The Narcissists Who Endanger America
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The FBI yesterday arrested Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guard employee, for posting highly sensitive Pentagon documents online. Teixeira, at this point, seems to have had no reason for spilling national secrets to a chat group other than that he wanted to show off, impress his friends, and establish himself as an important person in a small community of digital gamers. This, from the available reporting, seems different from the cases of other young people who compromised national security, including Reality Winner, Chelsea Manning, and, of course, Edward Snowden.
But all of these cases—as well as the notorious cases of much older people who betrayed their country, such as —are bound by the common thread of narcissism. Teixeira, if prove accurate, might be of these cases, but make no mistake: The damage he is alleged to have caused looks to be immense, all because he reportedly wanted to be the boss among a clique of online pals.
