Smithsonian & "The Hill". . .another Culture War brewing?

At this point, I think most of you are aware of the situation that is happening/happened with the removal of a so-called "offensive" video from the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.   This is from a few days ago, but read this article to see how this firestorm was sparked.

http://washingtonscene.thehill.com/in-the-know/36-news/7223-boehner-and-cantor-call-for-closing-of-smithsonian-exhibit

Quotes to think about when discussing this issue:

• Boehner spokesman Kevin Smith said, "Smithsonian officials should either acknowledge the mistake and correct it, or be prepared to face tough scrutiny beginning in January when the new majority in the House moves [in]." 
• "When a museum receives taxpayer money, the taxpayers have a right to expect that the museum will uphold common standards of decency," said Cantor. "The museum should pull the exhibit and be prepared for serious questions come budget time.”
• In response, a spokeswoman for the Smithsonian noted that federal funding is not used to pay for exhibits, only infrastructure, curating of works, and staff.  The exhibit itself was funded by a group of donors and foundations.

*Note that the last quote shows that many people, and most obviously (very conservative) Congressmen Cantor and Boehner do NOT understand how taxpayer money flows to the museum, and the arts in general.  I should also note that this video has already been taken down, with a mediocre and apologetic response to the public by the Smithsonian.

Also, read some of the responses below the article.  I, for one, like this one:
"Now what was it exactly that the Tea Party was yelling about? Oh, I remember, the loss of our freedoms."

Get Out Your Pitchforks for the NEA

 Read this post from a blog called "Sticks and Drones."  Thoughts?  

      - Mike

Kill The NEA

November 03, 2010 | Bill Eddins | 

I try to keep politics out of this blog but I think it is time to declare a revolutionary idea: kill the NEA.

The National Endowment for the Arts is a wonderful institution dedicated to promoting art in America, by Americans, and for Americans.  It is also a whipping post for a rabid minority in this country who fear freedom of expression and believe to their core that government should not be supporting artistic expression, let alone any subgroup of the population who tend to lean towards the political left.  Never you mind that every 1st world country continues to support and nurture their homegrown arts and artists on the federal level.  Never mind that the USA would become the artistic laughing stock of the world by becoming the only industrialized nation to turn our collective backs to our own artistic legacy.  That’s not the problem.  The problem is that we have much bigger problems than the NEA and I, for one, am damn tired of these “politicians” using it as a whipping post to hide the fact that they haven’t the first clue what to do once they grab the reins of power.  So kill the NEA.

Here’s why:

• Those of you who are musicians with jobs in well-paying orchestras – look around you.  In any given city you probably represent less than 5% of the people making, or trying to make, a living at music.  How much do you pay for health care?  It’s probably covered in your contract, but I guarantee you that the rest of your colleagues out there are struggling to pay thousands upon thousands of dollars just to have the privilege to have access to a health care provider.  If they don’t have a full-time faculty job then it’s out of pocket.  I bet many, if not most, of them can’t afford it.  That’s more important than the NEA.
• Those of you in theater with well-established companies – when you come out of rehearsal do you look at your environment?  How many record years of temperatures, how many colossal oil spills, how many freak storms and upside-down weather patterns will it take to make you realize that we have a much bigger problem than the staging in Act 2, Scene 3 of The Scottish Play?  And if we don’t, what about our children?  That’s more important than the NEA.
• Visual artists everywhere – how are your retirement accounts doing?  I hope you’re not planning on living off of Social Security because we know, and we have known for three decades, that the SSA cannot fund its mandate.  The solution, according to those just elected, is to give your Social Security to the people who caused the biggest financial disaster this side of the Great Depression.  Does that sound like a good idea? That’s more important than the NEA.

I could go on and on but there’s no need.  The raw numbers are even more damning:

• NEA budget for 2010 is $161 million dollars.
• The total budget for the USA for fiscal year 2010 is $3.5 TRILLION dollars!!!
• The NEA’s budget is .046% of the overall Federal budget.
• The endowment for the Boston Symphony is over twice the amount of the NEA’s current fiscal budget.
• Current USA budget deficit – $1.4 trillion dollars.
• Mandatory spending on Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, and interest on the national debt this year – $1.5 trillion dollars.
• Defense budget this year – $660 billion dollars.

Everything else is in the multiple billions, whether it’s the Department of Labor, Education, Veterans Affairs, Energy, whatever.  But the whipping post is the NEA! Ever since the early ’80s the NEA has served as a rallying cry for those people for whom freedom of thought is a scary idea.  The  cycle of  scandals – remember Robert Mapplethorpe? – have served as wonderful distractions from infinitely larger issues that this country faces.  And now, after these historic 2010 elections, I turned on the TV and one of the first things I heard from one of these “Tea Party” candidates was – “and we’re going to KILL THE NEA!!!”  Needless to say there was a colossal roar from his rabid supporters.

So enough already.  Kill it.  Stop blaming the NEA for all the problems in this country. Save your .046% of the budget.  So what if we become the artistic laughing stock of the 1st world?  We’re already the laughing stock in so many ways. So what if huge orchestras lose a $400K grant?  The NEA has been to gun shy to fund anything remotely interesting for almost three decades now, and funding another Mostly Mozart Festival at some orchestra isn’t going to make any difference.  Maybe those humongous institutions will make a little room at the trough for the artists who don’t have that high paying union contract job.

And once the NEA is gone then those rabid politicians and their slavering wannabe supporters will be faced with the real questions: do we as a people deserve affordable health care, and if so how are we going to pay for it?  Do we as a people deserve to retire like our parents did, or will we have to work until we go to our grave just to make ends meet?  Do we as a people deserve to pass on a living viable planet to our children, or will we remain mired in a fossil fuel economy and planet warming denial?  And, Mr. and Mrs. Deficit Hawk – how are you going to balance your budget?

These questions are infinitely more important than the NEA.  These issues effect every artist everywhere.  They impact every human being! These are our lives we’re talking about.

Kill the NEA.  Kill it now.  Take away the whipping post.  Goodbye, and Rest In Peace