Catholic or Calvinist, Europeans Put Bush-Cheney to Shame
Many years ago, the Belgians arrested and brought to trial 18 men connected to Al-Qaeda. Tonight, we don't wish to go into the labyrinthine details of these arrests and trials. Why? Because we have only one point to make tonight: the Europeans are finding, arresting, and bringing to trial terrorists legally, without the American perversion of torture. The Europeans don't need to resort to medieval or Nazi methods, as Bush and Cheney seem to. Of course, the Europeans don't have a horrendous, toad-like Azteco-american Attorney General frothing at the mouth, just dying to by proxy use his obsidian knife to cut out the still-beating hearts out of the "terrorists" who under the system designed by the Devil's spawn cannot have valid, in the open to the world trials in a humane, timely manner.

No, this deranged administration locks up everybody, asks no questions, and lets innocents rot in their prisons. Our Constitution? Meaningless to the Azteco-american toad and the Devil's spawn. The Europeans? They abide by the rule of law, and quietly, without saying a word, rub our collective noses in the dung excreted by Bush, Cheney, Gonzáles, Rumsfeld and that shining beacon of evil, La Rice.

The Europeans, Beacons of Light, Guarding the Rule of Law
Bush-Cheney & Co. have dragged us into their gutter-world of dung. If the world, collectively, is brave enough to fight the schoolyard bullies, it will one day bring them to justice the way they have other criminals who have committed atrocities against humanity. What they're doing to Pinochet, we really have to do to Bush, Cheney, Gonzáles, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Rove and Rice. That will probably be kinder to Bush-Cheney & Co. than what Al-Qaeda will ultimately do to them.

If the Europeans can forego torture, you'd think the United States could too, but apparently under the nastiest Azteco-american toad that ever lived, and his all too willing horrendously vicious pupils, torture reigns supreme, with the imprimatur of the woman you'd think would know better: Condi "Condosleazza" Rice, and probably also that of Karen Hughes. La Hughes, strutting around the world in her polyester suits from Wal-Mart, has to know that her pal and boss bows daily to the god of torture, and on the way, browns his nose up the nether parts of his superiors, the toad González, the smug swine Rumsfeld and the swastika-lipped Cheney. What he does with Rove, well, we'd probably not want to know.

Once Was
Until recently, the heads of the government of the United States abhorred torture, and would not condone it by its military nor would they have approved of it when used against soldiers from the United States. Now, all that has changed, and the United States is teaching the world how to torture, humiliate and denigrate human beings. Thankfully, people as noble as the Belgians, and other Europeans, are standing firm against that practice and yet they continue to quietly apprehend and bring to trial the terrorists they too are fighting. We, well, we won't be able to change course until we have regime change here, and get our own Saddam Hussein out of the White House, which today is the Manure House. God, can you imagine, if this Prez who loves torture as much as Cheney does, is born-again "christian" how much more dastardly he'd be without that moniker?

Complicit
The mousey librarian, who should act more as a "First Lady" than a backwoods, Crawford ranch subjugated, barefooted, downtrodden ranch-wife, ought to use her supposedly intelligent brain to object to what is going on. But don't hold your collective breaths guys and gals, this is the girl who allows grieving mothers to be thrown out of her "talks" because the women stand up and ask questions, and this is the woman who insisted on holding her little book fair after Sharon Olds, one of our most important poets, objected to being invited to talk alongside a woman who condoned, with her husband, an invasion of choice and the slaughter of tens of thousands of people.

Bush & Co., Antithesis of Civilized Europe
The Europeans, as they always do, are fighting terrorism without sinking to the level of those people they wish to apprehend. The U.S. has fallen so deep into the sleaze created by Bush & Co. that it will be generations before we can hold our head up with the same pride the Europeans do. All that talk about "freedom fries." We can only wish to be as sage and noble as the Europeans Bush and Co. derided. As it turns out, the German Chancellor and the President of France were right, and had good advice the cedar-chopper from Crawford should have listened to; but he didn't, and over 2000 of our youth are dead and over 10,000 are blinded, maimed, psychiatrically injured and in many instances, financially ruined and ruined, as war will do, in their marriages. So 'Sleazza got grilled by the European press on her Prez' adoration of torture; good for the Europeans. Snooty Condi didn't win any points, and certainly didn't win the "hearts and minds" of civilized Europe and Great Britain.

Grilling, Of a Different Kind
We're having a great dinner tonight, but prepared by quite a few couples in our gang so that no one person or couple had to do everything. A.J. doesn't cook very much, but tonight he prepared an amazing Bruschetta with Avocado, Scallions and Basil. We tried the Bruschetta with a highly recommended wine, an Allan Scott Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2005.

Our next course was a soup with a middle-eastern influence that Sagidah prepared. She prepared the Chickpea, Sausage and Spinach soup that we found different from some of the Garbanzo-based soups we've had that had a more Spanish flavor. We chose to pair the soup with a dry amontillado sherry, Lustau's lightly herbal Los Arcos. We're still happy to have found a new set of sherry glasses, enough for each one of us.

Barry helped Max grill tonight's fish, Grilled Red Snapper with Romesco Sauce. The red peppers, tomatoes and almonds gave the fish a delicious new dimension, and paired with one of Spain's more unusual wines, a Giacomo Vico Barbera D'Alba 2003, a spicy, fruity red wine. The fish was a resounding success.

We next had a small serving of coconut-mango sorbet to cleanse our palates and prepare us for the next delicious meal which Art and Terry prepared, a Pan Roasted Pork Tenderloin. Tonight they used some new skillets we bought, the 11 ½ inch formidable Viking skillets. On the plates, Art and Terry served us Chayote Squash Baked in Brown Sugar and the most tender of Haricots Verts. The perfect wine match for the tenderloin was a Forefathers Shiraz McLaren Vale 2003.

Charlotte and Marie Christine teamed up to prepare a dish for the angels; well, a dessert for us, wings or not: their very special Chocolate Mousse made with Grand Marnier, and served with, of course, Grand Marnier. Maybe it's the European influence in some of us, but we thought some of the older teenagers were getting the short end of the stick because of their having to forsake their little glasses of Grand Marnier to accompany their Chocolate Mousse ramekins.

Winding Down, Winding Down the Road
We had a glorious day, and Liz sent us home with these words of wisdom nobody in today's Poor White Trash House would understand, but maybe we can hold on to these words until we get rid of the Crawford Saddam Hussein:

"Human dignity is independent of national borders. We must always defend the interests of the poor and the persecuted in other countries."
-Kjell Magne Bondevikv

Summary:
Kudos to the Belgians and the Europeans who quietly, efficiently go about apprehending terrorists without the "need" of locking them up for years on the outside chance one or two of them might be guilty. The Europeans go about their fight against terrorism without becoming blood-thirsty, torturing barbarians, as the U.S. has done under Bush & Co.