Andrew Malcolm, who was press secretary for the previous First Lady before becoming a blogger for the Los Angeles Times, is trying to create trouble for the current First Lady:

Fashionable First Lady Michelle Obama helps the poor in $540 sneakers

Oops!

First Lady Michelle Obama, who's become quite the fashion role model with her J.Crew wear and buff-arm-spotlighting sleeveless frocks, is under scrutiny for what she wore on her feet the other day.

They're trendy Lanvin sneakers. Which look really nice and comfy and all. Trouble is, they cost $540. If you can find a pair anywhere.

And, of course, if you've got $540, plus -- what? -- 9 or 10% tax in some places. Which seems like a lot for two shoes not guaranteed to benefit your jump shot.

The other trouble is that -- wait for it -- she wore them to a poverty event, a Capitol Area Food Bank for Feeding America to provide much appreciated help and publicity to benefit the food bank.

Mrs. Obama also has gone to serve a lunch hour at soup kitchens in Washington, where an unidentified presumably homeless person showed up with a camera cellphone to capture Mrs. Obama, who kindly posed for the man.

(That last line links to a previous Malcolm post in which he did his best Rush Limbaugh imitation in questioning whether a homeless person could have a cell phone.)

Malcolm's post continues a long tradition of media trying to undermine efforts by progressives to help the poor and middle class by pointing out that the progressives in question are not personally poor.

But Malcolm wasn't content merely harping on Michelle Obama's footwear. He tried to claim a double-standard, too:

Sharp-memoried politics readers will recall all the positive attention Mrs. Obama garnered during the presidential campaign for her everyday, every-woman $150 dresses from Black & White Market.

While Cindy McCain, John's wealthy wife, and some woman from Alaska both attracted negative attention for their expensive clothing, some of it reputedly borrowed.

(FYI, Michelle Obama is a Democrat. The other two women are Republicans. But what could that have to do with anything?)

Sarah Palin attracked negative attention for going on a shopping spree with donor money, running up hundreds of thousands of dollars in clothing purchases. Cindy McCain wore an outfit to the Republican National Convention that was worth more than the average house. So those situations were a little different.

Besides which, the idea that there's a double-standard in covering political figures' wealth that works against Republicans is something only a former Republican press secretary could dream up.