So there is this WikiHow article on the above subject and I’m going to take a stab at using it to deal with a specific impossible person.

1 Recognize that impossible people exist…

()

2 Be aware that some people simply aren’t compatible…

(Like George and over half of the country.)

3 Understand that it’s not you, it’s them.

(I’m gonna call this one a gimmee.)

4 Realize that you cannot deal with impossible people the same way you deal with everyone else.

(For instance, with my spouse I can get an acceptable response by saying, “When you leave piles on my side of the bed, I get angry. Would you consider putting them on your side of the bed instead?”

With George it might take something like, “When you lie to the country to justify a war that has killed and is killing tens of thousands of innocent civillians, it makes me cranky. Would you consider intervening in Somalia, instead?” And I’m not confident this will work. I’m afraid it’s going to take something like “When you do criminally unconstitutional things we’re going to impeach your sorry ass….”)

5 Protect your self-esteem. If you have regular dealings with someone who tries to portray you as the source of all evil, you need to take active steps to maintain a positive self-image….

(Remind yourself that you are not a c-student, duty dodging, frat boy with a history of daddy interventions.)

6 Guard against anger.

(I’m sorry–this one is beyond me.)

7 Keep your cool. When the impossible person becomes hysterical (and they probably will, as this is a common trait among them), immediately “turn off” any serious consideration you had been giving them….

(Okay–I’ll try on the cool thing. As to turning off any serious consideration–I can do that.)

8. Give up self-defense.

(In this case–no, not giving that one up.)

9. Understand that eventually, you and the impossible person will have to part ways.

(Okay, I’m pretty sure I can get behind this one. Jan 2009 at the absolute latest.)

10. Avoid letting the impossible person make you into a “clone” of them. If you aren’t careful, you could find yourself adopting much of the offender’s own behavior, even if you aren’t voluntarily trying…

(Strident is as strident does. Right. Don’t be mean. Don’t be stupid. Don’t be manipulative. Check!)

11. Be a manager. Until it is over, your task in the relationship is to manage the impossible person, so that he or she deals less damage to you.

(Got it. Humor him. “Go, uh, play with Social Security or something.”)

11. Realize that impossible people engage in projection. Understand that you are going to be accused of much (or all) of this behavior yourself…

(Hmmm. People criticizing the war aren’t supporting the troops. As opposed to people sending people to war without the right equipment isn’t supporting the troops?)

13. Be a possible person. Human behavior is changed through positive modeling….

(Again: Strident is as strident does. Right. Don’t be mean. Don’t be stupid. Don’t be manipulative. Check!)

This could work.