February 26, 2010
updated
Julianna Smoot replaces Rogers
WH statement
Enough time has passed for the WH to get rid of Social Secretary Desiree Rogers. Her downfall began the day she [basically] fired the employee responsible for the guest list. Said the position wasn’t necessary. It took three crashers to the State Dinner for her to learn why the position existed and why previous State Dinners weren’t invaded by folks not invited.
Her “resignation” was announced in the same “transparent” fashion as always – on a weekend – this being the last weekend of the Olympics.
And now there is no reason she can’t be “invited” to appear before the Homeland Security Committee to tell the truth about what happened.
LYNN SWEET reports a personal conversation she had with Rogers on Friday.
DESIREE ROGERS:
As we turn the corner on the first year, this is a good time for me to explore opportunities in the corporate world.
[It has been] an honor and a privilege to serve this president and First Lady, in what has certainly been a historic presidency.
There’s that word “historic”. Whatever barry does is historic – unfortunately for him historians are going to use in a very different way.
When I took on this assignment, we talked about the importance of creating the people’s house. My work was really to create this framework. I think I completed that work. Our office has been able to lay the foundation for what will be known as the ‘people’s house’ and it has already taken shape.
Typical of barry people – change the name or the logo of something that already exists and then call it “the first”. It’s always been called The People’s House because it belongs to the people. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy made sure of it by getting Congress to pass a bill designating the WH furnishings property of the Smithsonian not the p/residents.
As for the crashers?
Sweet, like the rest of the media, mentioned the white crashers and said nothing about Carlos Allen, who is black.
The incident at the State Dinner was not a deciding factor. But it did show me a side of the job and of Washington that I had not seen before.
‘Deciding factor’ means there was more than one screw up and more than one reason.
Sweet gives a hint of who might be the replacement and why.
I’ve been told by several sources that Rogers will be replaced by Julianna Smoot, the chief of staff to the U.S. Trade Representative who was the Obama presidential campaign chief fund-raiser.
Business as usual.
According to Wiki:
- Smoot raised $32.5 million during the second quarter of 2007
- Finance director for then Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle
- Finance director for Sen John Edwards’s 1998 senate race
- Worked for Dick Durbin and Jay Rockefeller
