Nasty British Press = Bye Bush, Hi Impeachment
Schuyler was, well, full of mirth and devilment, so he hardly had to strain to shake our cocktails tonight. Because he and Elizabeth had bought several bottles of wonderful Tequila Corazón, he made Chimayo Cocktails for us. What had him in stitches was an account by Beatrix and Jeremy of how virulent the British press is, and how unfettered they are by the ethical standards of most of the U.S. press. Also, they told Schuyler, the U.S. Congress is a tame pussy cat in comparison to the no-holds-barred way in which the British Parliament treats its politicians, and especially in how they hold their Prime Minister to account. In any case, Beatrix and Jeremy impressed on Schuyler that the unholy alliance of the vitriolic British press and the unrelentingly unforgiving British Parliament, Tony Blair is, in the coming days, about to have just a bit more of his anatomy than the soles of his feet put to the fire. So, Crawford Kid, guess who's next?

Catherine Green: Why Tony Blair must be forced to face a public inquiry into the Iraq War.
This headline appeared in The Independent, a UK newspaper, and contained the story of the sister of a British pilot, Philip, who is a victim of the Iraq war. The article, published on November 24, went on to explain that Ms. Green agreed with the High Court's decision pressing for an independent investigation into the conflict, and, Crawford Fans: Bush is behind anything ugly Blair's had to do, and that's an awful lot of poop that's going to hit the transatlantic fan. Blair is known to be a decent guy, but unfortunately he let himself get ensnared by Bush into doing all sorts of things decent people just don't do.

The British press, Beatrix and Jeremy told us, is as relentless in their pursuit of scandal as the press anywhere can be. Also, the British Parliament pays no deference to the Prime Minister, rather, he is held to pretty high standards and has to answer for his actions, something we in the United States don't require of our politicians, but the effect will be the same, nevertheless because, as they say: "the truth will out."

Every word dragged out of Tony Blair in the next few weeks is going to reek to hell of George Bush, so, Merry Christmas everybody: the Brits are going to do us a favor and bring all the Bush mud out in the open.

Alex and Jane, Curious About That Mud
Mud, crud, manure, Alex and Jane said, they wanted particulars about what we were saying would be coming out soon. Max and Barry lost no time in giving Alex and Jane a short accounting of some of the subjects Blair was going to have to talk about that would expose the worst of the Bush administration, or, as Mark Twain would have called it: ass-minstration.

For starters, Blair of course is privy to the infamous Downing Street Memos, in which it's exposed that Bush was planning to invade Iraq long before 9/11. Blair was at a meeting at which minutes were carefully taken in which Bush advises Blair that he intends to plot the bombing of al-Jazeera in Qatar. Blair will be forced to disclose everything he knows about Bush and his pet projects, rendition and torture, and he will also have to explain Bush's inability or unwillingness to rein-in his President of Vice and his unrelenting insistence on being allowed to continue to practice torture. Also, it has been recently disclosed that the United Kingdom has recently broken with the U.S. over John Bolton, the "revolten" U.S. ambassador to the UN because Bolton/Revolten was insisting that Britain side with him over not passing the United Nations' 2006 budget.

Blair is still fuming at Bush's attack on Fallujah, and will have to explain to the world why, how and by what rationale Bush insisted on using illegal weapons such as white phosphorous, napalm and depleted uranium on the Iraqi populace.

Blair's Approval Rate in Great Britain Down to 30%
Whoa there boy! Was that George I heard slithering down the barbed wire banister at the White House, asked gleeful Bob? Blair, way too kind to Bush but still not a total fool, will try to defend his position before Parliament, and in any event, he will have to be truthful as the British government and the British press get to the bottom of these matters, and friend of Georgie Porgie's or not, all the scum is going to surface, making the case for impeachment on this side of the pond pretty much inevitable. And Lady Macbush's rotten little boy thought his reign was good for another three years! Ha.

