Bush Legacy Tour

Unfortunately, the people of Oklahoma are “not doing fine” and are not getting a lot of help from George Bush or their Senator James Inhofe. Senator Inhofe has supported Bush’s policies 90% of the time. He voted to privatize social security and voted against the State Children’s Health Insurance Program twice. Inhofe voted for tax-cuts for the wealthiest Americans earning over $1.2 million/ year and then voted against raising the minimum wage. Inhofe’s support of Bush’s policies has harmed Oklahomans, and that is nothing to sing about. Even if it is a catchy number from Oklahoma!

BATON ROUGE & NEW ORLEANS, LA-

We made a quick stop at Tulane University Friday afternoon.

Students at Tulane University viewing the Katrina exhibit.

NEW ORLEANS, LA:

New Orleans was a much-anticipated stop for the Bush Legacy Tour. Our exhibit on Katrina makes the strongest impact of all of our exhibits. All across the country, we have had people leave the bus in tears after seeing the images of hurricane victims flash across the screen and reliving the events before and after the levees broke.  Katrina is certainly seen as the defining failure of the Bush Presidency.  Driving a bus through New Orleans wrapped with Bush’s picture and a list of his failures on the side (Katrina being one of them) proved to be an interesting experience.  Most of the people we drove by stared in disbelief at the bus. Some people showed signs of approval after reading that it was by no means a positive Bush Bus.

We certainly did not expect to teach the locals at our event in the Lower 9th Ward on Saturday, anything they did not already know about the failed response to Katrina. The stop was symbolic and the purpose was to show that we will not let history forget about the Bush administration’s horribly botched response to Katrina or any of the other conservative failures of the last eight years.  The purpose of the Katrina exhibit and the stop in New Orleans was to show that a conservative government that is fundamentally opposed to government itself- is bound to fail at its most important priority-to protect its citizens.

Driving through the Lower 9th Ward, we see there is still much to be done to rebuild and that many of the homes have remained vacant.  Many still have the death count spray-painted on their front doors. It is common that families that return and rehabilitate their homes, leave the spray paint on to represent their loss and the fact that they had to do the rebuilding themselves. Yet, so many of the homes are left boarded up as only about 10% of the neighborhood has returned. Although Gustav showed a marked improvement in the federal government’s response, it appears that the government has washed its hands of the Lower 9th Ward. 

 The Bush Legacy will be defined by the response to Katrina. Long after George W. Bush is out of office, the people of New Orleans will be living with remnants of one of his administration’s biggest failures.

The bus in front of the Superdome.

The Bush Legacy Tour and one of New Orlean's "cities of the dead."

The bus at the Saturday morning stop in front of the 9th Ward Village Organization, in the neighborhood that has been an icon of the destruction of Katrina.

A children's mural inside the Lower 9th Ward Village Organization.

JACKSON, MS-The Communication Workers of America (CWA), among other union members in Jackson, gave us one of our warmest welcomes yet on Tuesday night. We pulled in to the CWA in Jackson hall to bring the bus to the debate watch party they were hosting. We were met with cheers and excitement. About forty-fifty people came out to see the bus before catching the debate. There was barely room to breath inside the bus.  We had a lot of support and were warmly received by the crowd.  Quite a few union members took photos in front of the bus and excitedly exclaimed that it would be their new myspace or facebook photo.

Our event in Jackson the next morning was in front of the state Capitol.  We set up in our approved, permitted location and were met with an unexpected greeting. Shortly after we opened, sprinklers on the capitol lawn came one and sprayed the bus and our lit table . We laughed that it didn’t appear to be accidental and several of the state workers inside the bus said that it was not the normal time that the sprinklers go on.  It appeared that Governor Haley Barbour was giving us a complimentary bus washing! We did have one local who said that the sprinklers are on timers and do go off at that time, so perhaps it was not intentional. One man inside the bus quipped that it is customary in Mississippi for protesters to be sprayed with a hose of some kind.

