Don't hate the player, hate the game. Your general in the upper strata has to play the game, it's the job. But you can also get a beer and become friends with him or her.
Sociopathic behavior is genuinely useful to participate in. Just have awareness of what's going on, and down cycle and up cycle your "talking in between the lines" as necessary. And have fun
Rather, think of them as massive waves on the ocean. They don't care whether you ride them to shore or are shattered beneath them. Focus more on figuring out which way the waves are going rather than how to stop them.
When I finally got a chance to program something for him, towards the end of our time together, and it ran 5 times faster than his favored programmer, he questioned me like I had gotten someone else to do it or something. He was absolutely incredulous, never would admit that, hey, maybe I did know something about what I was talking about.
There's a quote that goes something like, "Never get between a jerk and his goals," and that's what it felt like, for an interminable 3 years.