Bob said he thought everything that Blair is going to have to bring out into the open will also lay the foundations for the International Criminal Court's case against Bush, Cheney, Rice Rumsfeld and Co. Well, that's what that unholy cabal gets for not being in the least bit ethical. Trouble is, of course, everything Tony Blair will have to bring out into the open will also get Al Qaeda's hackles up, and you know what that means.

Dinner Gong, Bliss At the Table
The way the teenagers ran to their places at the dining table in the great room, you'd think we hadn't fed them in weeks. (Sorry, that's not fair; some of us didn't waste much time finding a place at the table in the dining room either.)

Barry and Kim marinated some wonderful prawns in Corazón tequila and Domecq Fino sherry, then quickly cooked them in the red-hot wok. They served them over lettuce leaves, and though not really a "tapa" they still suggested that we enjoy them with the Domecq bone dry, slightly chilled La Ina sherry we've grown to love.

Do you love good French Onion Soup with Gruyère Cheese Croutons as much as we do? Hopefully you do. Up here, when the weather changes and we begin to face night after night of chilly weather, we turn to it for warmth and comfort. Barry and Kim happened to find a whole bunch of really nice little soup bowls with lids and then tracked down the manufacturer who fortunately was still in business, and voilà, we got a set for 50! The lids keep the soup piping hot and for the adults, ready for Barry and Kim's perfect wine pairing, a Henschke Riesling Eden Valley Julius 2002 from Australia. This dry Riesling with spicy pear and mineral flavors is always ideal with the onion soup. If you want, you can be more French, more "bistro" and have the soup with a fruity Beaujolais.

Max stepped in now, as the "grill master" to present us with another marvel of his grilling, a Spanish dish we love for him to make, Grilled Vegetable Escalivada served with Grilled Ahi. Briefly, the Escalivada is made up of eggplants, red onions, tomatoes and bell peppers. For garnish, Max uses finely chopped scallions. For this wonderful dish, Max and Charlotte chose a Bodegas Fuentespina Ribera del Duero 2001 Tempranillo. This is a fresh red wine with black cherry and plum flavors.

Max's input was invaluable when we were planning the "grilling stations." He thought we'd be best served by several Viking outdoor grills, and we have several on the porch for when the weather is good, and some more in the pool house that we use when the weather is really bad. Because Max doesn't seem to mind too much making the mad dash from the pool house grills to the house, we think we made a wise choice. Several of the grills were necessary because Max grills a lot and we almost always have the usual 50 or so people to feed.

Although Charlotte could easily be a professional pastry chef, she always cedes the right to make flan to Carmen. I don't know if you make flan very often, but can you imagine how difficult it is to turn out enough perfect flans for almost 50 people? Well, Carmen has mastered the art and tonight our flan was paired with an especially good dessert wine, an Alvear Pedro Ximénez Montilla-Moriles Solera 1910 NV. This exquisite, and unfortunately, expensive dessert wine, was served in the new, smallish sherry glasses we recently bought. A dessert wine should always be at least as sweet as the dessert it is being paired with, and this wine certainly meets that requirement. It coats the glass, and has raisin and treacle flavors.

Pleasant Close to a Good Day
Max made us all some excellent espresso from his secret blend. We drank his superb coffee back in the great room, so we could spend time with the teenagers. On the way in, Liz gave us this short quote to think about, and probably meant little 'ol George to think about it also: "There will be no whitewash in the White House." Richard Milhous Nixon.

Horse blankets were on our minds tonight. We're expecting a cold night, and some of the older horses and those that don't grow a nice thick winter coat benefit from a nice blanket or at least a wind-breaking sheet. In other words, some of us still have chores to take care of. It's been a good, brisk weather day, kind of like the calm before the storm. Something's going to hit the fan across the pond, and Wacko Bush is almost kaput.

Summary:
Tony Blair, the British prime minister, is facing ferocious battles in Parliament to save both his good name and to save his office. Because most of his problems have been brought on because of his misplaced trust in George Bush, these battles are surely going to bring to light many facts Bush would much rather never saw the light of day; problem is, they're going to see the light of day in every feisty British newspaper, and thus, will become known across the globe. Taps for Bush, methinks.