Louise Linton, Sec Mnuchin's wife, posts photo that tags Hermes/Tom Ford/Valentino as she leaves Air Force Jet then replies to a critic pic.twitter.com/Uhjc7qBiEA
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) August 22, 2017
Earlier this week, Louise Linton, wife of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, displayed what fit right in as yet another example of the obtuse narcissism and exploitation of political power we see constantly coming from those connected to Trump. First, Linton turned a political trip into wannabe Instagram influencer photo op; then, she railed against a woman who called her out in the comments. She has since apologized, sort of. It’s pretty much absolute minimum you can do with words to qualify as an apology, saying–via a statement released by her publicist–“I apologize for my post on social media yesterday as well as my response. It was inappropriate and highly insensitive.” So lesson learned, I’m sure. She’s a changed woman.
I wouldn’t bring this up at all, except that the woman on the receiving end of Linton’s passive aggressive tirade, Jennifer Miller, has now responded in a spectacular fashion. Miller originally commented on Linton’s post with the words “Glad we could pay for your little getaway. #deplorable.” Linton responded with a lengthy screed that said, among other things, “Sending me passive aggressive Instagram comments isn’t going to make life feel better. Maybe a nice message, one filled with wisdom and hunanity (sic) would get more traction.”
Linton probably didn’t expect Miller to do exactly that, but hey, it was her idea. Today, CNN published an op-ed written by Miller, full of the kind of wisdom and “hunanity” Linton could definitely use.
Miller starts by saying she is a caring yet snarky person who is “unafraid to call things like I see them.” Therefore, she stands by her choice to call Linton “deplorable.” She writes, “To see someone in her position — married to a wealthy former Wall Street executive who is now secretary of the treasury and affects national economic policy — hashtag her luxury purchases when so many Americans are suffering economically is, well, deplorable.”
“Americans are hurting — some even dying — as they struggle with racism, poverty and health care costs,” she writes. “And yet the wealthy Linton defends her boasting and derides me, a hardworking, taxpaying American, in the process. Her husband serves in the executive branch of our government. At the very least, she owes the American people the appearance of compassion and, to use her own word, humanity.”
Linton derided Miller in her Instagram comment, shaming her for presumably not being as wealthy as her or making the same “sacrifices” as she seems to think she has. (Because what an incredible sacrifice it must be to serve as an inside player in a political cabinet dedicated to rewarding wealth and corruption.) But while this will no doubt fall on unlistening ears, voices like Miller’s–like all of ours–aren’t going silent.
She writes, “If you’re going to work in our government, or choose to be the very visible spouse of a high-ranking government official, you have a duty to care about the citizens of the country you serve. You also have a duty to listen.
“Linton responded to my Instagram post challenging me to compose a ‘nice message’ filled with wisdom and humanity. Well, I’m doing it now, Ms. Linton, and I hope you’re listening. If you’d like to do the same, I will also listen, because you got at least one thing right: I am a nice person. Make that two things — my kids are cute. I’m also level-headed and intelligent. My message: You’re a prominent person now, Linton, so please use your influence for good.”
You can read the full piece over at CNN.
(image: Shutterstock)
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