George Bush visited the Baltimore VA Center yesterday. There was little advance notice. Virtually nobody knew about the visit except the folks who'd been invited to hear his staged presentation, a Q&A with the Secretary of HHS and the director of VA. Because of the short notice, there was a grand total of 2 protestors, me and a Ph D biochemist (Michelle ??) who works nearby and heard about it at the last minute.

A crowd gathered at the hospital entrance on West Baltimore Street. Many were on their lunch break. Some were folks who'd been displaced from their normal workplaces in the VA hospital by security measures--judging from scrubs and ID badges, looked like a good many doctors and medical technicians. When Bush's motorcade came up West Baltimore Street there was a smattering of applause and a lot of booing. The booing far exceeded the applause.

He left via West Fayette Street barely half an hour later, passing the protest pair (we'd moved) and a crowd of VA clients and office workers. Again, the boos far exceeded the applause.

Michelle and I were frequently approached by passersby and people in the crowd who showed support for our position, and the same thing happened as I carried my "Troops suffer and Die for Bush's Lies" sign back through the streets of Baltimore to where I'd parked.

If today is a good indicator, Bush is far from beloved by Baltimoreans or our medical community. But it's disappointing to see that the booing was not reported by the Sun or any other media I'm aware of.