Journal Captain Splendid's Journal: McChrystal 28

David Brin seems to be the only person to agree with my initial assessment that Gen. McChrystal's firing-worthy behaviour was a lot more calculated than anybody cared to report.

I really didn't give it all that much thought. If you'd asked me why, I'd have shrugged my shoulders and offered some lame explanation about him just being a little more ready for peaceful retirement than anyone might have guessed. Brin, however, takes it a couple of steps further:

Consider the Liddy-North Effect, named for convicted criminals G. Gordon Liddy and Oliver North, whose conspiratorial efforts to undermine lawful government should have ensured perpetual infamy, but who instead went straight from prison to cushy roles as ranting hatchetmen in an oligarchy-subsidized punditry. What these men proved is that, unless you are caught eviscerating small animals or children on video, there is nothing -- no misbehavior -- that will prevent a prominent and macho critic of democrats from getting a paid gig on Fox News or Venom Radio. Indeed, the more choleric, insulting and pyrotechnically disrespectful the behavior, the more likely you will get a plum slot.

Hence, it is with no lack of grudging respect that I predict this fellow will slip comfortably into whatever retirement engagement he has lined up, and we will see his face and hear his voice for the next 20 years, reading whatever talking points are put in front of him, whining - like Ollie North - about his Martyrdom at the hands of cursed liberals.

Hey, you gotta hand it to a tactician, who -- upon approaching inevitable retirement -- maps out the perfect campaign to optimize his results, forcing the hand of his boss, creating a situation where the president has no option at all, but to fire a "fighting general" and send him on his strategically planned way.

Guess we'll find out soon enough.