This is the plan.
McChrystal slaps Obama across the face in a way that every flag officer knows is inexcusable, unprofessional, illegal (by the UCMJ), and is guaranteed to instantly trigger the officer's firing.
The Commander In Chief does his duty and fires the insolent usurper, and FOXNews howls with fury that "B. Hussein" is ATTACKING A PATRIOT and wants the US to lose.
McChrystal, now the innocent victim of an illegitimate presidency, comes home to FOXNews as a conquering hero for standing up against the socialist muslim running the White House.
If the polls are good for him, McChrystal then runs for the Presidency in 2012, to save the nation from Commies, for Christ.
The solution to the dilemma?
Olbermann was right tonight, partly. DON'T force McChrystal's retirement. If Obama does, then McChrystal becomes Joe Regular Citizen, and instantly morphs into a right-wing loose cannon with street cred. However, the President CANNOT brook insubordination. Everyone in the military, down to the most recent graduate of boot camp, will see Obama as weak and beneath contempt.
Generals serve at the will of the Commander In Chief. They cannot quit when they want.
Obama needs to relieve McChrystal of his command, plant his ass in some windowless office in the bowels of the Pentagon, and not allow him to retire until early 2013.
Order him to take a couple of years to write his after-action report, and maybe polish the counter-insurgency manual, or some door knobs...
Don't let him retire, relieve him of command, and then put him on ice.