The “Squad”, the self-assigned moniker given to the four far left Democrat freshman congresswomen led by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, bellicosely claim “they madly love America” and anyone who questions their “love” is a racist.

Dysfunctional “love” has never saved a family, let alone made a country great.

Let the following parable explain why:

The Hatfield’s and McCoy’s met each other when both couples sought help for their troubled teens.

The Hatfield’s 15-year-old daughter had been skipping school and making bad decisions; the McCoy’s 14-year-old son was acting up at home and not following the rules set forth by his adoptive parents.

Both teenagers were a challenge to their parents, causing their concerned families to seek solutions to “fix” their misbehaving children.

Susie Hatfield and Marcus McCoy had not always been temperamental and problematic.  Susie was an adorable little girl with a lust for living and the “apple of her parents’ eye.  When Marcus was adopted as a beautiful baby, his new parents had amazing hopes for their own and their baby son’s future.

And then Susie and Marcus became teenagers.

The Hatfield’s tried to discipline Susie and set achievable boundaries for their increasingly alienated child.  But “grounding” their daughter and taking away privileges seemed to make her only more rebellious and distant.  They sought advice from their pastor, their family doctor, and friends and family; but Susie’s behavior did not improve and her parents, who loved her beyond words, found their child more challenging to “like” with each passing day.

The McCoy’s were equally frustrated with their petulant son Marcus.  He was moody and rebellious and refused to adhere to the strict rules and high expectations of his adoptive family.  The McCoy’s concluded that Marcus had to radically change or “else.”

At the end of their rope, the Hatfield’s knew they had to make an all out effort to save Susie.  Her unhappiness and belligerence broke their hearts; but nothing they tried brought back their once joyful and loving daughter.

The equally distraught McCoy’s began to doubt if adopting Marcus had been a good idea.  He had become a constant source of disappointment and parental rage; the frustrated McCoy’s concluded their once ebullient little baby boy had morphed into a monster who needed a major reformation.

Marcus and Susie barely knew each other; but they attended the same high school.  It wasn’t until an observant teacher noticed a marked change in both student’s demeanor and decided to investigate the cause of their negative transformations.

He soon discovered that Marcus and Susie, by different groups of antagonists, were being viciously bullied.  Marcus, once a straight A student and a high performing athlete, was no longer participating in sports and he wasn’t always turning in his homework.  His grades and test scores plummeted.

Susie, a natural beauty who easily attracted friends and admirers, had become reclusive and hostile.  She too had become a target for a gaggle of girls who were threatened by her popularity.  They abused her on social media, spread lies about her, and made her dread going to school…which she was doing less and less frequently.  She sought solace with other girls who regularly dodged school and were involved in self-destructive behavior.

The concerned teacher decided to share what he had discovered about the two students with their families.

When the Hatfield’s found out what was going on with Susie at school; they were furious, but also relieved.  They suddenly had an answer for the marked changes in their daughter.  Knowing the problem; they became proactive in taking the steps necessary to help Susie.

Based on advice from Susie’s teacher, as well as a child counselor who specialized in helping the victims of bullying, they talked to Susie and shared what they had learned about what was going on in her young life.  At first, Susie was hostile to her parent’s interference; but it wasn’t long before her heart softened to their help and support.  She was no longer alone; her family loved her and wanted to change what was wrong in her life.  It took time, but Susie, who declined her parents’ offer to change schools, eventually got stronger and won her battle against the bullies.  When her once vile abusers no longer were succeeding in demoralizing her, they moved onto another victim.  Susie and her family didn’t realize how far she had come until she befriended the bullies’ latest target and stood up for her.

The McCoy’s were equally irate when they learned their son was being bullied and wondered why he had failed to fight back.  “What is wrong with him?” they asked out loud.

The McCoy’s had always been strong and never backed down from a fight.    Why was Marcus such a wimp?  Why did he allow his tormentors to make him weak and morph him into an academic and athletic has-been?  What was wrong with their son?

That summer, the McCoy’s sent Marcus to work on the farm with his Uncle Lucas McCoy.  They determined Lucas would be the perfect person to make Marcus “man up”.  If Uncle Lucas’s “boot camp” couldn’t change Marcus for the better, nothing could.

When Marcus returned home in late August, it was clear the exhausting 16 hour work days had enhanced him physically; but he was still distant and despondent and his attitude was worse than ever.  The McCoy’s took one look at their stronger, but emotionally unimproved adopted son and instinctively knew that Marcus was hopeless.  He clearly wasn’t a McCoy and never would be.

The only solution concluded the McCoy’s was to “throw their baby out with the bath water.”  They could no longer justify hurting their family trying to save an unappreciative boy who would not help himself; they opted to put him in a foster home.  Ten years later, when Marcus was found dead in a dumpster, the McCoy’s felt validated in their decision to let a loser like Marcus go.

What was the difference between what happened to Susie and Marcus?  The difference was “love”. The Hatfield’s, no matter how inexcusable and alienating Susie’s behavior was as a teenager, loved her and always knew that she was more than worthy of being saved.  They believed in Susie; they never gave up on her.

The McCoy’s loved Marcus when he was a baby and grew up to be a high achiever; but when he no longer made the McCoy’s proud and he profoundly disappointed them, they determined it was his own inherent limitations and imperfections that were the problem.  Nothing they could have done would have “saved” an irredeemable loser.

In this story, the “Squad” is represented by the McCoy’s.  Their dysfunctional so-called love will not save or build our country  Their selfish dysfunctional love will put America on a path to a permanent “dumpster”.

There are those, while realizing America has problems that need acknowledgement and solving, who deeply love all that is grand and exceptional about this country, our freedoms, our rights, and our imperfect, but often extraordinary history.  They revere what is right about our country and will put it all on the line to save it from those who want to destroy it or fundamentally change America into another failed socialist utopia.

Dysfunctional love has never saved anyone, let alone a country.

Jayne Carroll hosted a daily talk show in afternoon drive time in the Portland, Oregon metro area for more than 20 years.  She wrote a popular conservative newspaper column for over a decade.  Her live shows and podcasts can now be heard at TheJayneCarrollShow.com in addition to her political commentary, “Jayne Says“.  Jayne and her Producer Jeremy Scott can be contacted here.  Guest appearances and speaking bookings can be arranged via email at [email protected].



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