President Obama’s protracted consideration of a new Afghanistan strategy is a bit puzzling. Obviously, the decision on whether, and if so how, to fight overseas is a critical decision that you would expect would command the President’s careful attention. Nevertheless, it is odd that the President approved an Afghan strategy in March and now appears to be very publicly reconsidering that strategy. Candidly, I think Presidents are ill-served by public decision-making processes, which often make them look indecisive. A better approach is to consider the strategy privately and then, when the weighing and balancing has been completed, to announce the new approach.
I know that General McChrystal has been criticized for a speech he gave, in which he expressed his views on options that the President may be considering. I agree with the sentiment that the military should express its views through the chain of command — although American history is riddled with politically ambitious generals, from Jackson to McClellan to MacArthur. I think General McChrystal can be excused his misstep, however, in view of the very public nature of the strategizing, where other participants, like Vice President Biden, are openly trumpeting their proposed alternative approaches.
I certainly hope that President Obama is not seriously considering adopting a half-baked, politically motivated “Biden strategy” over a “McChrystal strategy.” In that regard, I agree with the conclusions articulated in this piece. I think Joe Biden is one of the most overrated, underachieving political figures of the past 30 years –a blabbermouth, a windbag, a narcissist, shallow and unprincipled. It is bad enough that President Obama selected Biden as his running mate; it would be an appalling indictment of the President’s judgment if he actually followed Biden’s advice.
The next morning we awoke early for one of the longest driving days of the trip. After bidding farewell to the very talkative bed and breakfast proprietor, we crossed the mighty Mississippi at Hannibal and rolled on to Tea, South Dakota. My plan was to get as far west as we could while trying a few odd stops along the way. I’d read about 
I’d read about the Steak House in Tea, South Dakota and felt we just had to try it. It also was well worth the visit. The Steak House is a no-frills place — the sign out front just says “Steak” — and you eat at simple tables, without having to endure the faux atmosphere found in so many lame chain restaurants. It is, simply, a place for people who want to eat a steak, and it filled the bill admirably. The place was packed, with waitresses weaving among the tables with heaving platters of steak and hash browns and plastic basets of onion rings. The steaks are massive, cooked to order, and so fresh you feel like the cattle were just butchered out back — which they probably were.
