ANTI-BUSH BUS GETS ROLLING NATIONWIDE

Friday, June 27, 2008

(PAI)ANTI-BUSH BUS GETS ROLLING NATIONWIDE

   WASHINGTON (PAI)--Call it the carrier of chronicles of calamity. A 28-ton 45-foot “Bush Legacy Bus” detailing the disasters the anti-worker GOP White House denizen and his GOP congressional minions have foisted on the country during the last eight years started its cross-country journey on June 23 at the AFL-CIO.

   “It’s time for the conservative legacy to be consigned to the dustbin of history,” declared federation President John J. Sweeney at the ceremony marking the start of the vehicle’s voyage. The federation, along with AFSCME and the Service Employees, are prime backers of Americans United for Change, the organization that sponsors the bus.

   The diesel-powered vehicle will stop in cities and towns nationwide from now through Oct. 15, two weeks before Election Day. It will concentrate on the states and districts of Bush’s loyal GOP congressional supporters--starting with House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kent.).

   Other bus stops include Indianapolis (July 14), Portland, Ore. (July 23), San Francisco (July 28-August 2), Los Angeles (Aug. 4-5), and Bush’s hometown of Crawford, Texas (Aug.19). The bus will be in Denver during the Democratic Convention in late August, and in St. Paul during the Republican Convention in early September.

   It’ll also visit St. Paul before that (July 16), Chicago (Sept. 6-8), St. Louis (Sept. 9), Kansas City (Sept. 10), Springfield, Mo.--home to House GOP Minority Whip Roy Blunt (Sept. 11)--and four cities in Michigan (Sept. 20-23) before it heads south to Florida and New Orleans. In the ultimate slam against Bush, the bus will end in his home state of Texas. More details can be found on www.bushlegacytour.com

   The bus’ interior carries interactive exhibits about Bush’s war in Iraq, his anti-worker National Labor Relations Board, his opposition to public schools and under-funding of his No Child Left Behind law, the chaos left by Hurricane Katrina and his refusal to help its victims, and high gasoline prices with no energy policy.

   At the back of the bus stands an old-time gasoline pump labeled “Bush-Cheney Oil” and topped with a lit-up circular sign with a large “W” surrounded by a circle. It reminds visitors that both Bush and Cheney come from the oil industry.

   “We know Bush’s allies will have their own effort to define his legacy and paper over his failures,” said Brad Woodhouse, director of Americans United for Change. And on the other hand, he noted that other Republicans “are saying ‘Bush Who?’”

   “We know we needed to define him” through “a rolling museum” of Bush’s catastrophes, lest Bush’s backers rewrite history, as Ronald Reagan’s did.
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