In the manner that the late Andy Rooney often introduced his commentary on maters great and small, permit me to say, "I don't know about you, but this story about the 'Walk on the White House Grounds' seems to be a pretty implausible one."

The myth-makers scribbling away on behalf of the endless campaign have told their sympathetic spinners in the liberal media that those sycophants should make us trust that, sometime in the late afternoon last Friday, FOTUS (Fabulist of the United States) strolled into the West Wing or looked up from his seat and said to his Chief-of-Staff,  Denis McDonough, something like, "How about let's you and me get out of these miserable, air-conditioned rooms and go for a walk."

The two were supposed to have then stepped out into 90-degree heat (and, one must assume, an August day's stifling humidity) and for 45 (sweat-drenched) minutes ambled up and down the paths or across the perfectly-manicured South Lawn of the Executive Mansion while the Commander-in-Chief of the mightiest military on Earth revealed that he had decided that it was imperative that he beg unnecessary leave of the Peoples' Representatives before unleashing those prodigious forces to inflict limited harm on a great foe of the peace-loving societies of the world.

If you believe that, then I ask you to pause later when I will take the time to disclose to you how it was that a young girl from Kansas and her little dog met some wonderful little people and other marvelous characters with the aid of a very helpful wind.

The chroniclers go on to lead us to accept that, following their melodramatic trek through the grass, those powerful figures summoned their minions to share:

...the new plan....the right thing to do...and would make the U.S. stronger.  Aides went to work immediately, with some drafting an authorization that Congress could take up and others hashing out the timeline.

However, this "new plan" was not met with universal acceptance:

But the next morning, there was pushback from some on the president's team....When Obama said he wanted to ask Congress for a vote, some of his advisers dissented. Officials wouldn't say which participants argued against Obama's proposal.

Would to have been a fly on the wall during that:

...two-hour debate, [when] Obama's team [finally] agreed to support [the] decision....[and when]....Obama went upstairs...[to call] leaders of the House and Senate to inform them of his about-face.

One can have little doubt that this stunning about-face was discussed by Messrs. Obama and McDonough, but that it unfolded as described is fanciful.

Mr. McDonough is extraordinarily close to Mr. Obama, perhaps too close.

Our friend, Sundance, at The Conservative Treehouse believes that Mr. McDonough acted on behalf of Mr. Obama during two of the most crucial hours of combat in Benghazi a year ago and may well have been the person to have issued a "stand-down" order (if such an order was, in fact, ever issued---something that is not at all clear.)

In that same piece, Sundance makes a compelling case that Mr. McDonough was the culprit who likely also set loose that evening the "Mohammed Film Squirrel" that was subsequently and repeatedly pointed to by White House and Administration factions and that was endlessly chased by the clueless MSM.

Be that as it may, it is not a stretch to imagine that it was the very cautious Mr. McDonough who convinced the very malleable and indecisive Mr. Obama that this about-face should be made for political and practical reasons and that it was Mr. McDonough who concocted the far-fetched anecdote of the "Walk on the Lawn" to make the conversion plausible to low-information voters.

And that conversion had to be made plausible because, as it was told, it is inexplicable, or as Michael Ledeen indelicately put it, "What The Hell Is Going On?"  Read that whole piece if you wish to try to understand what might have happened.  Mr. Ledeen says:

...President Obama-in the face of most all the advice from his "national security team" (...[as one] broadcaster call[ed] it "the war cabinet")- changed his mind.  Suddenly.  Unexpectedly.  Surprisingly.  How?  Why?  Th[at] story...has been carefully fed to the scribblers....written and rewritten many times.  But it doesn't make sense, unless you believe in sudden epiphanies, or bolts from the blue, or ongoing revelation, and there's no evidence that the president believes such things.

Irrespective of whose idea it initially was to make that about-face, and irrespective of the reason behind that about-face, it is impossible to believe that it was first revealed to Mr. McDonough on the lawn that hot and steamy afternoon.

And it is impossible to believe that this about-face is little more than continued shoveling in a hole that should not have been dug, and it is an unlikely way out of that hole.

But there will be plenty of time for golf before the dithering current Oval Office incumbent has to order the firing of the Tomahawks or to forever put off the giving of that order.

Now, let me tell you about Dorothy's visit to the Kingdom of Oz....