Bush Legacy Tour

PHILADELPHIA, PA-“Ladies and gentleman, to the left you see the Liberty Bell, the symbol of freedom that summoned the citizens of Philadelphia for the reading of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. To the right you see the National Constitution Center that is the only museum devoted to the U.S. Constitution. Straight ahead you can see The Bush Legacy Bus, the Museum dedicated to showcasing the failures of eight years of neo-conservative policies.” 

It would be a dream come true to hear one of the many Philly tour guides dressed in a tri-corn hat, point out the museum about Bush’s failures on their daily tours. If only the Bush Legacy Bus could become a permanent part of the Independence Mall landscape in Philadelphia. It would be the perfect place for a permanent Bush Legacy Museum where so much of our nation’s history-good and bad-is represented. Even if that may never happen, on Thursday for several hours, we became part of  Independence Mall and part of the story told about our nation’s history on these five square blocks. 

We couldn’t have had a better location than in front of the Constitution Center and a hundred yard from the Liberty Bell. Our event kicked off with a press conference in front of the bus. We had a couple great local speakers. Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO President Patrick Eiding is a tireless advocate for working people in Philadelphia. He spoke about the difficult time workers both union and non-union have had over the last eight years. The healthcare crisis, the decline of real wages, the economy in shambles and the complicity of this administration were all addressed in President Eiding’s rousing speech.

Kathy Black is an organizer that works with a number of different labor, women’s and anti-war organizations. She spoke Thursday on behalf of U.S. Labor Against the War.  She spoke about the immediate need to responsibly end the war in Iraq. As no-bid oil contracts are doled out left and right to Bush’s cronies, she pointed out that this should come as no surprise that the original reasoning for going to war had everything to with oil. She also addressed the desperate need to support Iraqi workers that are attempting to organize unions and exert some control over their wages, safety, and treatment on the job. The need to organize is even greater in a country with a government that cannot provide basic security for many of its citizens let alone a democratic structure to protect workers from employer’s abuses

Also addressed at the press conference was the record of local Congressman Jim Gerlach. Gerlach is on the wrong side of many important issues. He has voted for permanent tax cuts for the wealthy. He repeatedly voted against bringing the troops home from Iraq. Congressman Gerlach showed his lack of support for working people and voted against The Employee Free Choice Act which gives workers the right to form a union on the job. He even voted for the GOP Medicare Prescription Drug Plan which would give billions to the insurance and pharmaceutical industries while pushing even higher premiums on our nation’s seniors. 

The Philadelphia event crowd was a great mix of tourists wandering around Independence Mall, AFL-CIO and SEIU members, and people on their lunch breaks. 

The bus pulled into Baltimore this afternoon - check out this video footage from the press conference outside the bus just a few minutes ago!

Trenton, NJ-For those who have visited or passed through Trenton, NJ the phrase "Trenton Makes: The World Takes" usually never leaves the recesses of their memory.  It is in huge bold letters going across the Lower Free Bridge also known as the Trenton Makes Bridge. The sign was put up in the 1910 when Trenton was a huge center for manufacturing. Now most people simply view the sign as ironic with the decline of manufacturing having markedly changed the economy of Trenton to be mostly centered around government, tech, pharma and the service sector.  There is still a manufacturing base in Trenton but nothing compared to it’s hey day. From 2001-2008 New Jersey lost over 109,000 manufacturing jobs, many of them in Trenton.i 

We pulled into Trenton Wednesday afternoon and parked in front of the State Capitol. New Jersey Citizen Action planned the event and we were met by one of their talented organizers, Ladonna Blount. She put together an amazing event. We decided to hold the press conference inside the bus given the heat. The bus was full of a couple news crews and people looking to catch a glimpse of the bus. The Reverend Robert Moore from The Coalition For Peace Action spoke about the need to end the Iraq War and bring home our young men and women. He also spoke about the role the religious community can and should have in speaking out against injustice.  Ladonna Blount spoke about the many ways that conservative governance has failed us and why we need change. On our way out to Pennsylvania we passed the famous bridge and took a bit of Jersey pride with us, long after we crossed the Delaware.

NEWARK, NJ- "Now Main Street's whitewashed windows and vacant stores
Seems like there ain't nobody wants to come down here no more
They're closing down the textile mill across the railroad tracks
Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they ain't coming back to your
hometown."                                                           

Bruce Springstein "My Hometown" 

It would be just, plain, wrong to talk about our stops in New Jersey without leading in with some of the Boss's best lyrics. I can't think of many people that can sum up the everyday hardships, joys, and fears of working Americans better than the Boss. He can take the most serious, depressing, subject matter and make it into something beautiful, simple and unpretentious. I had the good fortune of meeting a creative person with a similar talent at our Newark, NJ stop this morning. Andrew Lichtenstein is a photographer who came out to take photos of the bus. He recently completed a book called Never Coming Home which is a compilation of photographs of the funerals of American soldiers killed in the Iraq war.

