I have spent a lot of time around people.  Out of a general sense of curiosity, I watched the Scott Pelley interview with NYT journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro, who, by professional obligation and sense of career enhancement, stepped into the role of codependent enabler in order to advance a professional narrative that is very disturbing to witness.

In this short video segment below, less than a minute long, what we see is a glimpse into the world of deeply disturbed and mentally unstable people; very likely narcissists, with intensely overstated internal senses of grandiosity and self-importance.

That sense of identity is certainly why these trait carriers need to cloister together in groups, tribal media, in order to receive the affirmation needed to retain their worldview without challenge. These are deeply intolerant, and emotionally unstable people.

What you see below is not emotionally mature or mentally stable behavior. What is witnessed in this video is a psychological pathology and a codependent enabler of that pathology, under the mistaken premise of sensitivity.

This is the opposite of intellectual. This is a disturbed child in an adult physiology. It is alarming to witness outside a clinical or institutional setting. WATCH:

♦ Take it or leave it advice.  If you ever encounter this personality trait in a person or group, professionally or personally, I would strongly advise exiting the proximity as quickly and carefully as possible.

Find a way to get away. Do not engage. Do not attempt to talk, discuss, frame counterpoints, debate or engage this mindset with any challenge.  Just politely disappear in the least controversial way possible.

There’s no benefit to engaging with unstable people—protect your own peace by avoiding contact. This applies both online and in person. In either case, politely excuse yourself or leave safely.

Be cautious while doing so; it might feel like you’re holding your breath until you’re away, but the main goal is creating distance. Excuse yourself however necessary and find a safe way to leave quietly and without drawing attention but do so with urgency.

The full interview is below.  I caution anyone who might be tempted to watch this interview, there is a particular horror in knowing there are people carrying these traits in positions of influence.  Jim Jones was less to fear.

It is best to leave management of this psychology to the experts in the field.

There are a lot of people like this in Washington DC, in various stages of this mindset, particularly in the White House correspondents’ media pool.

Having navigated a life of specific control, Scott Pelley represents the apex level of this psychological disorder.  When left unchecked for this long, there is no recovery possible.  Mr. Pelley will never be wrong in anything, ever.

From the position of his shoes in the closet, to the fold of his towels and the shape of his eggs in the morning, to the acceptable sounds he will tolerate walking through a park; everything is viewed through the prism of self.

Behind that self is a deeply disturbed loathing.

Keep distance. Preserve your peace.