My column today is a long essay on General McChrystal’s plan for Afghanistan. I won’t belabor it here — suffice it to say I am not a fan. The purpose of this post (my first in a while) is to relate a story, which I think portends more promise than Gen. McChrystal’s sociology theories.

The true joys of working at home include picking up my son (now age 7) from school. When he got in the car yesterday, I had Hannity on the radio. After Edward got the gist of Sean’s monologue, we had the following conversation:

E: Why is Sean mad at President Obama now?

A: He doesn’t like the way he’s running the war.

E: What does Obama have to do with the war?

A: Well, pal, he’s the president, and in our country the president is the commander in chief.

E: What’s the commander in chief do?

A: Basically, he’s in charge of how we fight the war.

E: Hmm. I think the marines should be the commander in chief.

A: [Laughing, of course] I bet the marines would like that.

E: I mean, if we didn’t have the marines, what could Obama do?