It now appears that President Obama is on the verge of ignoring the recommendations of General Stanley McChrystal and his boss, General David Petraeus, joined finally by the until now reluctant Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullin, to send additional troops to Afghanistan lest that “foreign contingency operation” end in failure. Instead of listening to mere generals, Obama appears ready to accept the recommendation of that internationally recognized military and foreign policy expert, Joe Biden.
Such speculation, which came to light yesterday, occasioned two immediate reactions in my thought processes:
First, I heard echoes of John McEnroe’s now famous line from his tennis playing days: “You cannot be serious!”
Second, it brought to mind the many times in Shakespeare’s plays when the King would accept the advice of his Fool over advice proffered by his advisors - except some of those Fools offered good advice.
