"Miss Me Yet"

'Miss Me Yet?' Billboard With Photo Of Bush Is Real; Not An Internet Trick
12:55 pm

February 8, 2010

Who paid for it? We have a partial answer. (By Bob Collins/Minnesota Public Radio)
By Mark Memmott

Internet chatter had led to speculation that it might be an urban myth -- nothing more than clever digital trickery spreading via the Web.

But our friend Bob Collins at Minnesota Public Radio assures us he's seen it with his own eyes:

There is a billboard along I-35 near Wyoming, Minn., with a huge photo of former president George W. Bush and this question: "Miss Me Yet?"

Now, the push is on to find out who paid to have it put up.

Bob says there's no readily apparent claim of ownership on the billboard, so he's heading back to the scene to see if he can find out who's behind the message. He's also got some local politicos looking into it. He'll keep us posted.

At first glance, it would seem to be from some person or group who isn't thrilled by President Barack Obama's performance so far -- unless it's a more ironic message from those who didn't think too much of Bush and want to remind voters about him.

Anyone out there know anything about where it came from? Tell us and we'll pass the word to Bob. As he says, we could do a little crowdsourcing.

Update at 1:15 p.m. ET, Feb. 9: Wait, I spoke too soon. Bob passes along word that the "mystery" has been partly solved:

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."
Update at 1:10 p.m. Feb. 9: No news yet on the person behind the billboard, so to speak. But Bob went by and took his own photo of it, so we're now using his shot above.

I had seen this particular picture months ago circulating on Facebook and thought it was great then. I love that they made it into a billboard. No, I don't typically go "overly political" on my blog, but truth is...

President Bush, I've missed you since January 20, 2009...the moment you left office. I miss your humility, the respect you had for the office, your backbone, your caring, your faith and a whole host of other things. You see, things were pretty easy for me as an American when you were President. I didn't worry that you were working your hardest to keep us safe. I knew that in spite of cracks people make about your speeches and the decisions you made, that you made decisions with conviction. No one is perfect and no President has ever been nor ever will be perfect. The point is, you tried to make the best decisions for the American people with the information you were given.

I'm glad that every time I turned on a television during your administration that you weren't on there giving speeches. I'm also glad that during some of the most trying events our country has ever faced, you were there with the bullhorn telling them that we weren't going to run from them or apologize. I'm thankful you left the terrorists in Guantanamo rather than trying to place them in my backyard. I'm glad that you didn't turn into a popstar President...your face on books everywhere, t-shirts plastered on the homeless, posters to remind us what you looked like, and visits to every late-night talk show circuit.

I know I'm not alone. All of that big "hope for change" has started to wane with each and every day. Some kind of change we got all right. You didn't have to have a television crew follow you and your wife Laura as you met with the famillies of the victims of Ft. Hood. In fact, you had not obligation to go there whatsoever. Somehow the current President didn't seem to think it was necessary to visit them. No, publicity wasn't necessary and that is because you care.

Sadly, I took so many things for granted while you were in office. With security comes complacenecy I suppose. Nevertheless, I'm thankful for the job you did and hope that we can soon get leaders that want to listen to Americans.