The sprinklers in front of the state capitol have us a free bus washing.

BILOXI, MS- Our day in Biloxi began with getting screamed at  for pulling the bus in front of the Hard Rock Hotel.  Even though we were parked in the adjacent lot all evening and guests at the hotel,  the manager was livid and screamed that the bus needed to be removed. Ironically enough, it turns out that the Hard Rock Hotel has connections with the conservative Governor Haley Barbour. The hotel is represented at the capitol by a lobbying firm that the Governor’s nephews Henry and Austin Barbour, are partners in.  Even more ironic is that Austin Barbour is also the campaign manager for Roger Wicker who is running for another term in the Senate. Roger Wicker, having a 95% voting record with the President was the focus of our stop in Biloxi.  Wicker voted for tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and voted against raising the minimum wage for Americans struggling to get by. He supported Bush’s plans to privatize social security and voted against SCHIP, the State Children Health Insurance Program.

Sue Hatem in Gulfport, MS  on the impact of Bush’s education policies have had on educators and their students.

Billy Bova in Gulfport, MS on the local impact of Katrina.

MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA-Montgomery, Alabama is certainly known throughout the world as the birthplace of the civil rights movement. It was an honor to bring the bus to a town that honors the legacy of the civil rights movement with monuments, museums, and historical markers. The bus Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on is on display in the town.  It is a shame we were there with a bus to display a far less honerable legacy. 

Our Montgomery  location was at an amazing cross section of history with the State  Capitol, Rosa Parks Museum, MLK's church and the location of Jefferson Davis's swearing in as the President of the Confederacy all within view.  The event was great and we had a lot of local support from the Alabama Democratic Party that helped get the word out. They know first-hand the damage that the Bush and his allies like Alabama Representative Mike Rogers. Rogers represents Alabama’s 3^rd Congressional district and has voted with Bush’s policies 94% of the time.

As with most of our visits to state capitols, we had a number of government employees come through the bus.  We had quite a few people come out of the office buildings nearby and express their concerns over the Bush Administration’s policies. Even in Alabama, which has one of the highest Presidential approval ratings in the nation, we still were hard pressed to find any Bush supporters. Towards the end of the event, however, a conservative bus did show up. The Alabama Republican Party has its own bus that paid us a visit just as we were packing up. They pulled up in front of the capitol about 25 feet away from us. While we offered a museum inside of our bus with interactive features, they only offered a bus with pictures of their local Republican political leaders on the outside. Pretty lame.

There was no dramatic battle of the buses to speak of.  Their spokesperson for their bus was amicable and said they were hoping to get the press to cover the two buses.  This did not happen as all the press had already covered our event. Maybe next time.

They are touting "conservative experience" as a good thing! Wow

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA-It is hard to mistake of the symbolism of bringing the bus to Tallahassee Florida. Many would argue that this is where Bush’s Presidency began, right here  in the Capitol of Florida.  We pulled the bus up to what will go down in history as a significant intersection, with the Division of Elections caddy-corner to Florida State Capitol. Eight years ago protesters demanded a recount of the ballots in question right where the bus was parked on Monday. Despite the Florida State Supreme Court’s ruling that there should be a recount, the US Supreme Court overruled and granted Bush’s plea for a stay on the Florida Supreme Court ‘s ruling. The rest is, well, history that is displayed inside a 45 foot long bus showing the failures of the administration.  

SARASOTA & TAMPA, FLORIDA-

Sarasota:

When you think of Florida, conservatives, and the name Buchanan, the first thing that comes to mind is all the elderly democrats in Florida that ended up voting for the far right-wing candidate by mistake in 2000. Yet, we were in Sarasota on Friday to pay a visit to another conservative Buchanan.  We pulled up the bus as close as we could get to Representative Buchanan’s Sarasota office. Representative Vern Buchanan represents Florida’s 13^th District and has supported Bush’s policies 90% of the time. Vern voted against the GI  Bill for vets returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and also voted against bringing American troops home from Iraq. He is not much better on worker’s rights issues. He voted against the Employee Free Choice Act which would give workers the right to form a union on the job. He also voted against Equal Work for Equal pay legislation that would grant women equal pay for equal work.

