By now, the Michael Jordan discussion has reached the level of "Oh, God, won't you all just shut the hell up?"

He's still Michael. No, wait, he's not the Michael of old. But he has special powers. But the Wizards have special power repellents. He is a national icon. But so is Carrot Top.

	Michael Jordan was all smiles during his days with the Bulls.

It's nearly enough to make hockey the sport of the next decade.

But this long ago stopped being about basketball and legacies and the ravages of aging through cigars. This, rather, is about that most Chicago of traits -- clout.

Jordan is coming back for no better reason than the fact that he can. Oh, the money is nice and all that, and Lord knows the ego stroke of holding an entire league's marketing in your hand can intoxicate.

But mostly, this is about the million-pound elephant grazing where he likes, because he can. This is the ultimate father saying, "Because I said so."

Now that's clout.

Tiger Woods is the only other sports figure who can bring an entire sport to heel on his whim, and even he is still learning from the master. Barry Bonds doesn't have this kind of heat. Nobody in football comes even remotely close, not even Paul Tagliabue. Not even the best international soccer players have this kind of heat.

But while the debate about the wisdom of Jordan's decision rages on (Can he dominate the league's young guns? Can he still lead the league in whatever he wants? Can he really raise the dead to 40 wins?), we need to take a moment just to marvel at the sheer magnitude of his power.

Jordan is above the debates. Jordan is even above the results. He cannot be embarrassed, no matter how much he doesn't do. He spoke, and a line immediately formed to lick the soles of his shoes clean, just in case he might someday be in need of such a service.

Everyone else in the world has to build coalitions just to get through the day. From George W. Bush on down to your next-door neighbor, life is full of accommodations that must be made to achieve a desired goal.

Michael Jordan, on the other hand, needed only to arch an eyebrow, like Zeus considering the infinity of pi, or your uncle Ed considering the infinity of pie, and all things became possible.

All things, in this case, becoming the most important member of the Washington Wizards roster. Frankly, we should all be grateful that Jordan's vision of bliss isn't more encompassing than that.

Clout, you see, is a lot harder to come by than you think. The most powerful figures in sports have to deal with agents. The most powerful agents in sports have to deal with owners. Players deal with coaches, and vice versa. The media help shovel the coal, but need the stove.

It's all a grand, screwy interlocking cooperative, fueled by equal parts trust and loathing, and despite all the available evidence, it actually works to everyone's benefit.

But Emperor Mike works above it all, and as much as some folks might resent it, or just fear that he will smear mud on his statue, you have to admire the sheer wingspan of it all.

This is not news, of course, but as sports has become a bigger business and a greater cultural phenomenon, we have come to meet more people with power -- some people even think that radio chat show hosts have power, which of course leads us all a half-step closer to Hell, but that's another story for another time.

But Michael Jordan is something other than else in this discussion, and before we start to lose him in his new incarnation as the beard for the Wizards, we should acknowledge yet again the marvel of his omnipotence.

And when it all ends badly, as it surely must for anyone whose reach exceeds his grasp in this business, it still won't matter. He's Michael Jordan, and he has the power to, well, the power to be Michael Jordan.

Or more specifically, to make other people of power respond to him as though he might be Michael Jordan forever.

Now that's clout on clout -- the eighth wonder of the world, post-modern division.

Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Chronicle is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.