In San Francisco, where many people, it seems, can't stand the sight of President Bush, they won't have to look at him much longer.
His portrait in the Federal Building will be taken down at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Inauguration Day. The same morning, his wax figure will be removed from the lobby turntable at the Wax Museum on Fisherman's Wharf. In liberal Noe Valley, a store that profited from the president for years is almost Bush-less already.
There is at least one spot in town, however, where the image of the former president will survive intact: the real estate office of Arthur Bruzzone, former chair of the local Republican Party.
A photograph on the wall shows Bruzzone and Bush together in 2000, before the presidential election.
After Bush moved into the White House, he never visited San Francisco again.
"I'm going to keep it up there," Bruzzone said. "I like the George Bush I met. He didn't turn out to be the same George Bush, but it's part of my ego wall."
Bush won't enjoy similar treatment in much of the city, although he did get a last-minute reprieve from the General Services Administration.
The GSA had planned to remove his portrait from all federal offices on Friday. Late Thursday afternoon, a decision was made to let Bush's image stay until Tuesday, when Barack Obama is sworn into office at noon in Washington (9 a.m. West Coast time.)
"It was just to be sure there's no disrespect," and Jean Gibson, GSA spokeswoman in San Francisco.
Images of Obama will arrive in March. Until then, the wall of the Federal Building on Golden Gate Avenue will be blank. And what will happen to the portrait of Bush?
"It just goes into the shredder or recycler," Gibson said. "There's nothing hallowed about it. It's not like the American flag."
At Just For Fun, a gift and novelty shop in Noe Valley, Bush dog toys, Smush Bush stress relievers, Bush countdown calendars and "impeach mints" are long gone.
At Fisherman's Wharf, the wax Bush shared the turntable at the open-air entrance with Nicole Kidman and Clint Eastwood.
The wax Bush wore a navy blue pinstripe suit, white shirt and red tie. He stood on a podium; behind him were dozens of campaign posters for 2008 presidential candidates, including Hillary Rodham Clinton, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and John Edwards.
Museum curator Curtis Huber had placed Bush on the turntable a week before Super Tuesday in February, along with a sign: "Who's Next? Your Vote Counts."
His attempt to get out the vote sometimes had a different effect.
"I always had a thing of wipes behind the counter because people would spit on Bush," Huber said. "Once someone threw black paint on him."
On Tuesday he'll take Bush down to the Presidential Library exhibit, where 13 of the museum's 18 wax presidents reside. George W. will stand behind his father, who will be seated, and between Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan.
On Friday, as the wax Bush whirled around every minute and 15 seconds, passers-by had other fates in mind.
"Crush it," said 47-year-old Indiana Mercado of Stockton, Calif.
Modesto resident Toni Lopez, 44, said, "I don't think they should get rid of him. You've got to keep the old somewhere."
Sean Smith, 24, of San Jose, agreed. Even Adolf Hitler could be found in the museum, he said.
"Melt him down and make candles for places in Iraq without power," said Chris Adams, 26, visiting from Connecticut.
But his friend, Dmitri Borovoy of Massachusetts, said melting wouldn't satisfy him because then Bush would disappear.
"People should remember and know the real truth," said Borovoy, 27. "It would be nice if he were put in a museum with a long caption about how much of a hindrance his administration was to our development as a nation."
It was, of course, a theoretical discussion, because the wax Bush, whose suit was cleaned after the election, will simply be relocated to the basement.
"To some extent," said Wax Museum owner Rodney Fong, "George W. Bush will always be with us."
E-mail Patricia Yollin at pyollin(at)sfchronicle.com.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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