Character Assassination


Character assassination aka a smear campaign, vilification, 'cancelation' (in modern day 'cancel culture') or defamation is a premeditated process and outcome that is intended to attack the target's public identity (usually by attacking their image and reputation) in a sustained manner. It may also cause psychological harm. For clarity, it is a big deal because unlike regular criticism, which is a normal aspect of life, character assassination occurs to such an extreme extent that the effect is either very hard or impossible to reverse. For this reason of irreversibility, it is likened to a literal assassination to a human life. 


Who commits character assassination?

It is most commonly used by persons whose psychology may be described as Machiavellian, psychopaths and narcissists through their flying monkeys. They are usually operating in some type of highly competitive environment like corporate offices, ex business partner, ex-spouses, politicians and so on. 


Purpose of Character Assassination?

Character assassins use this tool to sway the undecided in order to prevent defections to opponent's team. By creating at least some doubt or uncertainty about the target is enough to form negative associations about the target and lower their status (related to relative perceived morality, competence or other measure of good standing). This is seen as a means of winning the competition. 

Consider the analogy of physical assassination within a friend group, family, industry, political campaign season and so on. An assassin's aim is to remove the target's presence, permanently. Character assassins want to do the same. They want the target to be psychologically distanced from favor. If possible, the assassin also wants the target to also physically go away. The assassin seeks a sense of being in control by his level of influence within the network he or she shares with the target. Have you ever noticed how assassins jump through hoops to befriend network members? Such behavior is a grab to secure influence (and ultimately control) within the shared network. This is common when the target has knowledge or a secret that is potentially threatening or somehow incriminating to the assassin. In other words, the purpose is to silence the target and protect the secret. Unlike a physical lynching, this assassin's lynching is psychological where the noose comprises the forms discussed below. If the assassin feels incapable of shutting up the target in some way, the assassin must ensure that anything the target says appears untruthful, indicative of mental imbalance or an irresponsible excuse for the state of the target's life (which the assassin may have caused).

Consequently, on the tactical side, the objective is to round up and influence the target's circle of influence, even people who are not necessarily the target's team but can somehow squash the target's ability to respond to the attack and people who might be mouth pieces (flying monkeys). Have you ever noticed how assassins go out of their way to also befriend people who dislike the target? The assassin is merely recruiting lynch team members. Needless to say, do not take lightly the level of analysis in which the assassin engages. Surveillance is therefore a common tool. He likely prides himself as a Machiavellian genius.

The assassin's audience (flying monkeys) is therefore also contextual. For instance, political personalities are likely to receive more advanced attention with the use of media houses, professional stalkers, social media trolls and so on. Conversely, personal situations in a small town are likely to rely only on word of mouth among friends, family, co-workers, acquaintances, clients and so on. 

Also consider the surveillance role of 'monitoring spirits'. (See short video by YouTuber Virtuous Val). From a spiritual perspective, silencing the target is not only about preventing the target from speaking out to others but also emotionally dysregulating the target to such an extreme degree that he or she can not communicate well or at all with the spiritual world. For some, that might mean, breaking the target's connection with God, spirit world and so on. 


Attackers rely heavily on the fact that, when the average person has some predisposed negative idea about the target, albeit possibly wrong, the average person easily jumps to conclusions that extend their pre-existing negative perceptions, however silly. In other words, simply going along with the flow is easier for most people than taking the time and effort to research and face potentially conflicting ideas. Needless to say, an especially skilled assassin also seeks to give people a sense of belonging to the mob. Assassins who are Machiavellian's princes with considerable material means attract and sway the mob with their ostensible 'virtues' like their generosity and exclusivity.

In short, rather than engage in direct discourse or debate about the heart of the issues in question, character assassins aim to deflect attention from deeper discussion. Assassins make accusations that forces the target into investing time and effort defending themselves against a mob, thereby placing everyone's attention on the target instead of the real issue at hand. If outed, the assassin may be revealed to be a senseless bully, who despite outward appearances of grandeur is deeply insecure, needing the validation of another person's forced inferiority in order to build his own self-confidence. This may play out in all manner of antisocial behavior that the assassin wants to hide. Assassins may mislead themselves to believe that they are victims and therefore meting out justice against an evil that the target supposedly did. Consequently, in this case, the assassin uses character assassination as retaliation and enjoys the distress of the target. Truth tellers in abusive systems very easily attract this form of abuse as in reaction to truth telling or pre-emptively to discredit truth telling beforehand. By retaliation, I also refer to the assassin's response to the target's going 'no contact'.

