When I created this newsletter, I had two goals in mind: 1) Provide concrete solutions to many problems of the modern age we encounter online (and elsewhere, but mostly online). 2) Remind people that they’re no good to anyone unless they remember to chill, relax, and have a good time
As my priest in Charlotte’s St. Nektarios Orthodox Church used to say, “Jesus liked to have a good time. Jesus bounced babies on his knee. What are you, better than Jesus?” Exactly, Father Steve. Exactly.
This past week, I’ve been busy working on the 2nd goal, which involves perfecting a hot weather soup recipe I am looking forward to spoiling you guys with. I have been through the wringer myself lately, and have a big new scar to prove it. I’ve been trying to take a break from the news as much as I physically can, and have been reminding others to do the same.
However, airman Jack Douglas Teixeira, the suspected leaker of a bunch of classified documents on Ukraine and other matters, has been so freaking dumb that I realized I had to write about him even though I didn’t want to.
For good background reading on how Teixeira’s identity was discovered, I recommend this piece. Some of my esteemed former colleagues worked on the investigation!
There has been some bad reporting in the Intercept that suggests that my former colleagues were working with the federal authorities on identifying Jack, but that’s not actually the case. Using OSINT tools, expertise, and Jack’s own stupidity allowed said colleagues to zero in on him independently (and yes, I can vouch for their methods).
There has been a lot of writing on Jack, and a lot of opinion-having. Some far-right and far-left personalities, Marjorie Taylor Greene included, have tried to pay him as some kind of populist martyr, a guy who leaked classified documents in the name of transparency or whatever.
This is completely false. All evidence suggests that Teixeira was an angry individual who wanted to seem tough to his Discord buddies. This is why he betrayed his oath. He wanted to impress some fellow nerds.
Let’s look at the some of the court filings. Here we have a Discord user expressing concern at what Jack doing, and Jack bragging that his activities could not possibly be traced:
In order to understand the sheer scale of the stupidity here, consider that Jack registered a Discord account to his legal name and address.
This guy wasn’t even trying.
If you look at the legal findings closely, you’ll see that Jack was considering going on a shooting spree. The stuff found in his bedroom likely means he wasn’t just talking:
https://twitter.com/CBS_Herridge/status/1651562450133610500
In fact, Teixeira’s opinion of himself was so high that he believed it was his duty to rid the world of stupid people:
Yes, the intellectual giant who leaked classified info on Discord without bothering to cover his tracks was going to rid the world of “the weak minded.”
I randomly know someone who grew up in the same area as Jack. Their friends’ kids went to school with Jack. Their verdict? “We were all afraid he was going to be a school shooter.” By his own admission, by the admission of his peers, and based on the findings of the authorities — Jack Teixeira was a dangerous person. Weak, insecure people are often dangerous.
There has been a lot of chatter about how on earth Jack Teixeira had a security clearance. I will leave that part to the experts. I think that time and time again, we have seen the failures of the process: Good people get snagged on stupid technicalities, and dangerous people slip to the cracks. That will happen in any system, but the question is, to what degree? And are there lessons to be learned from Teixeira’s specific case? I don’t know. I hope somebody does.
Here’s what I do feel qualified to comment on:
Teixeira’s stupidity means we all got lucky. If he was smarter, this could have been much worse. He could’ve fled before he was apprehended. If he was crazier, this could have been much worse as well. He could’ve barricaded himself in with a bunch of hostages.
We can’t bank on the stupidity of the next Teixeira.
Speaking of the next Teixeira, here’s something else I know:
There are many more out there. I have met them. I still get an uncomfortable feeling when I recall a young Navy guy who tried to chat me up in a bar last year: Insecure, angry, aimless, desperate to seem cool, and possessing extreme opinions about the DoD, NATO, Ukraine, etc. Fifteen minutes of having him bray at me made it obvious that there was no way he should have a security clearance. To be honest, I wouldn’t trust the guy with a hamster. And that’s just the most recent example.
I will beat this dead horse for as long as it needs to be beaten: The internet has made us more hyperconnected and yet lonelier. It’s been breaking a lot of people’s minds. COVID came along and made the situation worse. We are dealing with overlapping crises of mental health in this society and this absolutely impacts national security.
Whenever I bring up national security and mental health, a bunch of dead-eyed men who need therapy themselves scoff at me. “Well, I’m deeply screwed up and unhappy, but I’ve never felt the need to leak classified documents!” Good for you, champ. Just know that being screwed up and unhappy is still a liability enemies can exploit. They’d be stupid not to. Again, exploiting our personal problems is much easier in a hyperconnected world.
I’m not saying that working in national security/for the military should require group crystal healing sessions with emotional support teddy bears. I am arguing for the bare minimum: An attempt at a healthy atmosphere whenever possible (let’s face it, sometimes it’s not, but Teixeira wasn’t out there stacking bodies either, he didn’t have that kind of job). And we should all understand that unchecked rage in an individual is a sign that something is very wrong.
If Teixeira’s classmates knew it, I think other people should have been aware too.
Thank you for reading. Be safe out there. Be excellent to each other.
My new recipe is coming out soon — this is, again, my own way of relaxing, chilling, having a good time, and promoting a healthy atmosphere, because I try to practice what I preach — and I hope you check in with me often.