Your Desiree Rogers Salahis Open Thread- When Robin Givhan and April Ryan ATTACK!
This is Gina. I am sure one of the other contributors will be getting to this issue. This is likely one of the biggest issues to hit the East Wing in the year we’ve been covering them. I make no judgments PUBLICLY, although I’ve had some HYSTERICAL email exchanges.. I remain conflicted about Desiree Rogers although some of the members of our beloved comments section expressed their displeasure with the public profile of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Social Secretary. I think the current gunning for Desiree is overkill and since I have a horrible affliction of wanting to fight for the underdog, I kinda feel sorry for her.
But it doesn’t take a crystal ball to know She’s DONE! Rightly or wrongly no matter what the First Lady does from here on out, people are going to be asking about Desiree Rogers. She won’t resign anytime soon, but she’s as good as gone. Not because she did anything wrong (she may have), but because the only tolerable distractions in a White House are good distractions and this ain’t one of those kinds of distractions.
Robin Givhan gave her analysis of the current situation and I think some “very important historical context” via too many anonymous sources to count… aka GOSSIP:
“In recent years, social secretaries had always quashed their own public profiles, demurred from seeking the limelight, in service to their position and in deference to the first lady. Indeed, the names of the most recent social secretaries — Cathy Fenton, Lea Berman and Amy Zantzinger probably ring no bells outside of Washington circles. Those who have more prominent profiles such as Ann Stock, who worked in the Clinton administration and now at the Kennedy Center, and Letitia Baldridge of the Kennedy years, waited until their post-White House years to step into the spotlight.
” Some other folks are quite NAKED with their desire to see Desiree GONE! Look at this terse exchange between American Urban Radio’s April Ryan and Robert Gibbs. April wants Desiree GONE!
I’ve always felt that SOME of the initial criticism was due to her appearance and the projection of confidence some have interpreted as arrogance. Y’all could be right, I don’t know the woman. I ignored the snark about her at some other blogs and hoped that she was carrying out the First Lady’s wishes and doing so well. I assumed that the First Lady didn’t want to bear the entire glare of the spotlight and was happy to have Desiree around to absorb some of the bright lights. Of course I’m just making a whole lot of assumptions, kinda like Robin Givhan, but then again, she’s got a Pulitzer, I don’t.
I shan’t join in the public criticism now. I will say this, I’m torn. On one hand, I feel people are attempting to put her “in her place.” I bristle at the ideal that this confident Black woman is being beat down because she doesn’t bow down.
ON THE OTHER HAND, as someone who organizes a conference, I can’t FATHOM sitting down to eat on the job. Last year it was grub and go. I ate last AND we ran out of salad and had to order more on the spot. There are a million tiny details and you want to make sure everyone is comfortable and taken care of. I can’t imagine kicking it during my conference lunch let alone during a State Dinner. I’m trying to remember if I ever saw my Grandmother grab a plate to sit down and eat before EVERYBODY else got served. At church, we were raised saying “visitors first” when we would have a visiting church and serve cake and diabetes-inducing tea or fraupe. So on one hand, irrespective of the security breach, I’m having a side eye moment. She might be better suited for a deputy chief of staff for special events or something like that. Event planning isn’t glamorous, in fact I only get to enjoy things AFTER they are over, through photos and video. If you do your job well, no one really notices you.
But yes, this needs to be handled. Yes, Desiree clearly has made enemies in the White House and the press corp. DC Gossips, email me an let me know of the back story with April Ryan, Robin Givhan, and Desiree Rogers, because they are gunning for her and its clearly personal.
In addition, it is NEVER a good idea to try to throw the Secret Service under the bus. No, she should not have issued any statements following the breach, it looked like she was trying to cover her rear. Yes, she’s not going to make it through the entire first term. Yes, she should have been made ambassador of a tiny island nation instead of Social Secretary. YES, somewhere Jackie Norris has to be laughing.
