White House Social Secretary To Step Down

News broke yesterday afternoon that White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers will be stepping down from her position sometime next month.  More glamorous and attention-seeking than prior holders of that office had been traditionally, she received a tidal wave of negative attention last November (and a threatened Congressional subpoena) after the Salahis notoriously crashed the Obama's first White House State Dinner. No reason for her impending departure was given yesterday, and White House spokesman Robert Gibbs insisted that, "she's not been asked to leave."  


But if so, why was this announcement made by the White House on a Friday afternoon during the Olympics, thereby burying the story?  According to The Washington Post this morning, "There are conflicting accounts of how long Rogers's departure has been in the works and whose idea it was for her to leave. According to one administration official, who was granted anonymity to talk about private deliberations, the decision to remove Rogers had been made by Christmastime, as a direct result of the disastrous state dinner, which Tareq and Michaele Salahi and another fame-seeking uninvited guest attended."


In light of that revelation in The Washington Post, I smiled at part of the statement released yesterday by the Obamas about her departure. "When she took this position, we asked Desiree to help make sure that the White House truly is the People's House. And she did that by welcoming scores of everyday Americans through its doors."  Indeed.