Divided & Conquered

I know this sadly dysfunctional family, long ago broken apart by divorce, precipitated by progressive and unchecked mental illness.

As the three children were growing up, things didn't seem so bad as much as just not "normal". At first, Mom just seemed agitated, and Dad didn't see too much to be alarmed by. All of these things were well hidden. Dad, grandparents, neighbors, friends - none of them could quite see the forest for the trees.

As the years went on, Mom effectively undermined the relationships between each of the kids and between the kids and their Dad. Mom even made sure that it was drilled into the kids that there was no one whom they could ever trust, but her. Mom did this by terrifying the kids in various ways, starting when they were all very young. She divided and conquered. She owned them.

As the two oldest children were now adults, and the youngest still a teenager, Mom had arranged to have all three of the children in the car on the freeway, late at night. It was a simple trip home from a family wedding party.

By now, Mom's mental health had deteriorated to a disastrous point. When one of the older children asked Mom a question, Mom deemed it a challenge and snapped.

Mom put her foot on the accelerator, and began driving all over the freeway - in traffic. All three of the children were scared to death, and the oldest son tried to wrestle control of the car from her from the passenger seat, while they were traveling in excess of 80 to 90 miles per hour. The teenager in the back seat just checked out mentally - he shut down.

Want to know what happened? Everyone is still alive. But they're not without grave scars from this ordeal and others. The children don't even have much to do with each other.

This story is just like what's happening today in our country. Our "mother", our government, our public servants, have gone nuts. They're utterly dysfunctional, and as leaders, they've sought to separate us from each other, and they've been totally successful. The republicans are demonstrating no leadership for their adherents, and the democrats aren't demonstrating any leadership to get things done.

Even if the car doesn't crash, the carnage is already apparent. And it will effect everything we do and everything we are from this point forward.