#public-confidence

#public-confidence

There's little worse than watching a nervous actor onstage-especially when the poor guy isn't just skittish but seems genuinely unprepared for the role that he's playing. Incompetence has a way of unnerving its witnesses. An insecure performer robs an audience of its belief in both the character and the entire enterprise. Take, for instance, Friday morning's bizarre and disorienting appearance by Kash Patel, the manifestly unqualified F.B.I. director installed by Donald Trump.

I've long been of the view that politically sensitive investigations like this should not reside within the Justice Department and FBI. I don't trust either agency institutionally.