While we were in Sarasota, I spoke with one of Buchanan’s constituents who has experienced a significant decline during the Bush Administration. Wayne used to have a decent job and was able to support himself and have a decent lifestyle. His job was eliminated and he now lives in a half-way house. When I expressed my concerns over his situation, he stopped me and said, “No, don’t feel bad for me. I know so many people that have it a lot worse. At least I have somewhere to sleep.” Wayne was on his way to a job interview and he is hopeful he will find work soon in what is a difficult job market and economy to survive in.

 

Ybor City (Tampa)-

We parked the bus outside of a great café in Ybor City called the Bunker on Saturday. They were kind enough to let us park in front of their establishment so that we could benefit from the foot traffic at the farmers market along the street. They were tremendously helpful, not only with great coffee but with helping to hold the space and with encouraging their patrons to check out the bus. The bus did not park next to the farmers market without controversy, however, as a couple of the vendors complained. Most of the people there were more than supportive. We had a good event and had a lot of people come through the bus. Our reason for being in Ybor City was to highlight the voting record of Representative Gus Bilirakis. Representative Bilirakis also supported Bush’s policies 90% of the time. On healthcare, he voted against the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and also against allowing Medicare to negotiate for cheaper drug prices. Bilirakis has supported keeping the troops in Iraq and against the GI Bill. Perhaps the most appropriate vote to highlight is his vote against HR 3221 which would slow the pace of foreclosures on the millions of Americans in jeopardy of losing their homes. It was appropriate that we paid Bilarakis a visit the morning after the bailout passed.

MELBOURNE, FLORIDA-

Overlooking a stunning bay in  Florida is nothing to complain about, but when we pulled into our off-the-beaten path event location in Melbourne,  a brief moment of concern washed over me.  The event started in less than 15 minutes and I could not imagine any foot traffic for the event, minus the three fishermen on the dock and their golden retriever. Low and behold, when the event started at 10am, cars started to pull into the parking lot. One after the other, cars pulled in carrying people who had heard about the bus in the paper, through the internet and word of mouth. We ended up having a decent crowd of at least 40-50 people, all but one of which were strongly supportive of the bus being in conservative Melbourne. From what the locals told me, Melbourne is often not a huge campaign stop, even in the swing state of Florida. It is a red stronghold that conservatives view as  a lock and progressives often do not bother to tamper with.  For our “tenacity” as one local called it, we were rewarded with a lot of supportive comments and donations. We even had an offer for accommodations for our staff in someone’s home. 

Melbourne local and peace activist Vicki Impocco shared her comments about the bus coming to Melbourne

MIAMI, FLORIDA-After making over 100 stops all over the country, meeting thousands of amazing supporters, and having the privilege of infuriating conservatives all over the country, it is difficult to pick a favorite stop on the Bush Legacy Tour. Thursday, our Miami stop may have cemented the title of best stop yet.

We had no idea how eventful the stop would be. The AFL-CIO was hosting us and helped us arrange for our "parking space" which was appropriately outside of the McCain/Palin Headquarters for the county. When we rolled up to the event site, CBS and a few other news outlets had already arrived. Unexpectedly, there were also police everywhere. They had been tipped off ahead of time. It was a wild scene! Due to the police presence we could not even attempt to pull into the spot in the strip mall. We were not even able to pull in for the 30 seconds it would normally take for us to get kicked out! 

The police had motorcycle “escorts” on either side of the bus that made it so that upon circling around the perimeter of the strip mall, the bus was unable to change lanes or turn into the parking lot. The bus continued to circle while about 40 pro-Bush Legacy Bus supporters chanted slogans in front of the McCain/Palin headquarters.  The press interviewed the supporters and also attempted to interview the building manager who apparently was the one who had called the police. 

