One thing I can't abide is manipulation, not from a cult or when I see it here. Contributing a statement, dox, a funny observation, an opinion germane to a conversation is fantastic, the more people speaking as one against the cult the better. Disagreement is one thing, stooping to the below tactics to the detriment of others is another. Here's how this generally plays out: 

Shaming - Sarcasm and insults can be used by the manipulator to increase self-doubt and fear in the victim, to make the victim feel unworthy. This may be accomplished by anything from a very subtle fierce look or unpleasant tone of voice to a rhetorical comment. This may make the victim feel badly for daring to challenge them, which also fosters a sense of inadequacy in the victim.

Attempts to turn the tables and make you look like the abuser: These skilled manipulators have an arsenal of tactics at their disposal, and they will be pushing as many buttons as possible to get you to lose control. They can inflict so much psychological warfare and make you suppress so much emotion that you can be backed into an emotional corner. When this happens, the intense frustration you feel, but can’t express through normal communication, will cause you to react in self-defense. Emotional reactions in self-defense to an abusive situation do not make you an abuser.

Denying/ Invalidating reality: Invalidating distorts or undermines the victim’s perceptions of their world. Invalidating occurs when the abuser refuses or will not acknowledge reality. For example, if the victim confronts the abuser about an incident of name calling, the abuser may insist, “I never said that,” “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The same as gaslighting, really, a tactic which is explained below.

Gaslighting - Gaslighting is a form of mental abuse in which false information is presented with the intent of making a victim doubt his or her own memory, perception and sanity.

Minimizing: The manipulator will tell you you’re making a big deal out of nothing or that you’re “exaggerating” when you confront him with something he’s done.

Feigning Confusion - The manipulator plays dumb - pretending she or he has no idea what the victim is talking about, or is confused by the topic at hand.

Playing the Victim - The manipulator portrays themselves as a victim of circumstance or other people in order to gain pity, sympathy, or compassion from their conscientious victim.

Vilifying the Victim - A powerful method of putting the victim on the defensive while masking aggressive intention.

Projecting the Blame - Scapegoating in subtle ways, blaming the victim or other people for the negative actions or consequences of their actions. This helps to portray the manipulator in a more positive light, and can actively harm the victim's relationships with other people, who may not even have been involved.

Guilt Tripping - Guilt trips are a form of verbal or nonverbal communication in which a guilt inducer tries to induce guilty feelings in a target in an effort to control their behavior. As such, guilt trips are a clear form of psychological manipulation and coercion.

Proxy Recruiment - A way of controlling or abusing another person by manipulating other people into unwittingly backing you up, speaking for you or "doing your dirty work" for you. The goal in proxy recruitment is to gain the upper hand in a relationship or in a conflict by getting other people involved. This often takes the form of false accusations, smear campaigns or distortion campaigns in which the victim is portrayed as an abuser.


Rinse and repeat. The above Machiavellian tactics are the cowards way via character assassination. It's how the cult operates and sadly enough I've seen those same tactics used here. It's a very effective method of staging specifically aimed nasty attacks with vague innuendo while hiding behind a cloak of denial. What's tragic is when people don't see through it and are tricked into defending such douchery.

As I said, I don't abide manipulation. Nor do I abide anyone trying to sell me a bridge that someone needs to fill a needed role here in the name of board diversity while using the above malicious cultist tactics that people are speaking out against this very minute. 

Something to think about, I hope the irony doesn't escape you, Pooks and Panda. I had enough of this bullshit when MAB and Claire were tag teaming critics with the same modus operandi. If nothing else, Sautez being gang bang sec checked on Face Book and ostracized is example enough.