Monday, March 27, 2006

another poem

My father worte this one in response to mine. I've got to get back to reviewing restaurants. But in the meantime...

BUSH’S WAR

Here are some reasons why liberals resent
George W. Bush, our President.

In 2000 he stole the election from Gore.
Then he used “fear” to win in 2004.

When he came into office, it now seems quite plain
He had already planned to get rid of Hussein.

He gave George Tenet of the CIA this instruction,
“find evidence that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction!”

Bush, Rumsfeld and Cheney concocted the evidence
To justify war in the name of national defence.

The intelligence was false, it could make your blood boil.
We invaded Iraq because we needed their oil.

Over one trillion dollars is the estimated cost,
And saddest of all, the war’s probably lost.

The war was all wrong and the entire world knew it,
But who can blame Bush when God told him to do it.

Now thousands have died and more die every day.
The insurgents plant bombs while the mullahs all pray.

The Shiites and Sunnis try to work out a plan,
But the Shiiite majority gets support from Iran.

The insurgents grow stronger, sworn to kill the invaders,
This is their holy Jihad and we’re the “crusaders”.

Before we invaded, Iraq was a secular society.
Now fanatics kill each other in the name of religious piety.

Once a beautiful country, a proud modern nation
Now lies in turmoil and horrible devestation.

Granted their leader was an inhuman despot,
But now death and destruction is all that they’ve got.

Freedom, democracy and liberty are to them only words.
They mean very little to Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.

We should quickly withdraw and start making amends.
You can’t invade a country and expect to make friends.

Harold L. Saferstein

Monday, March 20, 2006

INCOMPETENT

INCOMPETENT

I must admit, I got a really bad feeling
When I heard that George Bush, was coming to Wheeling
The speech sounds familiar, it's one I really don't care for
The battle for freedom, and the endless war on terror

We must fight them there, so we don't fight them here
The same exaggerated notions of terror and fear
Common sense, it's something that they lack
When developing a coherent policy, to deal with Iraq

Perhaps it was the cherry-picked evidence
Concocted by the CIA and Department of Defense
Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Perle et al
How tragically ironic that our Secretary of State would take the fall

So let it be stipulated
That Colin Powell was manipulated
The only voice of reason and moderation
In a neo-con chicken-hawk right wing administration

Bush must be admonished
For the lie of Mission Accomplished
But how can he really listen
When he's surrounded only by yes-men

I'd recommend and even beseech
That we commence with proceedings designed to impeach
But if we get rid of W, because he makes us sick
The successor is Cheney, his first name is Dick

If you want something embarrassing to hear
How about a President who still can't pronounce "nuclear"
The good ol boy comes to West Virginia, now solidly red in the nation
A fitting tribute, since we rank last in overall education

Every time he speaks, you really get a sense
Of someone who hasn't got a clue, pure incompetence
It's starting to seem, this country wouldn't mind
If our President approaching 60, was the child left behind

I don't want to sound all cynical and negative
He claims to be a compassionate conservative
And there are times when he demonstrates vision and sight
But it only occurs when he pursues the agenda of the wacko religious right

With the continued erosion of our civil liberties
All under the guise of homeland securities
It's no wonder this country is divided and despondent
Our commander in chief is entirely, totally and completely INCOMPETENT

Friday, March 10, 2006

Turning the corner...

In the past, I have repeatedly blogged my experiences at the Met Grill. They've ranged from highly favorable to disturbingly atrocious. I think it's safe to say that this establishment has finally turned the corner. Note - the food has always been fantastic. It was always the service that was confusing and troublesome. Maybe I only have myself to blame. I've always had a strict policy of waiting at least 2 months before trying out a new restaurant. This way, they have sufficient time to work out the "kinks." I think a major problem might have been the high turnover rate with the wait staff. Let's face it - you can't have great service if the staff is quitting or getting fired on a continual basis. It seems there are always new faces in there. In a way, I truly sympathize with restaurant/bar owner/operators. Everyone is constantly trying to rob you in one way or another. People are always calling off at the last minute. And the worst part - there's always some dickhead like myself who doesn't have anything better to do with his life than bitch about his small town dining experiences. Plus, it's just a really tough business to begin with. Factor in the anti-business climate in Wheeling and it makes for additional grief. The servers have it rough too - remember, this is Wheeling. This is a town where an old lady can tip 1 dollar per person, regardless of the size of the bill. It is commonly understood, that if you reside in Wheeling and you're a social security recipient, you only have to tip one dollar per person. The bill can come to $70.00 for 4 people and guess what, the tip only has to be 4 bucks. I imagine this could result in a "serving backlash." Just something to consider.
The last few times I've eaten at the Met Grill, the service and food were really high end, particularly the salads. Let's stop demonizing this fine establishment. One last objection though - the overzealousness of promoting a Martini Bar in Wheeltown. Do we really want our friends, family members and co-workers gathering on Chapline Street to sip a variety of martini concoctions when the sun is setting? I'd have to offer up a resounding NO. What is it with this new craze of martinis - caramel apple, lemon zest citrus, olive infused, cool blue raspberry, and so on. We live in Wheeling, not San Francisco. We must accept this reality and acknowledge our dependence on MBL, IC Light and cheap vodka. For those of you who've been living in the closet. It's time to come out - MBL stands for Milwaukee Best Light.