Finally, we were able to secure a less controversial parking space in front of the AFL-CIO just down the road.  The supporters walked down to greet the bus.  Some of the union members supporting the bus helped us safely block traffic so that the bus could make the turn into the AFL-CIO lot. Considering the size of the bus, it is necessary to cut wide and make the turn from the middle lane. Our driver cut wide and upon turning and parking, a police officer started to write a ticket for turning right from the middle lane. Immediately the crowd reacted angrily to the ticket and defended our driver and the bus. All the while the CBS cameras were rolling. The officer pulled our driver aside from the scene to talk to him. Eventually, the ticket was ripped up. We opened up the bus to the public and things calmed down. We later found out that although we avoided the ticket, several truck drivers that were driving down the road and honking at our supporters were not as lucky. They apparently received tickets for honking their horns! 

Check out the piece CBS did on the stop.

Overall, the event was great.  The event marked a series of firsts: first full-scale police response, first (near) ticket, and the first time we were banned from a parking space ahead of time rather than just being kicked out.  This was not, however, the first time we have had supporters act on our behalf. Yet, this will certainly be the most memorable example of heart-warming solidarity on the tour. With all the excitement, the purpose of the stop highlighting the atrocious voting records of Reps. Mario and Lincoln Diaz-Balart was almost forgotten. I guess we will need to make another stop in Miami to remind Miamians that both Congressmen voted for Bush’s polices 90% of the time. Maybe this time they will send in the National Guard!

Its time to break out the pushpins because we’ve just added a bunch of new stops to the Bush Legacy Tour and we want to make sure your map is ready.

With just a month left till Election Day, we will be leaving sunny Florida and driving north to Montgomery, Alabama. Then, after making a week’s worth of stops in Mississippi and Louisiana, we are veering west to grab some Tex-Mex and visit Dallas, Oklahoma City, Wichita and Omaha. Then north we go, to Columbia, Missouri followed by Evansville, Indiana. After we leave the Hoosiers we head straight to Ohio, the notorious battleground state for a two-day visit.  Then back to Indiana and a quick visit to Michigan. 
We return to Ohio before spending time in New York’s fine Finger Lakes region, with a stop in Corning and one in Buffalo.   Then south we go, to Pennsylvania, a day in North Carolina and we finish our grand whirlwind tour of the USA in Virginia. 
If we are coming near you, this is your last chance to come check out the bus. It’s well worth it so please let friends and family know if we are hitting their hometown! 

Find us, schedule here: http://www.bushlegacytour.com/page/content/schedule/ 

ORLANDO, FLORIDA-Unfortunately parking the bus right in front of Disney World did not work out. We were hoping for a photo-op of Mickey mugging it up in front of GWB’s portrait on the outside of the bus. We settled for the beautiful landscape in the Lake Eola park in downtown Orlando.

We set up the bus and locals walking, running and biking in the park came by to take a look. The purpose of the stop in Orlando, besides the attempted Mickey Mouse photo-op, was to call attention to the voting record of Representative Rick Keller who has supported Bush’s policies 82% of the time.

In a district populated by a substantial amount of elderly voters, we have to give Keller some credit for his obstinacy to support Bush’s plan to privatize social security. Keller also showed audacity in continuing on to his fourth term (currently) when he originally ran on the platform in 2000 of enacting three-term limits in the house.

Representing the most popular  vacation destination  in the US, Keller’s take on his party’s chant of “Drill Baby Drill” represents a “not in my backyard” mentality. He strongly supports drilling in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico but has been known to be less concrete about drilling in Florida. In fact in 2006, he joined other Florida representatives from both parties in opposing drilling off the coast in Florida. He has since changed his tune and now wants to allow oil companies to drill right off the Florida coast, a measure that will only increase oil company profits without providing relief to his constituents who need it most.