I read about the events discussed in this open letter to Louise Linton and decided that I would not comment on the blog about her condescending remarks, made on a public site. But a reader said I should post the letter, because of what it says about oligarchy and the condition of our society today.
The background: The glamorous Ms. Linton Mnuchin posted a photograph of herself and her (homely) husband getting off a U.S. government jet after a trip to Kentucky. Along with the photo, she posted a comment listing the super-expensive designer items on her body. Someone saw her comment and chastised her for bragging about her clothes and her wealth. Linton responded with a nasty put-down of her critic, who clearly was not as rich as Mrs. Mnuchin.
Richard Escow wrote an open letter to Louise Linton.
The letter includes all the details and begins like this:
“Dear Ms. Linton,
“This has undoubtedly been a difficult couple of days for you, both as a person and as the wife of the United States Treasury Secretary.
“Nobody enjoys the sudden onrush of hostile attention that comes when something they’ve said goes viral, and not in a good way. Your public record, and even your recent infamous post, suggests you want to be a good person – or, at the very least, that you’d like to be seen as one.
“That’s not how people are seeing you at the moment, and that has to be rough.
“Perhaps it would help if someone explained why you’ve received so much negative attention in the last 48 hours.
“Bubble Life
“Simply put: You live in a bubble. That’s not your fault. It’s just the way it is. According to the Internet – the same Internet that has turned on you with such ferocity – you were born into a wealthy Scottish family and educated at the prestigious St George’s School for Girls and Fettes College.
“Your family owns a real-life, honest to God castle, for God’s sake.
“A little self-awareness is therefore in order: Your experience is not like that of most people. Some people are born into privilege and make a dedicated effort to see life from other people’s point of view. That does not seem to have been the case with you.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
This is not the first time Linton has shown her ‘bubble vision.’ She self-published a book, “In Congo’s Shadow,” about her months in Zambia in the late 1990s. As one who spent four years in West Africa (in Burkina Faso and Togo) in the 1980s, this was something I was naturally interested it–until I read a bit of it online (since removed) and saw how she had taken the bubble with her. In Peace Corps, it was pounded in our heads during training that we Americans are no better than the Africans, that we get from the experience at least as much as we give–generally, much more. In that context, Linton’s recollection of her experience (as a time in hell) was particularly galling. Africa is not hell and its people are as generous and able as people anywhere. That she could not see that reflects on her, not Africa–just as does her current ‘bubble vision.’
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Why was she even there? The people in this administration seem to think they’re on vacation- like this is some kind of wild jaunt they’re on before they go back to being full time wealthy people.
Was someone begging them to take these jobs? I don’t care if they’re all replaced tomorrow. They don’t seem to do much work anyway.
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Trophy wife. Can’t leave her alone. She might get bored.
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ouch! 🙂
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Photo in the LA Times today showed her as far from glamorous. She has poorly bleached hair, and huge injected-looking lips, and of the three men, and she, she definitely looked the most manly (if her hair and lips were normal, that is.) She is one more spoiled rich kid all her life whose grammar is atrocious. She went to a third tier college and and a barely accredited, for pay, law school. But claims she went to Wharton, but if they took Drumph, their standards are in the cesspool and it would seem that they take anyone.
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Good observations!
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Ouch!
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It’s speculated that the Mnuchin’s flew the plane owned by the government so that they could see the eclipse in Ky., a location where it was nearly 99%. So, indeed it was a vacation. We can expect cabinet members and families to fly on government planes during Derby week, the Indy 500 and other events when commercial flights are booked. It is the way an oligarchy operates. They will also probably loot government property.
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The perqs of being Trumpsters, Linda. Their boss sets the standard. The debt ceiling better be raised to keep ‘Trump and family’ security guys getting their checks. He and they emulate their hero, Putin.
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“The boss sets the standard”- 290 of Mnuchin’s Yale College classmates urged him to resign in protest over Trump’s support for neoNazis.
Mnuchin won’t resign. His character was made clear by the Ky. incident.
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But please don’t blame his behavior on Yale. The fast ones he pulled as head of Indy/Mac and One West should have landed him in prison, not in the WH…but that is the Drumph standard of Cabinet choices…as with Pruitt, et most if not et al.
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Prison, over the past 25 years, has been mostly for the lower tier of desperate people not, those among the richest 0.1% who violate the law and who write laws to squirm out of their own criminal predatory behavior. As illustration, if Mueller finds that Manafort, Sater and Trump engaged in criminal behavior, won’t the statute of limitations put many of the offenses in the rear view mirror?
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Born into a wealthy family causes her to grow up as a spoiled brat with a thimble brain, and then she becomes a trophy wife.
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A spoiled brat with a tiny brain, a microscopically small heart, a very big mouth, a criminally large bank account, and a morality-based savings account that has gone absolutely bankrupt.
She’ll get hers . . . . The universe works its magic with karma . . .
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Save me from her and people like her. Thimble brain with Botox galore.
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Unfortunately, she appears to be deprived of sophistication. Why is she so lacking in confidence? Is she nouveau riche?
I have known lots of “mean girls” like her and most were white and formerly members of the working class. The very wealthy usually had more class.
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Jeez, dear Leftie, no one told that to DeVos.
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Ah, how the world has changed, LCT. “Class”? “Nouveau riche”? To quote Ms Linton, how “adorably out of touch”. Her dad, a land-developer, bought the falling-apart Melville Castle in the ’90’s & turned it into a wedding/ events venue. Now she’s one of the Real Housewives of the Trump admin. Can’t wait for the sequel, “In DC’s Shadow”.
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Love that line: Real Housewives of the Trump Administration.
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It is not hard to imagine that Ms.Linton aka Mrs Mnunchin is a shallow person. Especially after her most recent comments on Twitter. Fact is, she married her homely husband for his money, which hows what her priorities are. She doesn’t care about anyone other than herself and she is willing to literally sell herself to a man who wouldn’t normally be in her “League” (mainly in her mind) for a date much less marry. Sounds more like an expensive high class hooker. in fact the real coincidence here is that High class hookers wear the exact same designer 6 inch heels Ms Linton was bragging about. Coincidence maybe not.
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