Okay was that diplomatic enough? Alrighty then, Y’all have a great weekend.
This is Gina. I am sure one of the other contributors will be getting to this issue. This is likely one of the biggest issues to hit the East Wing in the year we’ve been covering them. I make no judgments PUBLICLY, although I’ve had some HYSTERICAL email exchanges.. I remain conflicted about Desiree Rogers although some of the members of our beloved comments section expressed their displeasure with the public profile of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Social Secretary. I think the current gunning for Desiree is overkill and since I have a horrible affliction of wanting to fight for the underdog, I kinda feel sorry for her.
But it doesn’t take a crystal ball to know She’s DONE! Rightly or wrongly no matter what the First Lady does from here on out, people are going to be asking about Desiree Rogers. She won’t resign anytime soon, but she’s as good as gone. Not because she did anything wrong (she may have), but because the only tolerable distractions in a White House are good distractions and this ain’t one of those kinds of distractions.
Robin Givhan gave her analysis of the current situation and I think some “very important historical context” via too many anonymous sources to count… aka GOSSIP:
“In recent years, social secretaries had always quashed their own public profiles, demurred from seeking the limelight, in service to their position and in deference to the first lady. Indeed, the names of the most recent social secretaries — Cathy Fenton, Lea Berman and Amy Zantzinger probably ring no bells outside of Washington circles. Those who have more prominent profiles such as Ann Stock, who worked in the Clinton administration and now at the Kennedy Center, and Letitia Baldridge of the Kennedy years, waited until their post-White House years to step into the spotlight.
” Some other folks are quite NAKED with their desire to see Desiree GONE! Look at this terse exchange between American Urban Radio’s April Ryan and Robert Gibbs. April wants Desiree GONE!
I’ve always felt that SOME of the initial criticism was due to her appearance and the projection of confidence some have interpreted as arrogance. Y’all could be right, I don’t know the woman. I ignored the snark about her at some other blogs and hoped that she was carrying out the First Lady’s wishes and doing so well. I assumed that the First Lady didn’t want to bear the entire glare of the spotlight and was happy to have Desiree around to absorb some of the bright lights. Of course I’m just making a whole lot of assumptions, kinda like Robin Givhan, but then again, she’s got a Pulitzer, I don’t.
I shan’t join in the public criticism now. I will say this, I’m torn. On one hand, I feel people are attempting to put her “in her place.” I bristle at the ideal that this confident Black woman is being beat down because she doesn’t bow down.
ON THE OTHER HAND, as someone who organizes a conference, I can’t FATHOM sitting down to eat on the job. Last year it was grub and go. I ate last AND we ran out of salad and had to order more on the spot. There are a million tiny details and you want to make sure everyone is comfortable and taken care of. I can’t imagine kicking it during my conference lunch let alone during a State Dinner. I’m trying to remember if I ever saw my Grandmother grab a plate to sit down and eat before EVERYBODY else got served. At church, we were raised saying “visitors first” when we would have a visiting church and serve cake and diabetes-inducing tea or fraupe. So on one hand, irrespective of the security breach, I’m having a side eye moment. She might be better suited for a deputy chief of staff for special events or something like that. Event planning isn’t glamorous, in fact I only get to enjoy things AFTER they are over, through photos and video. If you do your job well, no one really notices you.
But yes, this needs to be handled. Yes, Desiree clearly has made enemies in the White House and the press corp. DC Gossips, email me an let me know of the back story with April Ryan, Robin Givhan, and Desiree Rogers, because they are gunning for her and its clearly personal.
In addition, it is NEVER a good idea to try to throw the Secret Service under the bus. No, she should not have issued any statements following the breach, it looked like she was trying to cover her rear. Yes, she’s not going to make it through the entire first term. Yes, she should have been made ambassador of a tiny island nation instead of Social Secretary. YES, somewhere Jackie Norris has to be laughing.
Okay was that diplomatic enough? Alrighty then, Y’all have a great weekend.