of events here. The first family is quite pleased with her performance, and I’ve heard nothing uttered of what you talked about.
Comment by Dana (1e5ad4) — 3/14/2010 @ 7:09 am
She’s going to be fine. Mayor Daley defended her, very emotionally even vehemently. When Mayor Daley talks, people better listen. When she comes back to Illinois she will be in a better position than Emanuel and Axelrod will.
Comment by nk not Pat Robertson (db4a41) — 3/14/2010 @ 7:22 am
Michelle Malkin’s new book, “Culture of Corruption”, has a chapter on her. Rogers’ personal motto is “let the good times roll.”
She was never really qualified for a gig like this, now back to the minors for ‘more seasoning’.
Comment by TimesDisliker (4a9a52) — 3/14/2010 @ 8:11 am
She’s a career political hack, of course Daley would defend her, he’s the one primarily responsible for her astonishing rise through the Chicago/IL Combine. Her expressions of surprise are nothing more than an act – but if not, then she really is as clueless and inept as so many have characterized her over the years.
Comment by Dmac (ca1d8c) — 3/14/2010 @ 8:34 am
“let the good times roll.”
We are well beyond that now. It’s reckoning time, America.
Comment by GeneralMalaise (d63092) — 3/14/2010 @ 8:58 am
lately america is making obama look bad….
he’s gonna have a hard time throwing a whole country under the bus…..
but I think he has some ideas on how to get it done.
Comment by rumcrook¾ (4a9bee) — 3/14/2010 @ 9:54 am
The open immigration policies of the
democrats is designed to throw all of us
under the bus.
Comment by Jack (e383ed) — 3/14/2010 @ 10:02 am
Does it count as “under the bus” if you don’t defend someone who, well, did something that shouldn’t really be defended?
Comment by imdw (d472cb) — 3/14/2010 @ 11:32 am
Isn’t Desiree the wife of John Rogers who has run the Ariel Fund (out of Chicago) for years and has been a big backer of O? If so, returning to Chicago is no problem at all.
Comment by Janey (c84e9c) — 3/14/2010 @ 11:47 am
Rogers’ personal motto is “let the good times roll.”
I’m sure she’s a stereotypical limousine liberal, so the likelihood she’s also a major flake — perhaps similar to Bill “let the good times roll with the interns” Clinton always being notoriously late to meetings and appointments — is greater.
Does it count as “under the bus” if you don’t defend someone who, well, did something that shouldn’t really be defended?
That’s why Obama needs to look in the mirror and, along with everyone else, throw himself under the bus.
Comment by Mark (411533) — 3/14/2010 @ 12:05 pm
Desiree Rogers is a descendant of black people who became rich doing business with black people because no white people would. “High N****rtown”. She has nothing in common with Obama who never experienced that. She has some in common with Michelle whose father struggled to educate her, and much more in common with Mayor Daley whose father grew up with the smell of the stockyards and gangsters fighting over beer territory when “No Irish Need Apply”.
Comment by nk not Pat Robertson (db4a41) — 3/14/2010 @ 12:14 pm
‘Does it count as “under the bus” if you don’t defend someone who, well, did something that shouldn’t really be defended?’
Comment by imdw
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Only if that someone did that something for 20 years running, while in your presence… sarcasm\off
Comment by GeneralMalaise (d63092) — 3/14/2010 @ 12:23 pm
Janey – Ex-wife.
Comment by daleyrocks (718861) — 3/14/2010 @ 12:57 pm
Well, we find that The Obowman is not the only narcissist in his White House.
Dwarf stars are always devoured by larger ones in co-orbit.
Comment by AD - RtR/OS! (c1a42f) — 3/14/2010 @ 1:38 pm
She’s also incompetent. She left her post so she could “mingle.” She didn’t even have the wit to leave an assistant in her place. This is a whole lot more than just “looking bad.”
Comment by SgtDad (3cca5b) — 3/14/2010 @ 4:06 pm
I have no point of view on her suitability for the job. But her dress for the state dinner was fabulous.
Comment by Mary (7eb2ee) — 3/14/2010 @ 4:36 pm
“She’s also incompetent. She left her post so she could “mingle.” She didn’t even have the wit to leave an assistant in her place. This is a whole lot more than just “looking bad.””
That’s what I thought. Folks consider it ‘under the bus’ to fail to defend this?
Comment by imdw (8f8ead) — 3/15/2010 @ 4:24 am
Her incompetence for any job beyond “Did you want fries with that” was well known to the people who brought her to DC. I would expect them to defend her for acting true to form.
It ain’t like before this she was some solid, brilliant type – this is who she was.
If you invite a known – and I mean known – child molester to your kid’s birthday party, I would think it would be somewhat disingenuous to act shocked and offended when they diddled a child at the party.
Comment by Scott Jacobs (46e187) — 3/15/2010 @ 4:55 am
“I would expect them to defend her for acting true to form.”
Sorry I’m not so contortionist for ideological purposes. I prefer to just leave it as fine when people don’t defend the indefensible.
Comment by imdw (7cc81b) — 3/15/2010 @ 5:42 am
25, comedy gold!!!
Imd-partisan-dumbass, on many occasions you have proven yourself to be a contortionist as well as morally bankrupt, pathological liar.
Comment by PCD (1d8b6d) — 3/15/2010 @ 5:59 am