They Can Rewrite the Script, But They'll Never Change the Ending

The world is becoming much more aware than ever before of the behaviors of malignant narcissists, sociopaths, and similar types, and the damage they cause.

It's harder for bad actors to get away with what once was very easy to hide. We're still in the early years of that massive shift in reality.

When a narcissist, sociopath, or other high-conflict manipulator gets unmasked and can’t manipulate people like they used to, they escalate.

Aggression becomes their only viable move. "Scorched earth" tactics become the go-to method of deterring anyone from fighting back, because they know they’re exposed and nothing else will work.

Their unmasking, whether through scandal, exposure of hypocrisy, or the sheer weight of their own contradictions, sends them into a tailspin. They do not engage in honest self-reflection or accountability. Instead, they react with rage, denial, and desperate attempts to reclaim the narrative.

They will attack critics, fabricate new justifications, and most importantly, discard their former supporters who have seen through them to find new enablers who are willing to buy into their revised version of events.

Malignant antisocial politicians do not have convictions in the way most people think is "normal." Their ideology is power, influence, and control.

They adopt the language of other ideologies, but they do not value them. Ideology to them is not an authentic expression of belief and conviction and even communication and connection, but rather, a tool for extracting loyalty, admiration, and compliance from others.

Once their deception is exposed, they do not change. They simply find new marks willing to buy their act.

If one mask stops working, they will put on another.

If one voter base abandons them, they will cultivate another.

If one party disowns them, they will infiltrate or hijack another.

When malignant political figures lose control over their narrative, they follow a strikingly predictable script. This pattern repeats so often that it might as well be a theatrical production, played out on the grand stage of public discourse.

Like a modern take on Shakespeare, the dialogue changes constantly to keep up with the times.

But the underlying plot… That never changes.

The politician presents themselves as the ultimate answer to the people's problems.

Their followers see them as special, the one who finally "gets it."

The manipulator alone sees the corruption, the broken systems, the enemies in the shadows.

They promise a return to greatness as an antidote for lesser politicians’ failures and weaknesses and lack of ambition.

Cracks in the mask start to show.

Their past statements contradict their present actions.

They fail to deliver on their promises in any lasting way.

Their own allies turn on them.

Their actions cause collateral damage to people and communities who were convinced they’d be getting help.

The people who once adored them start asking hard questions for which the manipulator has no answers.

The manipulator's incompetence becomes undeniable.

The adoration they depended on wanes.

Unable to cope with the loss of their illusion, they lash out.

They accuse critics of betrayal.

They reframe themselves as the real victim, persecuted by conspiracies and shadowy forces.

They double down on their lies, hoping that sheer volume and repetition will erase the truth.

If necessary, they will burn down the institutions they once claimed they would protect, blaming those institutions every step of the way.

All in a desperate bid to make people depend upon them.

All in a desperate bid to hold onto power.

The only thing they have left.

Some political manipulators manage to reinvent themselves.

They attach themselves to a new ideology, a new movement, or a new set of enablers.

They repeat the cycle, playing the same role with a different cast, wearing different costumes, using different props.

Others fade into irrelevance.

They’re out of smoke. Their mirrors are too broken to piece back together.

If they lose all power, they retreat into self-pity, convinced that they were wronged by history rather than undone by their own actions.

The only lesson here is that political manipulators do not learn or change. They do not become better people once they are exposed, the way “normal” people would. They do not suddenly develop integrity after being caught. They will continue running the same con, over and over again, on anyone willing to fall for it.

The only way to break the cycle is to refuse to play the role they have cast for the public.

Do not be the hyped up follower who enables their wishful delusions.

Do not be the naive optimist who hopes they will become better for us.

And do not let them rewrite history to erase their failures or the harm they have caused.

Instead, see them for what they are: performers, playing the same script, hoping the audience will keep watching.

The only way to win is to walk out of the theater, regardless of the cost of admission.

And sometimes, no matter how much it was a part of your own story and identity, to burn down that theater with them still inside.