The Brett Favre of Government

As a Minnesota Vikings fan, I can't help but follow the latest twists and turns in the annual will-he-or-won't-he-come-back story of Brett Favre. (As I write this, he's allegedly on a plane to rejoin his teammates.)

As I've been tracking the latest updates, it occurred to me: government has its own Brett Favre these days: Defense Secretary Robert Gates. First he says he can't envision joining the Obama administration. Then he says he will. Then he says he's going to retire next year. Then his spokesman says maybe not -- using Gates' previous equivocations as evidence that he may stick around. ("I would remind you all that every time Secretary Gates has seriously considered hanging it up for good, he ultimately has decided to keep serving.") And as is the case with Favre, his employer is more than willing to let him take his time, because he's a proven top performer.

I suppose this is all part of a strategy to introduce some uncertainty into the situation surrounding Gates' dramatic proposal to slash overhead spending at the Pentagon -- in other words, to let folks know a wait-him-out strategy might not work.