Looping the Hen

So...

A former governor, a Saudi prince and a country music star walk into a bar...

No, actually, not much of a joke. I was privileged to attend a function this past Tuesday for Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal, ambassador to the United States. It was put on by the Strategic Alliance, a Texas-based PR firm headed by Meredith Iler, a prominent Republican. They appear to be trying to reduce the generally negative view of Saudi Arabia after the 9/11 attacks.

There were about 70 to 80 prominent members of Nashville society there (mostly Republican from what I could tell), from bank presidents to Fortune 500 board members. The food was superb and prepared by a local restaurant owner. I'm usually not much for fancy-schmancy hordeurves and such, but they were exceptional. (Although the sweet white wine I was enjoying may have contributed to my positive overall experience!)

Best anecdote: My lovely girlfriend came over and said 'I was over there and saw this woman with Crystal Gayle hair...and then she turned around and I saw her name tag. It was Crystal Gayle.' I had seen Ms. Gayle earlier in the evening but I wasn't sure it was her, as she was shorter than I would have guessed!

Other than the fact that I would have liked to argue with the ambassador, it was an enjoyable event. At one point he insisted that all Israel had to do to gain peace in the Middle East is to give up half of Jerusalem to the Palestinians. We've seen how well giving up land to terrorists has worked so far (Read: not at all, unless you count letting people shoot rockets at you from closer as a win)