Ellen Moran kicked out of the frat house…
April 21, 2009
by The New Agenda
|20 Comments

Ellen Moran
We have just learned that Ellen Moran, President Obama’s Communications Director, has been given her packing papers. Didn’t last long. Ellen was the only woman on the President Obama’s communications team.
Ellen was formerly at Emily’s List. Ellen was a voracious advocate for Obama in his campaign run.
We wonder what happened? Did she tick Larry off? Couldn’t deflect all those stories about the $8 million in 2008 bonuses and the bungling of the economy underway?
Or are women simply held to a completely different standard? And when a scapegoat is needed, it’s the woman out the door.

- ahhh, she was overheard quietly telling a friend what a sexist pig he is…..?? You know, someone just happened by, walking quietly with good ears, a witch hunter intentionally set loose, an easy job with so few women on hand , the stupid dog they have was wearing a wire running about being friendly. Sadly, we will probably never know the real answer until O leaves the White House but loyalty means not much to some folks and I suspect the inner circle will viciously attack each other in an effort to curry favor with the messiah.
Am i missing something, or did she leave voluntarily? Ben Smith ascribes his own motives, citing her nature as an outsider in the circle of advisors without any sources or objective information, and the AP report says she will remain in close contact with Axelrod. “Kicked out”? Not so much
Hmmm…….I wonder what the story behind that is.
I could be snarky here and say that perhaps Ellen was just desperate to get back to working for a Democrat?
Alex,
I’m sure the press will do their digging and we’ll all know a lot more in the next few days. Ellen was essentially reassigned to a lower level position – e.g. demoted.
There are now no women in the communications group for Obama from what I hear.
It’s hard for me to feel sympathy for this female voracious advocate of the Obama candidacy. It’s a shame when women are their own worse enemy.
If I remember right, Ellen stood by Hillary until the last moment. And Emily’s list criticized NARAL for their Obama support before the process was even finished. Gary Locke, who Ellen is going to work for, was also a Hillary supporter.
I hear you though, it’s hard not to be frustrated with these people. I want to scream, “next time think before you vote.” And “we told you so”. I don’t exactly feel much empathy for people being tossed under the bus at this point.
love the title “kicked out of the frat house”
Is this story fair, or balance? No one really knows what happened.
From my count, Obama has appointed or nominated a total of eight women to his cabinet or to high-level positions. And there are more women of color than any other President in history.
No doubt there should be even more women but during the same week that this diverse cabinet met for the first time and the HHS women is trying to get confirmed, I am surprised you are covering only the Ellen Moran story (and is a very negative way).
We wonder what happened?
My guess: an object lesson.
We got what we wanted from you, now we don’t need you, you didn’t really think you’d get to play with the real men, did you? Take a hike, darlin’, for another 3 years, till we need you again, and you’ll forget everything and come back, ’cause where else you going to go, baby?
I hope I’m wrong on her end, and the position she went to is actually one she prefers. On Obama and his cronies? Probably not.
I think she may have been vociferous rather than voracious, at least in this context. Yes, it’s a pity she climbed on board the Obama bus, and it’s a pity she has now been thrown under it. Pretty much how this bus line runs, really. It puts up destination boards and toots its horn a lot but it never gets anywhere, other than the places all the other Democrat and Republican buses go all the time. Perhaps the lady saw that, or, worse, said something about it.
Maybe she found out how much less she was being paid than the men.
No communications director can spin Obama and his administration’s repeated mistakes. She is better off under the bus at this point.
the number of women in the cabinet is low – the UN slot, while important, isn’t really a cabinet seat and usually isn’t. take her away and you have the lowest female headcount in years. BWB was much better. that shows you haw bad the female involvement here is.
the boyz klub is up and running.
I hate this fact and even more the lame defenses people bring for The One. His senate office was heavily male, and they out-earned the few equivalent rank women. this is fact, google it.
and now such a male-centric WH. like the Kennedy admin., people say. Yep, where women were ornaments or sex objects and men did important work while the women assisted them.
glad I was not suckered into voting for this sexist pig. Val Jarrett, Mrs. Obama’s cousin, is hardly representative of women. The One did not mentor her – she mentored his wife – and the other prominent women, Hillary, should be in the Oval.
I meant GWB, not BWB. sorry
We need to know what happened. And we need to know how much she and the men around her were paid. Obama is such a leader of misogynists that I am sure she was done wrong. If that is not the case it would be prudent of the Obamaites to give an accounting of what happened. If they don’t our assumptions are valid.
Check out this:
http:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCTR1Gzu62A
These women rock!
I’d like to hope that she’s got better pay now and a better job.
The appearance is that she was “kicked out.” Who knows? What I do know is that Emily’s List was a big plop of disillusionment to me with their goo gooing after The One.
The ‘cheat sheet’ by Chris Cillizzi at the WashingPost has a predictable commentary on this, citing reasons real and imaginary why she was released from her duties. Cillizzi is just a mouthpiece for the White House staffers he depends on to give him his daily gossip. He stopped being a “Journalist” eons ago…
So, Robert Gibbs, that ineffectually effete, formidable incompetent flip-flopping mouthpiece of ObaMyopia, stated as a ‘reason’ that Ellen Moran had “Mommy duties” and Cillizzi seems to regurgitate the White House lies. The truth is they’re preparing someone, male of course, for the job who’d fit in and laugh harder at the sexist jokes. Let’s hope it ain’t sweetie Jon FAvreau!..
Periodically, Barack will feel down and start launching firing attacks to boost his misogynist appeal among his hoops boys…
Does anyone here who is claiming this is some sexist move actually have any insight at all as to why the woman left the office? msakel dismisses what I believe is the only analysis into the reasons because she apparently doesn’t like the answers but, of course, she points to no other facts supporting her theory.
What credibility does the New Agenda have when all it takes for the sexism calls to start is a woman being fired or not hired. This is 2009 people. Let’s work a little harder in our analysis please.
And a fact or an actual basis for an argument every now and again would be helpful.
This type of thing is not advancing the ball. It fulfills every negative stereotype of feminism that we should be combating.
[...] post as White House Communications Director. Anita to her credit did last a whole lot longer than Ellen Moran who was kicked out of the frat house rather [...]
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