It is chilling to think about how he might use his power as the director of national intelligence, a job that will give him access to sensitive secrets about Americans and foreigners alike. His appointment is a threat to the effective functioning of the intelligence community, national security and the rule of law.

To make sense of this otherwise bizarre appointment, consider the words of Friedrich Hayek, who said it best in his 1944 book about totalitarian systems, The Road to Serfdom, in the chapter “Why the Worst Get on Top”: The totalitarian leader must collect around him a group which is prepared voluntarily to submit to that discipline they are to impose by force upon the rest of the people.

Tulsi Gabbard, the completely unqualified conspiracy-spreader and ex-congresswoman, should never have been the director of national intelligence. Now, she is stepping down from that critical post, publicly to care for her ailing husband,

A version of the below article first appeared in David Corn’s newsletter, Our Land. The newsletter comes out twice a week (most of the time) and provides behind-the-scenes stories and articles about politics, media, and culture. Subscribing costs just ...