Clearly character assassinations are a sign of toxicity in a relationship. Toxic relationships are not designed to last. It usually begins before a relationship actually ends and long before the target even realizes what is happening. It involves such a consciously staged sequence of events that it is a sign that the assassin is planning to soon discard the target and is preparing the assassination as insurance against any fallout from the assassin's impending discard of the target. It suggests the assassin's sense of remorseless guilt. Assassins often lay in wait for pivotal moments in the target's life to crank up the assassination to high gear, to maximize revenge. Before pivotal points like unscrupulous divorces, dismissals of employees, celebrations of accomplishment to be undermined and so on, the assassins active seek out damaging information, spread lies and the idea that the target should be treated as a persona non grata.
'Smear Campaign' by YouTuber (NarcDaily you are not alone)

The Noose (or form) of a Character Assassination 

The process can range from simple gossip to highly complex and coordinated smear campaigning (most often seen among political opponents). The context and available media are noteworthy. 

  • In the Gary Hart (US presidential candidate) case below, journalists who published photographs and convincing articles to a large audience were used. Afterall, calling only Mr Hart's wife, best friend and neighbors would likely have been unsuccessful in ending his presidential candidacy. 
  • Trolls on social media. 
  • Anonymous posts online.
  • The target experiences unexplained exclusion from communities or support systems of which the target had been a part. The target may no longer receive social invitations or group correspondence.   


Application Techniques

It is most effective when applied to persons when the audience already has some level of negative emotion towards the target. Most common techniques that trigger and amplify negative emotions include the following. They are obviously adaptable to the circumstances. The most effective techniques are those that even encourage others (flying monkeys) to attack the target. These techniques are even more effective within a small environment.

  • Lies. Lies are the most common technique used. Even though they can be found out, the truth usually occurs well after the damage had already been done. While outright lies are used, they can backfire if discovered too quickly. It is therefore also common to see subtler forms that also misrepresent the target. They include exaggerations of the target's problems, diminishing the target's strengths (like moral or professional strengths), distortions of some type of the truth, noticeably ignoring accomplishments, manipulation to act out of character to appear aligned with a false narrative.
    • The target's work or other achievements are mis-labelled as bad, immoral, worthless.
    • The target's character is portrayed as lacking virtues and worthy of ill-treatment by others. 
    • The target is portrayed as having undesirable associations.

  • Silencing the target, whether good or alive. Any publication that celebrates the target's good deeds are erased as far as possible. If the deeds can not be erased, they may be attributed to someone else.
    • The removal of images, monuments, memorialization (like names of places).
    • The exclusion of targets from usual forms of recognition.
  • Name calling. This is mostly associated with ad hominem attacks, ie attacks against someone rather than their message. This is used to deflect attention from something, usually in threatful contradiction with the ideas of the attacker.
    • People are often called "conspiracy theorists" for revealing secrets that are threatening to the attacker.
    • Persons supporting Black Lives Matter (BLM) movements may be called 'Nigger lovers' rather than consideration of the merits of their message.
  • Mental illness accusations. In more extreme cases, the assassin seeks to psychologically hard the target to create genuine emotional distress or even mental illness. However, the mental illness accusation is often simply a lie or exaggeration of the target's emotional response to very bad behavior. 
    • USSR dissidents were labelled 'mentally ill' by the government.
    • The target is recommended for mental health treatment.
    • People often start a fight needlessly to be able to say to a tearful target that the target blows things out of proportion and must 'calm down'. This put-down is intended to add more insult to injury. 
  • Use of crowd psychology. The character assassin creates a demagogic persona  of himself that others will follow.
        
YouTube video (above) 'How PEOPLE are CONTROLLED by CROWD PSYCHOLOGY | The Crowd by Gustave Le Bon' by YouTuber Eudaimonia explains how a demagogic person or group can use their knowledge of mob mentality psychology aka 'crowd psychology' to manipulate others into advancing their narrative.


Analyzing Circumstances

This topic has become a formally studied science of social psychology. When discussing it in a context, useful pillars and measures are often used to understand levels of target vulnerability, success potential of assassination attempts, impact of successful attempts and so on. 


