Apparently “misdemeanor larceny” is the new “teenager showing class” in the Republican Party.
I didn’t realize just how true it was when I wrote that Ms. Lauten had a double standard for this President’s children. And normally I wouldn’t touch a story about a GOP staffer who got arrested as a teenager, but in this case it’s not only relevant because she clearly has a projection problem but serves as a shining example of GOP double standard and white privilege in action.
So. Elizabeth Lauten, who “resigned” this morning after making a fool of herself by airing her Obama Derangement Syndrome in public by aiming it as his teenage children, was arrested as a teenager in December 2000 for misdemeanor larceny, according to court records reported by The Smoking Gun.
Yes, a 17-year-old Lauten stole from Belk department store in her North Carolina hometown according to the Smoking Gun:
Lauten, pictured above, was arrested in December 2000 for misdemeanor larceny, according to court records. Lauten, then 17, was collared for stealing from a Belk department store in her North Carolina hometown.
Because Lauten was a first-time offender, her case was handled via the District Court’s deferred prosecution program, which resulted in the charge’s eventual dismissal after the future scold stayed out of trouble for a prescribed period.
Since Lauten was just another teenager caught shoplifting at the mall, it appears unlikely that she was publicly pilloried for her lack of class, nor were her parents criticized as poor role models.
Some first offenders get shot at and killed after stealing something like, oh, say — cigars. This one rose to the ranks of privilege in the Republican Party from whence she felt it her right to scold two very well behaved young girls for acting like teenager girls who are not being arrested for larceny.
As The Smoking Gun notes, Ms. Lauten was probably not attacked in public for her lack of class and no one blamed her parents for her misdemeanor larceny charges. Remember, she scolded the Obama girls for what they wore as well. Obviously, had they stolen it from Belks, it would have been so much better:
“Dear Sasha and Malia, I get you’re both in those awful teen years, but you’re a part of the First Family, try showing a little class. At least respect the part you play. Then again your mother and father don’t respect their positions very much, or the nation for that matter, so I’m guessing you’re coming up a little short in the ‘good role model’ department. Nevertheless, stretch yourself. Rise to the occasion. Act like being in the White House matters to you. Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar. And certainly don’t make faces during televised public events.”
If this is true, this is a case of projection of Ms. Lauten’s own poor behavior onto young girls who were only slightly bored by their father’s prattling on about a turkey pardon and the ugly white hood of white privilege. The white privilege is evident in the fact that her arrest charges were dropped and she was allowed a second chance as if it were her due because she was a good girl; also known as a white girl from a good family in the South.
I believe in second chances, so good for her. But I don’t believe that skin color mitigates a person’s right to a second chance. And this is the issue. She publicly mocked the Obama girls over nothing, but expected her own apparently criminal actions as a teenager to be just part of growing up. If she knew she had this history, a smart person wouldn’t have opened herself up for closer scrutiny about the behavior of teenagers.
So what we have here is a woman who was arrested as a teenager for larceny, attacking the Obama girls over their eye rolls.
Let’s just let that marinate for a while.
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