When they were dating, he was all sweetness. Sure, he had strong opinions on what their life together should be like, but he promised he would listen to her and make compromises.
She’d saved money and owned her house, but he managed to run through all her savings in a year or two with his grandiose remodeling projects. After he spent her ready cash, he took out a mortgage on her house, maxed out all her credit cards, and ruined her credit.
He lied to her, saying people she barely knew were out to get her, and tricked her into going on the offensive and picking fights with them. One night when she was out telling off imaginary enemies of the family, burglars broke into the house and robbed it. (He was out gambling, and had left the children alone.)
He did unspeakable things to their neighbors, saying he was doing it on her behalf, so people blamed her for it. Her reputation in town was destroyed.
He killed one of her children with his reckless behavior and put the others in danger, while saying that he was protecting them all.
And he never lost a single night’s sleep while he did all this.
Why didn’t she throw this criminal sociopath out? you ask. She tried once, and she almost succeeded, but his smooth-talking friends (who had helped spend her money and ruin her reputation) convinced her to take him back. Things only got worse after that, because he knew she’d never hold him accountable.
A divorce would have been painful and embarrassing, and she was afraid it would hurt the family. You can be pardoned for wondering how a divorce could have made them all suffer more than living with him did.
If you told a story like this, people would say that lowlife scum like the abusing husband and his friends should be thrown in jail at the very least. They would understand your anger if you loved this woman and wanted the best for her. They would feel angry themselves.
Yet conservatives still ask, “Why are you so angry at George W. Bush?”
