By Carter Clews
Former Mardi Gras queen and current White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers has a favorite French saying originally attributed to the Cajuns who settled in pre-colonial Louisiana: “Laissez les bon temps rouler!”
It loosely translates into “Let the good times roll” – and roll they have at the Obama White House, while nearly 11% of the workforce remains unemployed, nearly four million Americans are losing their homes, and terrorists ride the open skies.
In fact, according to the Chicago Tribune, the stylish Ms. Rogers and the party-hearty First Couple hosted no less than 170 parties and social events through December 3 of 2009. And that does not even include the 17 parties and 11 open houses – feting more than 50,000 guests – ABC News reported the Obamas hosted throughout the Holiday Season.
For those not counting, that means by January, 2010, Ms. Rogers had staged one gala White House event every three days throughout the first year of the Obama Administration, making the once austere Executive Mansion look more like party central.
And it is all by design. As Politico recently reported, Social Secretary Rogers says the Obamas want to “replicate the same kind of environment they had in Chicago.” In the Windy City, the paper reported an Obama friend as saying, “If there was a party or an event, they were there.”
And how does this raucous, riotous atmosphere compare with the previous eight years when the “wealthy Republicans” ruled the roost? Not well, according to that good times arbiter, Vanity Fair. In a December, 2007, article entitled “When Washington Was Fun,” chi-chi scribe Maureen Orth lamented:
“Today, people who remember those days [JFK’s ‘Camelot’] never cease to lament how the capital has changed. The cost of running for office, the proliferation of lobbyists, the intense preoccupation with security since 9/11, the increase in careers for women, the deaths or withdrawals of ruling society figures, and an unpopular president and an unpopular war have all converged to kill much of the fun and excitement once unique to Washington social life.”
Apparently, with the Ragin’ Cajun, Desiree Rogers, as the Obama White House charge de affaires, all such feelings of identifying with the hard times of the common herd is simply passé. As one pundit observed, “You almost expect Elliott Templeton [The Razor’s Edge] to glide through the portico of the White House ballroom arm in arm with Desiree sniffishly proclaiming for all the world to hear, ‘I do not like the propinquity of the hoi polloi.’”
But, then, who knows? Perhaps that’s already happened. After all, “Laissez les bon temps rouler!”
Carter Clews is a contributing editor to the Washington News Alert.
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on Jan 13th, 2010
@ 6:08 pm:
[...] those not counting, that means by January, 2010, Ms. Rogers had staged one gala White House event every three days throughout the first year of the Obama Administration, [...]
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on Jan 13th, 2010
@ 6:17 pm:
[...] those not counting, that means by January, 2010, Ms. Rogers had staged one gala White House event every three days throughout the first year of the Obama Administration, [...]
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on Jan 14th, 2010
@ 3:30 am:
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Sarah Quan, Washington Alert. Washington Alert said: From WashAlert: Desiree Rogers Stages One Party Every Three Days In First Year of O.. http://bit.ly/7dY1Ry #right #tcot [...]
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on Jan 14th, 2010
@ 9:04 am:
[...] Anyway, while the great unwashed continues to suffer, King Barry has been livin’ it up, thankyouverymuch. The great pretenders have hosted no less than 170 parties and social events through December 3 of 2009. And that does not even includ…. [...]
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on Jan 15th, 2010
@ 10:00 am:
[...] those not counting, that means by January, 2010, Ms. Rogers had staged one gala White House event every three days throughout the first year of the Obama Administration, [...]
The Greenroom » Forum Archive » Barack Obama, Party Monster
on Jan 15th, 2010
@ 11:48 am:
[...] While the great unwashed continues to suffer, Carter Clews reports that the Obamas have hosted no less than 170 parties and social events through December 3 of 2009. And that does not even…. [...]
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on Jan 15th, 2010
@ 12:05 pm:
[...] The Washington News Alert: [...]
Barack Obama, Party Monster
on Jan 15th, 2010
@ 12:34 pm:
[...] While the great unwashed continues to suffer, Carter Clews reports that the Obamas have hosted no less than 170 parties and social events through December 3 of 2009. And that does not even…. [...]
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on Jan 16th, 2010
@ 7:30 am:
[...] those not counting, that means by January, 2010, Ms. Rogers had staged one gala White House event every three days throughout the first year of the Obama Administration, [...]
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on Jan 22nd, 2010
@ 1:39 pm:
[...] Although I would also include his 1,200 self-references in the first eight months of his reign and the 170 or so parties/social events that Barry’s thrown for himself. [...]
The Greenroom » Forum Archive » Year One In Numbers
on Jan 22nd, 2010
@ 2:01 pm:
[...] Although I would also have included the 1,200 self-references in the first eight months of his reign and the 170 or so parties/social events hosted by the White House as of December 2009. [...]
Year One In Numbers
on Jan 22nd, 2010
@ 3:33 pm:
[...] I would also have included the 1,200 self-references in the first eight months of his reign, the 170 or so parties/social events hosted by the White House as of December 2009, and the tripling of the budget [...]
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on Feb 9th, 2010
@ 12:12 pm:
[...] a President has to have his priorities, right? Desiree Rogers Stages One Party Every Three Days In First Year of Obama Reign. Leave a [...]
Aaliyah Wood
on May 25th, 2010
@ 8:32 pm:
i really love to attend in parties because it is fun an you met a lot of new friends.::”
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on Jun 15th, 2010
@ 9:45 pm:
[...] taxpayer dollars on entertainment at a greater rate than any U.S. president. Your parties have averaged one every three days and your vacations seem endless as you’ve satisfied the vow of your [...]
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on Jun 17th, 2010
@ 3:17 am:
[...] taxpayer dollars on entertainment at a greater rate than any U.S. president. Your parties have averaged one every three days and your vacations seem endless as you’ve satisfied the vow of your [...]
Sarah Shahi
on Jul 5th, 2010
@ 11:30 am:
Sweet. Aaliyah was beautiful. A celebrity I both admire and miss. It’s such a shame what happened to her. The popart painting I purchased of her is supercool and will be hung on my wall forever!