Today is May Day, the international workers’ day. I don’t really have anything appropriate for that, so here’s the closest I can come: a picture of the new Gerald Desmond Bridge at the Port of Long Beach, currently under construction by hundreds of unionized workers. The old bridge is on the right: it’s a fairly ugly thing, and too low for large ships to pass under. The new bridge will look like this when it’s finished, and will be California’s only cable-stayed bridge.
In keeping with today’s labor theme, however, I recommend that they rename it. Gerald Desmond was apparently a fine man, but sitting on the Long Beach city council for a few years isn’t really that big a deal. Instead, I think they should rename Harry Bridges Blvd. after Desmond and then name the bridge after Bridges. This has an obvious appeal quite aside from the labor angle, and we shouldn’t be deterred by either the fact that Bridges is mostly associated with San Francisco or the fact that he was allegedly a communist. He beat that rap!
But really, this is all about having the Bridges Bridge. We’re missing out here if we don’t let bygones be bygones.
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