The Washington rabbit hole is full of half-truths, conspiracies, politics, spies and agenda-driven leaks in a town full of smiling liars. And from time to time Americans are invited, or goaded by media and political operatives, into entering one.

These are truly dangerous, because it is this kind of rabbit hole that an entire nation can step into and, when it does, a country can break more than an ankle.

A country can break its own back.