There are truly crazy people out there who intend, in some way or another, the demise of those around them. You’ve seen them and experienced them. History is littered with them and their legions of dead. If you have a person like this in your life and are fortunate enough to put them in your rear view your life will almost immediately improve.

But what happens when one of these truly toxic people rises to high office, demanding and enforcing the loyalty of others? And even worse, cons those around him into thinking he has some sort of special powers, “Only I can fix it!” There is the obvious result of the social fracturing that we see now. Because the toxic personality has to get others fighting each other to distract attention from himself and his very present and continuous crimes.

There is more to the picture. It is an obvious pattern but has to be pointed out. The people around the toxic personality have downward trajectories, to say the least.

We could go on endlessly about the cautionary tale of Rudy Giuliani, the once fabled “Mayor of America” after 9/11, the former US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, credited with the effective RICO prosecution of New York Mafia families and a former presidential candidate. Sure, Rudy has now been pulped as a person and likely to live out his days on Social Security—unless the GOP finally manages to kill it. All he has left is a condo his creditors are trying to seize and his insider stories of working for Trump—the proceeds of which, if he sells it, will also go to his creditors. Not much of a legacy.

Rudy is not alone. Ronna McDaniel, Trump’s staunch former head cheerleader as chair of the Republican National Committee, went on to a long career in broadcasting—all of five days. She’ll probably join the Trump Martyrs touring company with lowlifes like Pillow Guy Mike and Kyle Rittenhouse to make her mortgage payments.

Mike Lindell is a stark case in point of what happens when you hitch your wagon to a psycho. He went from having a multi-million dollar brand to an evicted laughing stock—but he’s still out there convinced he has “evidence” backing up Trump’s lies about the 2020 election.

What supporters of people like Trump don’t understand is that truly insane people don’t really have any shred of loyalty to those assisting them. The truly insane see everyone around them as an enemy that has to be destroyed. Just because someone helped them along, swallowed all the bullshit and held the banner high for them doesn’t mean they’re are going to get a pass later on. When the mood hits, they will find themselves under the nearest passing bus.

Trump is the only one he trusts—as many of his now disgraced and disbarred lawyers have found. But he also places no value on the lives or existence of those who have aided him. Even the deeply despicable ones like Steve Bannon, Roger Stone, Steven Miller, the treasonous Michael Flynn or Paul Manafort will be a means to him until he needs someone to shift blame to or he requires their martyrdom. In his mind, he’s the only person who truly matters. And that equates to nothing but peril to all who support him.

What Can You Do?

The smartest thing anyone can do when confronted with a person of this type is to sever all ties as fast as possible. This might be tough to do sometimes. Toxic people have a way of making you think that they are necessary to your life, that you owe your existence to them in some way. I’m speaking from firsthand experience in saying this.

The reality is that all these people really do in the final analysis is make noise. You’ll find no evidence of actual personal production or capability, rather endless carping criticism of others—including you. These folks—happily there are actually very few of them in real life—only have the power we grant them by giving them permission to communicate to us. And we, each of us, can rescind that permission at any time to our enormous benefit. Sure, they may whine, howl or scream at the exclusion, but that’s just more noise you don’t have to listen to.

Stepping out of the shadow of Trump or anyone like him is easier than it sounds. Just change the channel. It can be sort of like dealing with the persistent buzz coming from a damaged speaker—unplug it. The silence will be golden and your life will immediately improve.