Opinion: The newest member of this cycle club: President Bush
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Perhaps we now know what George W. Bush -- who leaves office on Jan. 20 -- will be doing next Memorial Day weekend: joining the thousands of motorcyclists who yearly vroom-vroom through the streets of the nation’s capital in a tribute by veterans to their lost colleagues.
On Sunday afternoon, Bush was made an honorary member of Rolling Thunder, the Vietnam War POW-MIA group that is holding its 21st annual gathering. Every year, on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, they start from the Pentagon parking lot, going past Arlington National Cemetery, across Memorial Bridge and around the Lincoln Memorial, and finally make their way to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
A few of them, though, traditionally take a detour to the White House ...
... and thanks to Dan Eggen of the Washington Post, the White House pool reporter on Sunday, we’ve got details of this year’s meeting:
On a cloudless, beautiful Sunday, 10 motorcycles -- most of them Harley-Davidsons, and at least two Hondas -- rumbled up the South Lawn drive at the White House about 12:35 p.m. The lead position was occupied by former Army Sgt. Arthur ‘Artie’ Muller, founder and national executive director of Rolling Thunder, sporting a black beret and a leather Rolling Thunder vest bedecked with military medals, a flag and other insignia.
Among the motorcyclists were four Bush administration officials, all of whom appeared to be on Harleys: White House chief of staff Josh Bolten (a Hog fan from way back), wearing a black collared shirt and jeans; Transportation Secretary Mary Peters (a simple white shirt); Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer (blue casual oxford); and Edward P. ‘Eddie’ Lazear, chairman of the president’s Council of Economic Advisors, who sported a leather Harley vest and a black bandanna. (And yes, they all wore helmets.)
Eighteen minutes later, Bush arrived by chopper from Camp David, disembarking from Marine One to ‘modest clapping’ (as Eggen put it) from the Rolling Thunder gang. The president called the event a ‘magnificent sight,’ telling Muller that as he flew over the city he ‘saw your brothers and sisters cranking up their machines and driving through the nation’s capital –- many of them have got the flag on the back.’ He praised the group as ‘so patriotic ... loving your country as much as you do.’
‘Our troops appreciate you, the veterans appreciate you and your president appreciates you,’ Bush said.
Muller announced that Bush -- a Vietnam-era veteran of the Texas Air National Guard -- was being made an honorary member of the organization, and presented him with a black leather vest featuring a POW-MIA patch on the front and a large eagle insignia above the words ‘Rolling Thunder.’ Bush took off his jacket and put on the vest but said he wasn’t planning to take a ride.
Well, now that he’s in the club, he’ll have a year to practice -- and a lot of open space at his Prairie Chapel Ranch in Texas to do so.
-- Leslie Hoffecker