The project started with one funeral. With the permission of the family, Andrew photographed the funeral of a young soldier from Long Island, NY. Andrew was so struck by the funeral and by the idea that no one should die for this unnecessary war that he decided to travel the country photographing the funerals of the young men and women that have given their lives for their country. He visited 60 funerals. The families granted their permission and many of them shared their son's and daughter's stories with him. Some of the families were now strongly against the war in Iraq and some of them maintained that the war was necessary. Andrew made a point to not share his personal feelings about the war with the families he spoke to. 

"A lot of military families are very patriotic. Who am I to say that the justification for their son's death is meaningless? In fact, the families have taught me a lot." 

One particularly haunting story was that of an 18 year old from Arkansas. He enlisted after high school and was deployed to Iraq. Before leaving for Iraq, he gave away all of his possessions to his family and friends because he believed he was not coming back. He did not. He was killed on his first day in Iraq. Another tragic story was that of a Marine from Queens, NY. He was watching the news after Katrina hit and saw the destruction and had to help. He literally put on his Marine uniform and on his own accord-completely unconnected to any government entity or effort-drove down to Louisiana to help in any way he could. After he returned from New Orleans, he was deployed to Iraq where he lost his life. Andrew comments on how much this story of pure good will makes the waste of this young man's life even more enraging.

"This is the best America has to offer and this good will has been used and manipulated by the Bush and Cheneys of the world. They don't deserve the good intentions of people like that." 

The event in Newark was outside of the Newark Bears Stadium and was a home run (couldn't resist, sorry). Crystal Snedden from New Jersey Citizen Action brought out a great crowd and invested a lot of time and effort into the event. Greg Payton from the Communication Workers of America spoke about many of the issues that are illustrated on the bus and how they have impacted the Newark area. As a community leader he works closely with many area social service organizations and has seen first hand the hardships that people are facing given the current economy. He deals with people all the time who desperately want jobs but cannot find anything that will come close to paying the bills. He has seen people lose their homes and not be able to afford critical medical care. Payton spoke passionately about the desperate need for change in this country. Although Newark is a 15 minute train ride from the center of the financial world, it is a city that bears the brunt of the failed economic policies of this administration. It is fortunate that there are people like Payton that are working day and night to try and right the wrongs of our current system. Here’s to hoping that in the future the Boss will have less song material concerning the way the economy has decimated cities in New Jersey or anyone’s hometown for that matter.

MANCHESTER, NH - Our Monday morning event gave us a couple great stories from people in attendance and speaking at the event.

Sarah McNeill spoke at the event and shared with us how the economic downturn has affected her family. Sarah is the mother of two beautiful little girls Emily and Niya. Her husband works construction and until recently Sarah was able to stay home with the girls. They supplement their income by renting out apartments in their multi-family home.  Now, not only has her husband had difficulty making ends meet with construction given the housing market, but their tenants are not always able to make rent in the current economy. Sarah, like so many stay-at-home moms, recently went back to work and gave up her dream of staying home with her kids. She regrets that she will miss the time spent with her girls and also the fact that in the economy of ten years ago her family’s finances would’ve been much better off.

Chris from Manchester has had a career path profoundly affected by the Bush Administration. He is 32 years old and started working on the stock market in the late nineties before the dot.com fallout. He did quite well for himself as a young person just out of school. He remembers selling quite a bit of Enron stock at the time and having no idea of the controversy to come. After the bubble burst and many corporate leaders (some connected to the white house) went to jail for their criminal activities, Chris felt guilty for having inadvertently been a part of it. He got out of the stock market and moved onto what he thought would be more noble pursuit selling real-estate. He took pride in selling homes to young couples, seniors, veterans, and single moms. Being a part of his clients procurement of the American dream made him feel like he was doing something worthwhile. Unlike many mortgage companies, he was straight-forward and honest with his clients and sold mostly fixed-rate mortgages. As the housing market collapsed and the Bush administration did nothing to help the millions who were being foreclosed on, his firm went under. Chris once again found himself on a career path aligned with corporate malfeasance and an administration that supports it. Chris is now going back to school to teach high school math. For his sake, we hope that Bush and his corporate allies don’t find a way to make algebra corrupt.

