Chronicles

 

there were a number of events that merged in my little galaxy yesterday to create a significant disturbance in the force. the first was the conversation i had with one additional mentally disturbed client. she ranted and raved about my co-worker who had her case alone. we are now tag teaming this one in an unusual manner. client is from Liberia, in the US now some time via Cote d'Ivore. She has some serious mental health issues. She will not of course accept the diagnosis of the mental health professionals she is working with. it is simply a misperception and cultural ignorance on our part. she needed to be loud and aggressive in Liberia and she was abused and mistreated by the folks in Ivory Coast. i do not doubt this. nor though do i doubt her bi-polar diagnosis. it fits with the trauma she has experienced during her life. she no longer has a clear grasp of reality. could be due to many factors, including the traumas she has suffered during her refugee status. still that does not give her license to abuse/neglect her child. the line has to drawn in our sandbox somewhere. she missed her 2:00 appointment with me because she and her boyfriend could not get their car started on the warmest day we have had in almost two weeks.

the second of these force-bending events was the $1000 a plate luncheon held here at the Marriott as a fundraiser for a candidate here in the Twin Cities. As a bonus one could have a photo with the president for another simple $50,000. I am impressed that the president of the United States of America would agree to have his photograph made with your average citizen for this sum of money. I am betting that there were not many regular folks working union jobs who were at that Rubber Chicken luncheon, or available for the photo shoot that followed. I find it interesting that some people will gladly pay good money for Rubber Chicken (is this a metaphor for political favor or chronyism?) but refuse to pay a worker a decent living wage or would be willing to dig into executive salaries so that workers can afford health care or child care.

so that brings me to the Chronicles. we took the kids, and the neighbors to see The Chronicles of Narnia; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. there was this remarkable scene in the movie when the Witch (who called herself the Queen of Narnia) went into battle after slaying an opponent unjustly. she had deluded herself into thinking that she was right, because she was 1) smarter than everyone else 2) better than everyone else 3) simply convinced that it was to be. i do not know the actual motivation. i am still speculating, but it got me thinking about our own unending war and drive to make everyone every where a Democrat (or maybe they want them all to be Republicans). what if the Iraquis become more Replubican than we are? what then? if this is the quintessence of leadership; will we have to then follow their lead?