I don't just see it as denial. For one, it was Cindy leaving Baez's office upset, not Casey. I remembered it happening, and us talking about it here because we all thought she should have been devastated long before this visit to Baez. I want to say it happened in October 2008? It happened not long before the two bumbling detective wannabes (Dominic Casey and the other guy that was filming him, though DC said he didn't know any filming was going on) went on a search for Caylee, and thankfully didn't find her. It was all over the news that Cindy had walked out of Baez's office looking devastated. I wish I could remember more (If anyone can find an article about it, I'll love you forever.)
I never said that they were just in denial. A person can be in denial, but also be calculated and conniving. The perfect example of that is this case. I think Cindy in particular could not and still does not accept that Casey is a murderer. She believes Casey is her, that Caylee was an extension of them, that all three were one in the same. Therefore Casey can't be a murderer because Cindy is not a murderer. I think that drove her to be conniving and calculating in saving Casey. She had to because Casey can't be a murderer. That was and still is her driving thought every minute of every day. She'll never accept that Casey intentionally killed Caylee.
Denial is not an excuse. It doesn't make someone incapable of doing calculated and conniving things to save someone. It actually drives them to be that way, especially when the person being saved is a sociopath. I don't know if you've ever had to deal with a sociopath, and I hope to God you never do, but they make people like this for them. They trick them, wrap them around their fingers, and get them to continually sacrifice themselves over and over to save or support the sociopath. The family will believe the sociopath can do no wrong and do things like go bankrupt to support the sociopath. The sociopath will drain their family and even their friends dry all to continue gaining something for themselves. They don't care about anything but themselves. And they are masters of lying and deceit. They know to butter people up and destroy them in the next moment. Then after destroying them, they will find a way to suck them back in and use them some more.
Casey has mastered using her mother over and over. She'll continue to use Cindy until the day Cindy dies. That's all Cindy is to her, not a mother, but just another person to use, to lie to, to steal from. And Cindy continually lets her do it even if behind closed doors she yells at Casey and calls her bad things. I'm sure the next moment Cindy is apologizing and letting Casey do what she wants to do. Cindy can't quit Casey and Casey is not about to quit Cindy.
I only dealt with a sociopath for a year, and thankfully, she realized I wasn't buying her BS anymore and left me alone. The problem with Casey's family is that Cindy always covers and lies for Casey. Casey can always rope Cindy back in even if they had a volatile relationship. Cindy can't make herself not support Casey, not lie for her, not cover for her no matter what. Not even Caylee's death changed that, IMO. Casey is just waiting to get off probation so she can go back to Cindy. It's going to happen. Cindy and Casey cannot live without each other.
And like I said, the men in that family are trained. They are a lot like Cindy because she has trained them to be that way. CIndy has her claws dug firmly into those man, their manhood in her pocket forever. She raised Lee to be the family peacekeeper, but also to be conniving and calculated to do anything for the family. She has made George wholly dependent on her, and knows how to get him to do what she wants, even if it meant sacrificing him at trial to save Casey. She will also convince him to let Casey come back home. She has already let him be angry about what Casey did. Then it will be telling him to forgive Casey and let her come back home. That is what is coming next. That is going to happen because Cindy says so. She'll even convince Lee to forgive Casey and have them all be a twisted family together again. I have no doubt that Casey will be babysitting Lee's kids, and living in the same home with George for a long time. Cindy will make sure that happens because Casey is her, and Casey can't do any wrong because they are all a perfect family. Casey isn't a murderer because Cindy isn't a murderer. They all are perfect and Cindy will keep them that way.
It's all about the family. They are like a little mini mafia. It's them versus the world with Cindy at the helm. I remember Cindy saying that nobody messes with the Anthony's. That is their mindset. No matter what Casey has done, it's cover, lie, cover, lie and so on. And Cindy's denial fuels this lying an covering up. She will do it for the rest of her life because Casey is her and that means Casey can't be a murderer.
The denial goes hand in hand with the conniving, the calculating, the lying, and the covering up. It's the prime dysfunction in this family brought on by a narcissistic mother and exacerbated by a sociopath daughter. The whole family is corrupt and disgusting with the highest lack of morals and ethics I've ever seen. Yes, they are self serving in that Casey is one of them, and they will do anything for her. They, especially Cindy, will twist reality to fit their delusions. Casey didn't kill Caylee. It was a massive conspiracy by LE, the prosecutions, TES, and anyone that doesn't support Casey to try and get her convicted for something she didn't do. Cindy will believe that until the day she dies. It is a belief that will continue to break her but also continue her diabolical ways in protecting and supporting Casey. Casey is a religion to Cindy, and she has made Casey a religion to those two men.
We've all seen how religious beliefs can make people do wacky and insane things, even kill people or kill themselves. I think Cindy's belief in Casey is like that. It's twisted, but also cold and calculated, full of denial yet a driving force that has further corrupted that family because of having to cover for Casey. I do think that the DT also drilled into them over and over that Casey was going to die. Cindy definitely does not want Casey dead. I think that along with her denial fueled a campaign full of rage and lies, cover up and destruction, and that Cindy's smile at the verdict wasn't for Casey, but was for Cindy winning the game against the world despite all odds. How powerful Cindy must feel even now. Not even LE and the death penalty could take Casey away from her.
Because that's what this all was to the Anthony's, a massive game they had to win. They don't realize how lucky they were this time, and that this will not happen again. Actually, I think George may know that, and maybe even Lee, but they aren't telling Cindy and still do what she wants. She has them whipped to her demands. They'll never change, never do the right thing. It will always be the three of them at the altar of Casey, Cindy the head priestess, and George and Lee the eternal acolytes to do Cindy's bidding. It's a cycle they'll continue to live as long as they are all alive.
I don't look at them as one or the other. They are not either denial or conniving and calculating. They are both, twisted together, and that is what makes them so dangerous, especially when it comes to Casey.