"I REALLY DON'T CARE. DO U?"

FLOTUS spox confirms Mrs. Trump wore a jacket to visit border kids that reads: "I really don't care. Do you?" Spox says: "It's a jacket. There was no hidden message. After today's important visit to Texas, I hope the media isn't going to choose to focus on her wardrobe." pic.twitter.com/Bp4Z8n455G

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) June 21, 2018

Come on, that must be fake! But no, "Melania Trump wears a $39 jacket with 'I REALLY DON'T CARE, DO U?' scrawled on the back as she boards plane to visit immigrant children at the Texas border - but insists there is 'no hidden meaning' in her choice/The first lady wore the khaki green Zara jacket upon arrival at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland but changed before she disembarked the plane in Texas...  Melania, 48, visited a shelter for children in McAllen, Texas, the day after her husband signed executive order ending policy of family separation for illegals/Her spokeswoman said it was her idea to visit before the president signed his executive order and he supported her trip...." (Daily Mail).

How does that happen? What sense does it make? Generally, serious people making public appearances avoid wearing clothes with any written messages on them. It simply must be intentional. So why? What does it mean?

First, I assume, that she (and whoever worked with her on that jacket selection) wanted the image to go viral, as it has. It's in your face: Here, think about this, talk about this, assail me over this as I know you will.

Take that one step forward: I know you'll find a way to attack me, like for the wrong shoes or whatever, so let me make this easy for you. Let me have written on my back the precise statement you're looking to project onto me: I really don't care. It doesn't matter what I do. That's what you'll bend over backwards to find a way to say, so let me save you the trouble of straining yourself.

But if you get through that first phrase — "I really don't care" — you'll have to confront the rest of it: "DO U?" What are you doing here, photographing me, attacking me? You're doing the Theater of Empathy, but it's all political. You act like you care because it's useful to look that way, but you don't really care, DO U?

And then, step back, what exactly is Melania saying she doesn't really care about? The children? But she's here to see them first hand. (Yeah, she's doing the Theater of Empathy too.) Maybe what she's saying she doesn't care about is what you haters think of her. She has her shell of uncaring. I mean, why was that jacket made like that? Who was it for, that $39 jacket? I think it was made for people who want to feel self-sufficent and sure of their own values and mission and to let the would-be critics know the wearer of the jacket is on her own, doing what she thinks is right, and nothing you say can shake her.

ADDED: Over the past couple weeks, there's been so much anxiety about showing that you care and so much shaming about insufficient caring. To say "I really don't care" is an amazing counterpoint. It may be experienced by some people as a deep breath of fresh air. It's okay not to care. Maybe we don't have to jump at the intense demand to express caring. Do something that actually helps somebody, and enough with the noise about how much you care. "I really don't care" that you say you care, she says, and I wonder if you really even do.