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They say that this is the season to be jolly. But its tough, when my two biggest role models have just let me down.

It seems that President Obama is dithering on Afghanistan, and Tiger appears to have been diddling cocktail waitresses on both coasts.

As to Afghanistan, General McChrystal says we cant leave till we have trained up a 400,000 man Afghan army.

But my experience in that part of the world is that there are three operative answers to any such problem, including finding 400,000 new troops.

The first answer is Whats the big deal? It really doesnt matter that much. The second answer is So whats the rush? Tomorrow, or the day after, for that matter, will be fine. And the final answer, the one size fits all solution, when whatever was supposed to happen, doesnt, is Its Gods will. Which effectively ends any argument.

Given that mindset, it sure doesnt look too promising for bringing on board the 400,000 Afghan troops McChrystal says he needs before we can get out of that quagmire a year and a half from now.

But back to Tiger. It has just been reported that Phil Mickelson asked Elin for some tips on how to beat Tiger. And in the same vein, when Elin was asked how many times she had hit him, she is alleged to have said, I dont know exactly. But put me down for a five. And lastly, I guess Tiger couldnt decide between a wood and an iron, since he hit both a fireplug and a tree.

And just to prove that the world is really going to Hell in a handbasket, my old boss Alan Mulalley, who is now running Ford, had his boys send me a letter cautioning me not to park my Explorer near anything combustible, as the truck was likely to catch fire, and burn to the ground, at any moment.

Anyway, on that cheery note, its Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Night.