Tom Nichols is one of the so-called 'conservatives' who has a raging case of Trump Derangement Syndrome, and it shows.
He claims he's The Expert on specific issues, and perhaps he was at one time. But President Trump has so irretrievably broken Nichols' brain that all his expertise has gone bye-bye.
Which is why he posted this in the Atlantic without realizing what a self-own it actually was:
Kash Patel and Tulsi Gabbard are turning America’s spy apparatus on its own employees, @radiofreetom argues. https://t.co/opQPDxw9E6
— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) July 20, 2025
Here's what Tom writes, in his piece titled 'Tinker Tailor Soldier MAGA' (that'll be important in a moment):
That’s part of the job, and federal employees submit to it in order to keep America safe. What isn’t part of the job is a McCarthyist political-loyalty requirement, enforced with polygraphs and internal snooping. But FBI Director Kash Patel and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard have apparently decided that hunting down politically unreliable members of America’s intelligence and law-enforcement communities is more important than catching enemy spies, terrorists, or bank robbers.
Indeed, to call what Patel and Gabbard are doing “McCarthyism” is to make too grandiose a comparison. Tail Gunner Joe, a thoroughly reprehensible opportunist, claimed that he was rooting out Communists loyal to Moscow who were hidden in the U.S. government. Patel and Gabbard, meanwhile, don’t seem very worried about foreign influences and they’re not looking for enemy agents. They just want to know who’s talking smack behind their back.
Gabbard, according to The Washington Post, has “expressed a desire to gain access to emails and chat logs of the largest U.S. spy agencies with the aim of using artificial intelligence tools to ferret out what the administration deems as efforts to undermine its agenda.” In other words, Gabbard is threatening to endanger the careers of loyal intelligence officers by asking an AI if any of them aren’t fully on board with the MAGA cause. She has created a team within her office with the anodyne name of the “Director’s Initiatives Group,” which will collect large amounts of data from across 18 different agencies and run them through AI tools to see whether anyone is engaging in “weaponization” of intelligence. This is a flatly ridiculous, and extremely dangerous, idea.
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Now, back to that headline.
It's a play on the title of a 1974 novel written by John le Carre that was adapted into a 2011 film starring Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, and Benedict Cumberbatch.
Except there's one problem:
So Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy being about rampant corruption in the intelligence community being dragged into the light I’m assuming Tom’s a big fan of this turn of events, right? I ain’t paying to get through the paywall so I’ll just assume here
— Enguerrand VII de Coucy (@ingelramdecoucy) July 20, 2025
You would assume wrong.
You don’t have to sell me.
— EducatëdHillbilly™ (@RobProvince) July 20, 2025
This is what we voted for.
Yeah that's a necessity when some of those people are committing treason, espionage, and sedition. They will go to prison if they are very very lucky
— Christopher Fishell (@chieffishell) July 20, 2025
Tulsi Gabbard nuked the Never Trump crowd's 'Russian collusion' argument from orbit, and they're very angry about that.
Because they could be in big trouble.
So, let the treason continue because it would be bad to call out other employees for committing treason.
— Outlaw Voter (@MaineRed2020) July 20, 2025
Is that what the tub of lard Tom thinks?
Because ORANGE MAN BAD.
That's Tom's driving motive these days.
Well, yes - when those employees attempt to subvert the intelligence apparatus of our country for the benefit of one political party, and frame representatives of the other party to do so, that is an expected consequence for failure.
— Double Secret Mutation (@horsewithnonick) July 20, 2025
BUT TRUMP!
And it’s our fave, @RadioFreeTom, knocking it out of the park with today’s worst take. @deanriehm @ktcat https://t.co/7ZcYtGq4vc
— BDaddy✝️🇺🇸 (@BDaddyLiberator) July 20, 2025
He's the king of worst takes.
Is Tom aware that the plot of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is about a massive conspiracy and coverup happening in the highest echelons of British intelligence that ultimately destroys the careers of most of the entrenched bureaucracy of MI6 when it’s brought to light? https://t.co/BRl7hEDFnH pic.twitter.com/cfJ0BlXVoU
— Enguerrand VII de Coucy (@ingelramdecoucy) July 20, 2025
He is not.
How long do you think it'll take before this idiot realizes he made the exact opposite point he meant to, then delete? https://t.co/sxfQ5V2oBM
— S. Smith 🇺🇸 (@ShannonSmith_al) July 20, 2025
Going on 14 hours, so ... he probably won't.
Nice of The Atlantic to report that the Trump administration has introduced accountability for seditious activity in our three letter agencies.
— Moni 💕 (@MoniFunGirl) July 20, 2025
It’s about time. https://t.co/aJNuQhO3AN
This is going poorly for The Expert, isn't it?
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