Those Once-precious Sheets of Parchment
The nefarious Bush Cartel is doggedly working to render quaint the notion that those sheets of parchment we once held sacred, the Constitution of the United States, mean anything today.

Alex and Art, both with close ties to Mexico, asked us all if we had ever visited the pyramids where the Aztecs used to cut out the still-beating hearts of their sacrificial victims. Yes, most of us had traveled at one time or another to visit those pyramids. Next, they asked, had we noticed the myriad carvings of forked-tongued snakes? Of course we had, since they are carved everywhere. Well, they said, guess who is the direct descendant, with undiluted Aztec blood, of those savage, blood-thirsty brutes? Art, who is from Mexico, said you have only to look at Alberto Gonzáles to know that he is pure, undiluted savage Aztec, not American as we think of Americans.

So, Art emphasized, it makes sense that he should hold the U.S. Constitution in such contempt, and, brown nose firmly implanted in the Bush nether parts, voraciously imparts his devious ways to the ever-willing George W. Bush, the president imposed upon the country by a corrupt Supreme Court. Gonzáles, his heart and soul firmly planted on the summit of the pyramids, has done an excellent job of teaching Bush that the U.S. Constitution does not mean anything today; it's just a quaint collection of sheets of parchment.
Schuyler, while glued to this conversation, was in the background making cocktails for us. Tonight he prepared Sauza Cosmopolitans which he made with Sauza gold tequila and Cointreau.

Elizabeth, Schuyler's wife, told the gang, gathered around the fireplace, that Bush's contempt for the law and Congress is what has directed him in his illegal eavesdropping on the telephone communications of United States citizens. Daily, he rails about his right to do so. Beatrix, Jeremy, Max and Charlotte, monarchists, said that they hated comparisons of Bush to kings. Kings, they said, don't disregard their countries' constitutions; rather, they told us all, third-rate slimy dictators do that. Sleazy dictators are the ones who disregard a country's constitution.

Have You Brushed Up On Your Azshurbanipalese? (Or Your Mexica?)
Judy told us that she thought the Aztec Toad Gonzáles was too Aztec to hold any reverence for our Founding Fathers and their vision, their Constitution. However, she said, he has, somehow, managed to master the art of twisting the English language to suit his dominatrix, the girlie president whose daddy paid to keep him out of the war in Vietnam. Judy also told us that some brave students at Georgetown University had turned their backs on the Aztec toad when he gave a speech there on January 24th, upholding Bush's right to spy on U.S. citizens without court warrants. And this, Judy told us, is where the toad's double and triple-speak, forked-tongue logic needed a superbly well-trained interpreter, because it was impossible to understand the logic in either his speech or his footnotes to a 42-page long memo defending Bush's domestic spying program.

Bush's Hissy Fit
Bush has repeatedly stomped his feet, right and left, accusing Congress of holding up the renewal of the infamous Patriot Act, saying that not renewing it impeded his ability to protect the country. Then, there goes the guy who was spawned by illegal immigrants, saying that Bush really doesn't need the Patriot Act to do whatever it is that he wants to do. Azshurbanipalese? The toad's language, whose reading of the Patriot Act renders it irrelevant to the tactics used to investigate Al Qaeda.

Judy told us that Bruce Fein, a former Justice Department attorney under the Reagan administration said that "Under the position they (the toad and Bush) are staking out in the footnotes (to Gonzáles' 42-page memo) and throughout the memo, the debate over the Patriot Act is superfluous. The president is flailing Congress for refusing to act on a matter that he says is irrelevant to the war anyway, because he can do all of these things under the authorization to use military force.

Dennis Hutchinson, a University of Chicago law professor Judy told us, said that "in trying to show that Congress gave Bush unlimited powers to investigate possible Al Qaeda plots, the administration has contradicted its arguments that it is necessary for Congress to reauthorize the Patriot Act in order to protect the nation from terror threats. It muddles the waters." Muddles the waters? That's Gonzáles' legerdemain.

Bob, Judy's husband, said that the entire "logic" this administration was using under the guidance of Gonzáles was intentionally labyrinthine just to obfuscate as much as possible the issue of whether or not Bush was acting within the law or not, and knowing that his direction comes from Gonzáles, who doesn't give a rat's posterior for United States traditions and ethics, we could just assume that Bush's acts, especially his spying on U.S. citizens, is, indeed, illegal. Now, Bob and Judy said, open the floodgates, have an investigation, an impeachment, and soon, regime change!

So, Are You Willing To Give Up Your Right To Privacy In Your Conversations?
Obliquely, but his does apply to those of us who don't speak out now:

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Pastor Martin Niemoller

The Teenagers Ring the Dinner Gong
After the talk we had about this sinister government, we were looking forward to a change of pace and mood. The teenagers took their places at the dining table, and we headed for ours in the large dining room.
Charlotte had prepared some truly exquisite Vol-au-vents filled with her homemade chicken liver pâté. Nothing culinary seems to daunt her, and as the beneficiaries of her skills, we think we're very lucky. Together with Max, this pair really prepares us excellent dinners. For the Vol-au-vents, she served us a delicious Pinot Gris from Oregon, a 2000 King Estate which was full to the brim with wonderful fruit flavors.

The next dish Charlotte and Max served us was a very simple Clam Broth garnished with scallions and paired with a California sparkling wine, Gloria Ferrer's 1994 Royal Cuvée, which is a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. It was a complex, rich, fruity sparkling wine that we thoroughly enjoyed with the Clam Broth.

Max surprised us tonight. Instead of a hot fish course, he prepared a perfect Lobster and Arugula Salad with Lime-Tarragon dressing that he paired with a very lightly oaked Chardonnay, the very affordable 2000 Meridian Santa Barbara from California. The presentation was masterful, and Max told us that his new Oxo Good Grips mandoline, rated among the best in the world, had made the job of perfectly slicing the super thin vegetables he had in our salad a breeze, which is always music to our busy ears.

Charlotte and Max together prepared our Lamb Schnitzel, which they served with baked mushrooms and artichoke hearts. Thinking of New Zealand lamb, they paired the Lamb Schnitzel with Sileni Estates' Pinot Noir.

Charlotte, whose next course was one of her classic dishes, Strawberry Mousse, laughed when she said that tonight had been their "Oxo" night, since both she and Max had used two indispensable products from Oxo, the mandoline and the nonslip mixing bowls, that Charlotte used for making the mousse.

Winding Down
Oh boy, what a night. When we lock our doors at night we expect that our privacy will be respected. When we talk to our neighbors on the phone, we expect that our conversations will be private, but that paragon of privilege and deceit, George W. Bush, doesn't see it our way.

As we sipped our after-dinner coffee back in the great room with the teenagers, we wished that our country were not in the hands of a government that is just moments away from being truly fascist, and we wished, fervently, that our attorney general were a true United States citizen, not the spawn of parents who surreptitiously and illegally made their way into this country, with no grasp of the ideals this country was founded upon.

Summary:
Special vocabulary is necessary to decipher Alberto Gonzáles' and George Bush's miasmic and convoluted defense of their illegal strategy to continue spying on citizens of the United States. Nothing that they have twistedly said so far makes any sense, and only a Congressional inquiry into Bush's illegal activities will clear up the matter. Further, the attorney general of the United States should have an absolute connection to the hopes, desires and vision of our Founding Fathers, not to the Aztec kings who daily practiced human sacrifice.