"Leave Britney Alone"

It's come full circle. The people most responsible for Britney Spears' downfall have now committed her.

This is a really unfortunate story. Lots of people had fun with this, I know I did for a time, but the way her life has been handled to this point couldn't have put her in any other direction. Well, it probably could have, but that would have required Britney to have been born with a very different will.

She was pulled out of grade school (grade school, btw)so that her parents could cart her around to various talent shows and other places she could perform. She did not ever experience 8th grade. Of course there was no high school after that, either. No abstract reasoning being taught to her, no logic being introduced into her life.

All she experienced from one moment to the next was "handlers". Britney let's go here, Britney put this on, now we're going to review this dance. She peeked over her shoulder at her parents for their approval and permission and they ushered their hands at her, pushing her forward.

Once things began to wear off she clearly wanted a normal life and tried to do that. Marriage, kids, a house, except she had no ability to navigate that situation or the decisions involved with it. She was simply and utterly unprepared. She didn't have the skills, and most importantly, was never, ever taught the emotional control that would lead to emotional maturity. People were always around her to handle that for her and tell her what to think, say, and do next. She relied completely on external structure - however fleeting.

Mental disease is real. Make no mistake about that.

It is also learned. And it is unfortunate. If she had a stronger will she might have been able to navigate the situation differently but probably not by much. Think of anyone who has been abused since a child. Their perceptions require nothing less than an intervention in order to set straight.

The best hope for her is to stabilize her, bring her to some environment separated from what she has been spiraling around in, and to deprogram and reteach her. That's a very big job. I don't think her parents are truly capable of that although right now they are being portrayed as heroes. I think they are the problem. But I think they also see the error of their ways and now are feeling remorse about how they have treated her which is - a cash cow.

I'm keeping her in my prayers, and I ask you to, too. There are a lot of Britneys in the world and we laugh at "the stupid". But this is one way it happens. Ben Stein put it pretty well in a recent commentary - love your children, keep them close, and teach them well.