It is no secret that the Obamas are advocates for free handouts, but even in her personal life Michelle Obama does not appear to have shied away from accepting free goodies. Numerous news outlets have reported on the first lady’s proclivity for high fashion. And Mrs. Obama’s pricey tastes have not precluded her ability to wear the outfits over which many women drool. (more)
In her own words, Laura Ingraham’s newest book, The Obama Diaries, is a “new interpretive tool that helps people view the Obamas for what they really are.” (more)
Desiree Rogers, the former White House social secretary who left that job after a couple crashed a state dinner, has a new job in Chicago. (more)
The White House party crashers, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, were stopped in a limo near the White House Wednesday evening as President Barack Obama was holding his second official state dinner. (more)
Michaele and Tareq Salahi, the infamous couple dubbed the White House Gatecrashers, are demanding the White House apologize to them for the embarrassing State Dinner fiasco last November. (more)
While many Chicago parents took formal routes to land their children in the best schools, the well-connected also sought help through a shadowy appeals system created in recent years under former schools chief Arne Duncan. (more)
1.) New Lehman report tars, feathers Timothy Geithner — The new report by Anton Valukas about accounting fraud at Lehman Brothers suggests that “the NY Fed, and thus Timothy Geithner, were at a minimum massively derelict in the performance of their duties, and may well be culpable in aiding and abetting Lehman in accounting fraud and Sarbox violations,” writes the team at Naked Capitalism. Valukas, who investigated Lehman’s failure on behalf of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, found that the Fed was aware for years that Lehman had been using questionable accounting methods to reduce the amount of debt that appeared on its balance sheet, but did nothing to discourage the practice. Writes Yves Smith, “Even though Lehman dressed up its accounts for the great unwashed public, it did not try to fool the authorities. Its games playing was in full view to those charted with protecting investors and the financial system.” (more)
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. (more)
On February 24, at roughly 6:47 p.m., Washington Post Editor in Chief Marcus Brauchli confirmed to the world that Sally Quinn, Washington socialite and wife of former WaPo editor Ben Bradlee, had been booted from the print version of the paper for writing an absolutely atrocious column about the fact that her son’s wedding date conflicted with her step-grandson’s wedding date (that’s what we think we read — the Quinn/Bradlee family tree is more like a briar patch). (more)
Mayor Richard Daley on Saturday stood up for resigning White House social secretary Desiree Rogers, who is stepping down next month. (more)
Prominent Democratic Party fundraiser Julianna Smoot will replace Desiree Rogers as social secretary, the White House announced today in a statement. (more)
Statement from the President and the First Lady on Desiree Rogers (more)
In an interview on CNN, outgoing Social Secretary Desiree Rogers, expressed openness in having average people attend White House functions. When asked back in February 2009 about having average people, such as having Joe the Plumber “mixing it up” with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown or French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Rogers responded “Why not?” (more)
The White House social secretary will be taking her name off the guest list. Desiree Rogers, a friend of the President Obama’s from Chicago, announced on Friday that she will be stepping down from her position and returning to “private sector” parties. (more)
Denial: “What a joke. Harry Reid may have gone over the top with his “evil-mongers” crack, but he and Nancy have got one thing right: These so-called town hall protesters are so Astroturf you can practically see the Monsanto labels on their polyester shirts. (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Michelle Obama reflected on her first year in the White House on Wednesday and calmly claimed no need for any do-overs: Even the things that didn’t go quite right were part of the learning curve, the first lady said, and that includes the November state dinner penetrated by three party-crashers. (more)
Here’s what we know about how Carlos Allen, the latest White House party crasher, wound up at Barack Obama’s first state dinner: (more)
