We took a different way home from the movie this evening. We went over and got on the Highway 36 freeway westbound that would end at I-35 as it snaked down toward downtown Minneapolis. We knew what would happen. We would be diverted onto the Highway 280 freeway, its few at-grade intersections closed so that only north-south traffic can pass through. The barricades gave us, believe it or not, the first physical reminder of what had happened. Until this moment it was TV, radio, a few second-hand reports, the web. We wanted to KNOW that this had really happened. To see the detour described in the newspaper and on television. It added an extra five minutes to our trip home and we never actually crossed the line into Minneapolis.
Tomorrow President Bush will be here to view the wreckage that is emblematic of what he has done to this country. Squander its wealth on never-ending war leaving little to simple little things such as replace bridges that are about to fall down. Today the U.S. House UNANIMOUSLY approved a bill containing $250 million for a new structure over the Mississippi River. They said that as early as this evening the U.S. Senate may approve a bill containing identical language to that of the House. In two, three years we will have ourselves a beautiful new bridge. Not in time for the Republican National Convention (which will be here a year from now). How ironic that the Republicans are coming here in 2008.
They found a perfect place for the President and his entourage to view the wreckage, some of it still containing the “dead bodies” (TV loves that label) of victims of our political failures. But the recovery workers said they wanted to use that spot for debris … for evidence. So I guess they found somewhere else.
I get very much the same thing from the five year old, who asked me if I thought I was the king rtnecely. “Yes,” I replied, “So snap to it before I have your head cut off.”
The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence – we experienced the Promo Only party from the front of the stage, yearning to get the great photo opps that you enjoyed backstage! Great post on your Expo experience!