For instance, The Routledge Handbook of Character Assassination and Reputation Management proposes “five pillars” of character assassination: (1) the attacker, (2) the target, (3) the media, (4) the public, and (5) the context. Example(s).
  • Personality types of targets can impact on their level of susceptibility. After all, some political leaders face enormous attacks but rebound quickly or hardly even experience an impact.
    • Public figure targets with highly charismatic personalities are often found to be immune to even intense character assassination attempts.  Regarding the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal of 1995, President Bill Clinton continued to receive strong job performance evaluations in the midst of one of the most publicized political scandals of the century.
    • Potential targets have been known to inoculate / immune their circle of influence in the face of known potential attacks. A common example involves public figures preferring to be the ones to inform their followers of impending cheating scandals.  
  • Social norms have changed to the extent that they can alter the level of effectiveness of character assassination. 
    • Character assassination within the temporal context of post-Water Gate intensified because the US public had developed a new interest in the personal life of public figures. The media of the time included television, fax machines and so on that allowed news to spread quickly enough to have a more instant effect. People managing media (like journalists) saw an opportunity for a new genre of journalism. The 1988 'Monkey Business / Gary Hart scandal epitomizes this new shift. The presidential candidate lost his chance to be president because of a set up smear campaign against him with a woman sitting on his lap in front of a boat named 'Monkey Business'. The truth came out only decades afterwards, long after the damage had already been done. A death bed confession revealed that the candidate was intentionally delayed overnight in the location, there were always supposed to be young women there as part of the political campaign. However, the staging of the boat named Monkey Business and and the intention to make Mr Hart appear to have cheated on his wife were all staged. Contrast this success of this case against that of the 1960s temporal context, the latter of which did not affect JFK when rumors arose about his infidelity. 
    • Within the temporal context of Medieval times, youth was seen as a character inadequacy as political rulers. Young monarchs were therefore common targets of character assassination. 

Some measures include the magnitude of attacks, levels of outcome visibility and so on. Other measures may include levels of outcome impact. Other commonly considered variables include the situational context within which the attacks backfire.

Over time, more work is emerging on how to cope with these attacks. Research groups include the Character Assassination & Reputation Politics Research lab (CARP).


Coping Skills 

  • If the option exists, going 'no contact' from everyone within the abusive system is ideal. Alternatively, discuss only the bare, non-personal essentials (like children needs) and use the NO-JADE technique when dealing with flying monkeys or anyone that you can not trust. This means that the following, even when the smear campaign is masked as 'concern'. Your silence or muting of emotional responses is very important to withhold energy to assassins. Assassins feed off of negative emotions (your pain and suffering). Remember the famous quote that promotes silence; “Never wrestle with a pig because you'll get dirty and the pig likes it."

do NOT J - justify

do NOT A - argue

do NOT D - defend yourself and 

do NOT E - explain yourself. 

        

  • Recognize that when you remove yourself physically or otherwise from a situation, the assassin will gather the troops. Be prepared to become mentally strong, to truly stop caring what is said about you. Be prepared to let go of people who are unwilling to listen closely. (See this video from 06:09). Be prepared for all that comes with the normal behavior after toxic relationships. For instance, they find a 'golden child' or new person to replace you and will parade this person as 'proof' of how you were the bad person. 
  • Do not try to be extra kind and giving, thinking that the assassin will be stopped. These responses are only considered "weak" and "stupid". In fact, these responses can usually attract further abuse.
  • If you are able to go no contact, do it fully. In other words, purge yourself as fully as possible of all contacts. Stop looking at the social media of assassins or even their social circle. Block everyone from the toxic environment. If you must remain in contact with some people, ask them to leave out any discussions or news about the toxic people.
  • For your piece of mind, entirely unsubscribe from their reality and everything that they are saying about you.
  • Control only what you can. Opt out of the power struggle.
  • Tell the truth. Doing so will reveal your true and fake friends.
  • If you wish you can connect with the spirit world but are so off kilter to do meditations and so on, sit, lie, sleep or other passive activity within a magick circle. 

Video: YouTuber Dr Ramani 'What to do when a narcissist turns people against you.'


CONTENT RELATED TO CHARACTER ASSASSINATION

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