Fraidy Cat
Over a month later and it's still engraved on our collective consciousness: George W. Bush was cowed into hiding by one single lone woman at the beginning of August. Right after pouring us all a glorious Daiquiri made with excellent rum, Liz's husband Bob told us he could not contemplate any president of the United States being such a sissy, such a fraidy cat. But then, by now we've all known for many years that his cojones have been missing since he was spawned by that woman who has only spawned dysfunctional children and grandchildren. Can you imagine a grown man being too scared of a mourning mother to walk down to the entrance to his ranch? Yep, a real girlie man, that one.

"Man gives every reason for his conduct save one, every excuse for his crimes save one, every plea for his safety save one; and that one is his cowardice."
-George Bernard Shaw

Liz's Quotes and Thoughts of Impeachment
Liz told us two quotes that explained why this sissy-man got us into his war of choice, into this insane invasion. She said that Cindy Sheehan was right, it was all based on lies, and Liz thought that the two quotes she gave us illustrated what a liar W is, comparing him to two famous liars. First, she quoted Dean Acheson talking about J. Edgar Hoover: "Trust him as much as you would trust a rattlesnake with a silencer on his rattle." Her second quote, from Harry Truman, really does apply to W just as it applied to Richard M. Nixon: "Richard Nixon is a no-good lying b…..d. He can lie out of both sides of his mouth at the same time and if he ever caught himself telling the truth he'd lie just to keep his hand in." Considering all the lies we've been told about Iraq, we all agreed that Mrs. Sheehan was right: It was all lies that got us into this quagmire and that got her son killed. All for lies. Elizabeth said that if there is any justice in the world, this will end with impeachment.

Change of Mood and in to Dinner
Yuk. Around here we really do not like rattlesnakes, so it was with great relief that we went inside, hoping to think of something more pleasant and waiting with great anticipation for dinner prepared by Kim, Barry, Bob and Judy.
No sooner had we sat down, than they gave each one of us a single, small, warm onion tart with beautifully browned little caps. For this little dish meant to pique our curiosity over what was coming next, they poured some dry Spanish sparkling wine. Next, we were served a wonderful Artichoke Cream Soup paired with an Austrian wine that was new to us, a 2004 Hirsch Veltliner #1. The next course was something that Max and Charlotte had heard about and tonight decided to try: Whole Red Snapper Baked in Coarse Salt. We were delighted with their use of us as guinea pigs, since this dish is truly amazing. From their wine cellar, they brought a dry, rich white wine, a Chassagne-Montrachet from Burgundy. Our next course was small medallions of Pork Loin with Leeks à la Maraîchère (new and fresh market vegetables.) This healthy dish was paired with a light, soft red from Burgundy, a Savigny-les-Beaune, from the region's northern section, Pernand. After dollops of papaya sorbet, we had small bowls of garlicky Caesar Salad that we didn't serve with any wine, only water. We ended the meal with a country-style Apricot and Berry Crumble and small glasses of light, sweet Spanish Sparkling wine.

No Cowards Here
We joined the kids in the great room, where we had our after-dinner coffee. We looked around, and saw a room full of brave, honorable kids and knew in our hearts they were braver than their so-called commander in chief. This filled us with pride and ended our day on a good note.