On Sunday American forces stormed a compound in Afghanistan and killed Osama Bin Laden. Barack Obama gave a comedy speech at the White House Correspondents' on Saturday night. Which is to say, he knew. He had to do a comedy routine having given the order for the world's most notorious terrorist to be killed the following day in a risky, complicated operation, the outcome of which would have a great effect both on world politics and his personal legacy.
That to me seems hard. If I fear I've offended someone in an email, I lie down for an hour. I don't think I could have done the comedy speech.
The President has an obligation to oversee weighty decisions, but he also has no end of commitments to trivial fluff. Maybe it is that part of the job -- putting on a placid, confident face -- not the actual decision-making that is hardest. Or at least hardest to fathom.
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