The eBook version of
Mythomania: A Psychodrama will be free as a Kindle download until January 4th. The following is an excerpt from the book:
Chapter
11
A Miniature Sick Society
“The
evil deny the suffering of their guilt - the painful awareness of
their sin, inadequacy, and imperfection - by casting their pain onto
others through projection and scapegoating. They themselves may not
suffer, but those around them do. They cause suffering. The evil
create for those under their dominion a miniature sick society.”
M.
Scott Peck
People
of the Lie
The
sickness began the day Angie opened the door to the I.R.S. agent.
Rather, to paraphrase Robert Jordan, it wasn’t the
beginning
but it was a
beginning. I affirm in “Thanksgiving”
that what truly matters when we face a tragedy is how we react to it.
And how we react reflects our own characters and personalities, even
if they are disordered.
After
the Dear John letter from Curtis Johnson, I scrambled to find a new
job. I found two, both part-time. The first was at Riverwest Clinic
in inner city Milwaukee. It wasn’t the E.R. but it was in an
underserved area. I concentrated on Family Medicine there and the
other docs concentrated on pushing drugs. I’m not kidding. When I
discovered that, I had only two options in my mind: quit or become an
addictionologist. I chose the latter. I trained in Suboxone therapy
and became very good at it.
The
second job was at a community health center in Racine. It was a lot
farther than Riverwest and I couldn’t stomach the thought of the
drive every day. So I signed on part-time. It was a nice arrangement.
I made precious little in Racine but very good money at Riverwest. I
still practiced Primary Care, gave quality medical care to the needy,
and spent a lot less time in a car than when I worked in E.R.’s.
I
started at Riverwest at the end of January, near my birthday. I
worked there for 2 weeks before my first paycheck and even then I
hadn’t decided whether I was going to stay or not. Either way, I
needed a vehicle that was rugged enough to get me through the
Wisconsin Winter. We applied for a loan with General Motors for a
used Blazer. We got it, I think mainly because of Riverwest. The
office manager even wrote a letter of support to G.M. So here I was,
just 5 weeks after losing my last job, driving around Milwaukee in a
new (for us) S.U.V. It appeared to be a pretty picture. Looks can be
deceiving.
Around
that time I received a phone call from a government official claiming
to speak “on behalf of the Department of Education.” He wanted to
know why I was applying for a deferment on my medical student loan. I
explained that I lost my job earlier that year. He wanted to know if
I had any other income. Since I hadn’t been paid yet from
Riverwest, I told him “no.” Which was misleading. I admit it. I
was expecting my first paycheck but I still hadn’t decided if I was
going to stay there or not. I suppose if he had been calling on
behalf of G.M., I would have said “yes.” But I really needed that
deferment and I really needed that car.
In
April, we filed our taxes. Married, filing jointly. Angie was working
at Aurora Health Care in Kenosha at the time. We were supposed to get
some money back, but the feds refused to send us the refund because
of my back taxes over 8 years before. Which wasn’t fair to Angie.
We weren’t even married that earlier tax year. The rape continued.
That
was when Angie started recruiting members into her Miniature Sick
Society. Her brother Greg Lentz is a financial advisor with Ozark
Life Insurance. Since meeting Angie, I had taken out several policies
with him and so over the years I gave him thousands of dollars. When
we opened our second clinic in West Bend, The Mangold Center for
Family Health & Wellness, I also bought business insurance from a
friend of his. Did my generosity make him think twice about his
actions?
When
Angie didn’t get her tax refund that year, she started planning a
new strategy with Greg. It didn’t take effect until two years later
when they brought in a co-conspirator named Nicholas Bartz. She
sought out “innocent or injured spouse relief.” I call it the “Up
Yours, Mike” strategy and it was all behind my back. Was it within
her rights to do it? Of course. The I.R.S. had no business stealing
her money. But was it the right or loving thing to do? Did Greg and
Angie have to be so deceitful?
Dr.
Peck writes, “We do not become partners to evil by accident. As
adults we are not forced by fate to become trapped by an evil power:
we set the trap ourselves.” The lies, scapegoating, victim-blaming,
excuses, and backstabbing all become a mental labyrinth. It got worse
because People of the Lie need to revise history to prove their
righteousness to themselves and especially to others. “Evil was
defined as the use of power to destroy the spiritual growth of others
for the purpose of defending and preserving the integrity of our own
sick selves.” Welcome to the Miniature Sick Society of Southeast
Wisconsin.
After
my plea bargain, the feds did a “Pre-Sentencing Investigation.”
The goal of the P.S.I. is to prove to the judge that the defendant
deserves a harsh sentence. They interviewed Angie. If I were king, I
would make it illegal to use the testimony of an ex-spouse or of
someone who would soon be your ex-spouse. What makes them think the
testimony is unbiased and truthful?
Besides
all of the crap Angie made up After Christa (AC), she also told the
pre-sentencing investigator one last, big lie.
She
said she was not aware that I used the tax money to save Jon’s
life.