BANGOR, MAINE - The folks in Bangor, Maine know how to have a great Fourth of July celebration! We celebrated Independence Day at the Food and Medicine/Bangor Central Labor Council Annual Solidarity Picnic. There was a crowd of at least 300 people, if not more. Tons of great food including a chili cook-off.  There were several performers and local political leaders there as well.

Congressman Michaud from Maine's Second District came aboard the bus and commented on how much he liked it and how important he felt it was that we get our message out.  Surrounded by a huge crowd of local union members and their families, the bus was a big hit. Everyone gave us a great deal of support and made us feel welcome.

The highlight of the evening was certainly the catapulting of the winning nomination to our online contest: "Throw Bush's Legacy in the River." The winning entry was to quite literally throw Bush in the river. Not the man himself, but a small bush to represent his legacy. Unfortunately, unlike a real bush, the President has never done anything nearly as useful as photosynthesis. Our hope is that the little bush will make its way down the river and make roots along the way.

Once it has rooted along the river bank we can only hope it will not lead us to an unjust war and try to take away our Social Security. Although, as I overheard one man say during the catapulting ceremony, "I would trust a plant to run this country more than George Bush."

PORTSMOUTH, NH - Over the last few weeks we have had a lot of activity on the bus and a lot of different people coming through. We have had Members of Congress, press both domestic and international, local community and labor leaders, soldiers and vets, and tons of Americans from all walks of life.

However, Saturday night in Portsmouth, NH we had the most interesting and exciting group on the bus yet. We had a twelve-piece marching band perform right on the bus! 

The Leftist Marching Band performs all over NH and operates under the credo that “You can love your country no matter who is in office.” Their politics were described as everything left of the right and they do renditions of popular standards with lyrics about the important issues of our time. Their rendition of “Take me out to the ball game” with the lyrics “Take Bush out of the White House” is hilarious.

They were coincidentally performing right outside of where the bus was parked near a festival. After their excellent performance I invited them to perform on the bus. They were incredible! We hope this will not be the last time that we have a marching band on the bus. 

As if a marching band wasn’t enough, we had an amazing night in Portsmouth. Thousands of people came from all over New Hampshire to watch the 5th of July fireworks that had been postponed due to the rain the night before. We had hundreds of people come through the bus. There was barely room to move inside the bus for most of night. Everyone loved the idea of the tour and many mentioned that the act of criticizing the policies of our government tied in perfectly with the patriotism that was in the air for the “non-rainy day after Independence Day.”

BANGOR, MAINE - I revived my 6th grade math skills from an 18-year slumber yesterday. With the help of a photographer from the Bangor Daily News we broke down a by-the-minute account of how out of whack the priorities of this administration are.  I was showing the photographer the features on our Iraq war cost calculator which tells you how much the war is costing each state, county, and the U.S. overall.  The calculator also tells you what the government could have spent the money on instead: like heath care for millions or college tuition for hundreds of thousands. It also gives a running total of the cost of the war that can give you a headache just looking at it.  

The photographer was curious about what the cost was to the state up to the very minute.Using the second hand on my watch we figured out that the people of Maine are spending roughly $510 EVERY MINUTE on the war in Iraq. With 1440 minutes in the day, Maine residents, much like all Americans, are digging deep into their pockets to fund an endless war and getting nothing in return.

From The Onion:

This might be funny if it wasn't so true.

ALBANY, NY - The front steps of the State Capitol building in Albany was by far our most prominent bus stop yet. According to the State Trooper that helped us get set up, we are the first bus he has ever seen drive right up to the state capitol. We are trailblazers in the sport of bus parking!  Our driver, Joel deserves a big shout out for all of his amazing parking jobs.

Our location created special security concerns so they had bomb sniffing dog inspect the bus before we got started. Once all the precautions were taken we began our event. People strolled in from local office buildings to check out the bus.  Shortly into the stop, we experienced some technical difficulties with the generator and had to close down the bus for a few minutes. The crowd waited patiently outside. Once the problem was fixed everyone came back on and continued their tours. 

A number of people who visited the bus in Albany and in other cities drew the connection of how legacies can change over time. I spoke with a man who talked about how ill-received Reagan was when he left office versus 20 years later. The phrase time heals all wounds comes to mind, but in this case it is not a good thing. He commented on the importance of establishing a President’s legacy while they are still in office so we are not doomed to repeat the failures. He felt that the legacy that Reagan now has of a great president is a fallacy and that people are forgetting about the failures of his administration. 

Ken from Albany had another take on the Bush/Reagan comparison. 

“Bush took the country in the wrong direction in most every area. The shame of the Katrina response symbolizes Bush. I never thought some future president would make Reagan look competent.”