Girlie Commandrix-in-Chief Don't Give Diddly Squat For Armed Forces
As if we were all illiterate idiots, George W. Bush likes to begin all his sentences by saying, "see." Well, see, this kid, who kicked and screamed until his rich daddy made sure he wouldn't see Vietnam, doesn't give a prickly pear from his ranch in Crawford for the men and women who are dying daily and getting maimed daily and falling into mental illness daily. Art was really upset tonight, and Schuyler couldn't serve our cocktails fast enough. Tonight, he made us Polish Martinis, with Zubrowka and Krupnik vodkas. Art, an army veteran, for the most part, gets very angry when he learns of the mistreatment, any kind of mistreatment, of the U.S. forces who are having to fight, die, and get maimed in George Bush's war of petulant, bitchy whim. Who can forget, Art has told us many times, his Joan Crawford imitation when he said he would invade Iraq at a time and place of his choosing?

Body Armor and Turista
Don't know 'bout you cowboy, but if I had a wrangler on my spread stupid enough and callous enough to say "you fight the war you have with the equipment you have" he wouldn't still be on the ranch. Bush, however, keeps strange bedfellows; very strange, sinister bedfellows, who, like him, don't give one cow patty about human life, U.S. or otherwise. If you've been sniffing those cow patties too long, and believe for one obscene instant that Bush and his bedfellows are "christians" you need to have a laxative and get rid of that excrementitious fog clouding your brain.

Art, wow! When he gets riled up, he really gets angry. What he told us, however, made all of us angry. Not only are our sons and daughters in Iraq, fighting a senseless invasion that Bush launched on a whim, but they are fighting without proper army, and probably will continue to fight without proper army until this Bush Quagmire ends. We thought that would be the end of Art's venting, but no, he had more bad news about the troops. It seems that Bush's obsessive love for all things Halliburton, has caused the troops to be bathing, drinking and swimming in polluted water, although he has learned of this from Halliburton whistleblowers.

William Granger, the official of Halliburton's KBR subsidiary in charge of water quality reported to his superiors that "We exposed a base camp population to water that was not treated. The level of contamination was roughly twice the normal contamination of untreated water from the Euphrates River. Ensuing? Diarrhea and stomach cramps. Ever been to a third world country without your Imodium?

A water expert from Cedar City, Utah, Ben Carter wrote about the water quality: "It is my opinion that the water source is without question contaminated with numerous micro-organisms including Coliform bacteria. There is little doubt that raw sewage is routinely dumped upstream of intake much less than the required 2 mile distance. Therefore, it is my conclusion that while chlorination of our water tanks, while certainly beneficial, is not sufficient protection from parasitic exposure."

So, Art said, the little commander-in-chief not only has sent U.S. troops off to fight his nasty little pique-of-fit invasion, but he has sent them off without adequate body armor and off to drink, bathe, brush their teeth and make their coffee with water that will give them turista, or worse. Compassionate conservatism? Born-again christian? Cow patties.

The Dinner Gong: A Respite
When the dinner gong is rung by one of the teenagers, it signifies that dinner is ready. It also allows us to change conversations, perhaps from something as dishonorable as the way George Bush treats the U.S. troops and the Iraqi civilians, to something more agreeable, like a wonderful dinner and great, vastly enjoyable wines.

Tonight, Max and Charlotte volunteered to prepare dinner, and approached several of the teenagers to help in serving and clearing the table. For pocket money, they are always even willing to help clean up and get things washed up after dinner.

Charlotte's first course, exquisite Egg Salad Crostini with White Anchovies, was a success with everybody. She paired the Crostini with a delicious, dry, fruity Chandon Blanc de Noirs sparkling wine.

Charlotte and Max thought that because of the damp chill in the air tonight we would all enjoy a hearty Onion Soup with Porcini Mushrooms and Gruyère Croutons, paired with a good dry, slightly chilled sherry from Lustau.

Charlotte prepared Whole Roasted Sea Bass, with potatoes and olives. She served this with a delicately flavored saffron rice and spinach in garlic butter, and paired the fish with a perfect, dry mineral-flavored Chenin Blanc from Chappellet Napa Valley. Max brought out some perfect mango granita to help us change course, from fish to meat.

Max, the perfect cook, along with his wife Charlotte, the perfect chef, always amaze us with the dinners. Tonight, Max served us Beef Brisket with Mustard, which he paired with an exquisite tannic, full-bodied Barbaresco from Prunotto in Italy. The grilled onions and fingerling potatoes were a perfect accompaniment to the brisket.

To end our meal, Charlotte made us some of her wonderful, cinnamony crème brulée, which tonight she made using her latest kitchen "must-have," a Chicago Metallic's crème brulée set available at cooking.com.

After-dinner Espresso with the Teenagers
We felt good after our dinner and felt even better that the teenagers were not yet old enough to have to feel that going to fight a megalomaniac president's invasion-of-choice was a requirement. To send our young to die because they don't have enough body armor, and to sicken them with turista, diarrhea and worse because the Bush administration is too incapable of even providing potable water makes letting our youth go, a definite no. If Bush can't even purify water, what can he do?

Because of the damp chill, everybody bundled up and left for their own farms and ranches, with the teenagers ready to go and blanket their horses.

Summary:
Bush can't even purify water for U.S. troops in Iraq. The question begs, what can he do? Without providing U.S. troops adequate, life-saving body armor, is it necessary to subject them to the diarrhea and other intestinal diseases also? Has this administration done anything for U.S. troops other than making them sitting ducks for insurgents to slaughter?