It should be a relief that retired Adm. John Poindexter appears likely to step down from his post at the Pentagon. A man with his background doesn’t have any business in a position of power within the United States government, and if that wasn’t already clear, his half-baked terror market plan, which is expected to bring about his resignation, should dissolve any remaining doubt.

As the man who thought up the Iran-Contra weapons-for-hostages deal that marred Ronald Reagan’s presidency and made Oliver North a household name, Poindexter escaped conviction not because he was innocent, but only because of a technicality. His involvement in that scandal should have been enough to keep him out of government for good.

But last year, he was in the public spotlight again after being appointed head of the Terrorism Information Awareness System, which drew fire because many saw it as a threat to privacy. With the job of gathering information on practically everyone, the program had the potential for abuse, especially when run by an unscrupulous individual like Poindexter.

Now, in a final flourish of bad judgment, Poindexter is credited with dreaming up a terrorism futures market where &uot;investors&uot; would more or less bet on when and where terrorist acts might take place or which political leaders might be assassinated. The idea was that this would somehow help predict when these events would occur and allow them to be stopped, but it could easily have been used by terrorists themselves to cash in on their own operations. At the least, the idea of anybody making money off terrorism is in incredibly bad taste. Thankfully, Poindexter’s office scrapped the idea after it went public.

So, it’s good news that Poindexter is going to offer his resignation. Perhaps this latest foolishness is enough to ensure that he won’t be back this time.