Missing George Bush yet?

A little more than a year has passed since the Bush administration limped into the history books. The legacies of the Bush era include two wars, financial collapse, Guantanamo Bay, a nationwide housing market disaster and economic dysfunction. But memories are short – so let the revisionism begin, via an advertising billboard. Next to a highway outside Minneapolis, a billboard appeared (pictured, above) with the familiar smiling features of America's 43rd president, and the headline: "Miss me yet?" Time passed without anyone owning up to funding the billboard's appearance, and the mystery deepened. For obvious reasons, many people thought it was a joke. But Bob Collins of NPR's Minnesota Public Radio has discovered an answer of sorts: Mary Teske, the general manager of Schubert & Hoey Outdoor Advertising reports, 'The Bush Miss Me Yet? billboard was paid for by a group of small business owners who feel like Washington is against them. They wish to remain anonymous. They thought it was a fun way of getting out their message.' What a fun bunch they sound like. And in case anyone is wondering, the short answer to the question "Miss me yet?" is: no. Bush's works, like those of Shelley's Ozymandias , are all around us, boundless and bare. Reminding voters of George Bush can only help the Democrats. Minnesota's City Pages staff have a series of alternative suggestions for the billboard. (Sample: "Mission accomplished".) Update: My colleagues at Comment Is Free America have posted a readers' poll on this subject: go and vote on missing George Bush .