Mr. President, What Did You Expect?

The laws of politics or the laws of physics, it makes no matter: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Mr. President, what did you expect your own actions would produce? Campaigning in 2008, you made your absolute disrespect for the American flag crystal clear. Not "McChrystal clear", mind you. Crystal clear. Remember that oh-so-well-known photo op? I'm sure you do.

But wait! There's more! Remember the Fort Hood shooting? When you were--where was it--oh, yeah, on vacation! No, of course you didn't cut short your vacation when you heard the news. After all, they were only a handful of dead Americans, eh? Well, rather a bit more than a handful, but still, merely dead soldiers at that, right? (*Yawn*) Who cares about them?

Oh, and let's not forget all those weeks you spent dithering while ignoring your chosen Commander for the war in Afghanistan, letting General Stanley McChrystal cool his heels even more thoroughly than the cold shoulder you also turned to our greatest ally in the Mideast, i.e. Israel. Plus, once you finally announced your decision from Mount Obama, hey, you only undercut your own man on the ground a little bit when it came to troop strength, right? Absolutely, quite a moderate percentage below the General's requested minimum number, uh huh. But then, what would he know? He's only one of those West Point warriors after all, a mere military flunky....

...Plus, let's not forget that bit about telling our enemies exactly when we'll be getting out of their faces. To the day.

Mr. Barack Hussein Obama, Commander in Chief, Lord of the Land, did you really believe you could endlessly disparage the military without ever suffering repercussions?

Apparently you did.

Now, sir, much has been made of the General's reputation for having a big mouth in the first place and--sadly--exercising extremely poor judgement in spouting off within earshot of a leftwing Rolling Stones reporter. Every pundit on the boob tube has made that assessment, not excluding all those good folks on Fox News. With all that consensus, it must be so, don't you think?

Hardly.

Sure, it's possible, even plausible. Maybe it did go down just that way. But in addition to being known for his outspoken nature, the good General also has a reputation for highly skilled covert actions. Not unlike Glenn Beck and also Sarah Palin, at times I see dots that just seem to connect themselves. The McChrystal ruckus is one of those times.

I believe General McChrystal, having served the flag his entire life, knew within himself that while he could no longer force himself to serve under a White House imposter whose hatred for the flag has never faltered...and that he devised a plan, a brilliant plan, to serve honorably one...last...time.

In my favorite fantasy series by the late Robert Jordan, some characters understand and even occasionally use a swordfighting move termed "sheathing the sword". Any given swordsman is likely to be able to use this move just once in his life. It works like this: You are facing a deadly opponent of equal or possibly even superior skill to your own. There is no way to penetrate his guard. Except...if you take a wide open stance that presents an invitation to attack the other guy cannot resist, he will go for the kill. As you are sheathing his sword in your body...you kill him on the way down. Obviously, to use this move, you need to really believe dropping the other guy is important.

Stanley McChrystal just Sheathed The Sword perfectly. He set up the "leak" in such a way that his comments redounded to his own discredit without directly insulting the President and guaranteed his own removal from command. If that's not a "sheathing the sword" move for a commanding General, I don't know what would be. It killed him professionally...and he orchestrated the dance. Obama could not refuse the invitation to attack, to remove McChrystal from command.

But on his way down, McChrystal struck. America was forced wide awake, at least for this moment. Obama was forced to act like a Commander In Chief facing subordination in the ranks. All of us were reminded (once again) that the Afghan theater of action has been authorized fewer troops than our top General on the ground had declared essential. General David Petraeus was immediately tagged to take command, and McChrystal had to know that would be likely to happen--a win-win situation for the outgoing General. Why? Because one of two things will happen over time:

1. Petraeus will come out ahead in Afghanistan like he did in Iraq. (So far. It ain't over till the jihadist sings.) If that rather unlikely outcome does come to pass, America wins. If our country wins, lifelong warrior Stanley McChrystal wins. Period.

2. Petraeus will bog down. After that happens, the White House may actually listen to their General in place...because as of now, Obama owes Petraeus, big time. That could be a good thing. But if not, then the White House may actually be forced to come to terms with the pure dee fact that Afghanistan is not Iraq. It is called "The Graveyard of Empires" for a reason. And that could be a good thing--not the Graveyard, but the recognition of reality. I'm not saying we should bail out. That's well above my pay grade. But I am saying: If you're going to fight a war in a Graveyard, for goodness sake, at least equip your troops with Zombie Killer weapons and Rules of Engagement that make a bit of freaking sense.

Wait. What am I saying? It was McChrystal himself who advocated turning our armed warriors into basically the Peace Corps with rifles in the first place, wasn't it?

Oops.

Okay, so maybe he did just shoot off his big mouth like he'd often done before.

But if this time he didn't, if he really threw himself on his sword in honorable service to the Stars and Stripes, hey, I salute the man.

And unlike the Confounder In Chief, we both salute the flag.