Our Mainstream Media Middle Schoolers

Watching Nobel Prize economist Paul Krugman yesterday on ABC's "This Week" was refreshing, particularly when he interrrupted a silly, "inside Washington" discussion about the departure of White House social secretary Desiree Rogers. While the other panelists gossiped about Rogers, Krugman noted:

"Can I say that 20 million Americans unemployed, the fact that we’re worrying about the status of the White House social secretary. . ."

Krugman was cut off by the moderator and by Sam "Hair Club" Donaldson, who sarcastically said, "Paul, welcome to Washington." After all, one of Washington's main industries, aside from the Federal Government, is gossip, which leads us to a related story.

One of Washington's most infamous gossips is Sally "Party Girl" Quinn, wife and former mistress of the WaPo's former Executive Editor Ben Bradlee. It was inevitable that Party Girl, the enforcer of Washington's cocktail circuit's rules, would be the first cheerleader for Desiree Rogers' removal. Time Magazine's Michael Shearer explains why:

"The Washington Post's Sally Quinn, who has long exemplified the worst of the city's sick aristocratic tribal culture, led the charge by calling for Rogers resignation. The rationale? 'From the start, Rogers was an unlikely choice for social secretary,' Quinn wrote. 'She was not of Washington, considered by many too high-powered for the job and more interested in being a public figure (and thus upstaging the first lady) than in doing the gritty, behind-the-scenes work inherent in that position.' In other words, Rogers had committed two crimes: Not only was she not part of Quinn's tea party set, but she had also--gasp!--introduced herself to D.C. as her own person, on her own terms, not as just another member of the hired help."

Now Party Girl herself has lost her WaPo column (which she called -- seriously -- "The Party") after writing a trivial but nasty piece about conflicting wedding dates in her family. But that won't keep the mainstream media from gabbing endlessly about who's up and who's down, who's in and who's out on their Washington social scene while middle class Americans struggle to make it.