Frank Rich: The National Portrait Gallery has mounted an installation of same-sex themes in American portraiture. Included in the exhibit is a four-minute excerpt of a film by David Wojnarowicz titled "Fire in My Belly." Within the excerpt is an 11-second scene in which a "crucifix is besieged by ants that evoke frantic souls scurrying in panic as a seemingly impassive God looked on.... “Fire in My Belly” was removed from the exhibit ... some 10 days ago with the full approval, if not instigation, of ... the Smithsonian" because of a right-wing campaign against it, ginned up by, among others, "William Donohue, of the so-called Catholic League.... [Soon-to-be House Majority Leader] Eric Cantor called for the entire exhibit to be shut down and threatened to maim the Smithsonian’s taxpayer funding come January."

Here's video of the excerpt (I had to testify to Google that I was at least 18 years old to access it):

My comment:

The Smithsonian’s cowardice, I suspect, is its management's way of welcoming the new Congress & its official policy of medieval bigotry. Why is Defense Secretary Bob Gates so anxious to have DADT repealed within the week? Because the new Republican Congress will not repeal it. In the Senate, every Republican Senator but one voted against repeal last week, even though the public favors repeal, the majority of the military is cool with it (not that that matters), the top civilian and military leaders favor it, the courts will impose it, and basic human decency demands it. So the Smithsonian is falling into line with the political gang who are ready to take over Washington.

The Smithsonian management’s response to "the public" is not as dumb as you think. Its masters, after all, are the Congress, as Eric Cantor reminded them and us. Among the brilliant ideas of the Catfood Commission was this little-noticed one: charge entrance fees to the national museums. This of course would make the museums off-limits to many Americans who visit Washington, and other visitors would have to pick and choose carefully, skipping those museums they didn't consider must-sees. This is such a Republican idea: keep the riffraff out! Only the moneyed class will be allowed entree to the nation’s treasures.

Oh, and another thing – forget about women. Even though it is privately-funded, conservative legislators think a National Women's History Museum is superfluous. Right-wing Sens. Tom Coburn & Jim DeMint claim there are already enough museums about women -- like "the Quilters Hall of Fame in Indiana, the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Texas and the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens in Washington." [Gail Collins, NYT, September 24] Really, girls, you've already got lilacs by the outhouse door!

So the Smithsonian poobahs bow first to anti-gay bias, and while they're at it, to fundamentalist Christian prejudices. Will we see an installation of anti-Semitic art next? Maybe a panoply of depictions of the devil looking ever-so-Jewish would fit the bill. How about a nice display of Confederate memorabilia to celebrate secession? Copies of some of the slave states' articles of secession would be great along with some tattered Stars & Bars and awesome portraits of Jeff Davis & Robert E. Lee. And by all means, let's have a paean to anti-feminist heroes. An audio-tour narrated by Sens. DeMint & Coburn would be a perfect accompaniment.

Our national museums are not repositories of cutting-edge art. Instead, they are reflections of who we are as a nation. And when our nation is operating under the thumb of right-wing prejudices, we are a nation of which real patriots must be ashamed.

     ... Washington Post Update: "The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, one of the principal sponsors of 'Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture,' demanded Monday that the Smithsonian restore the David Wojnarowicz video or the foundation would not fund future projects.... The Warhol Foundation is the first major funder to publicly voice outrage" over the Smithsonian's removal of "the Wojnarowicz work, 'A Fire in My Belly,' [which] contains 11 seconds of an image of ants crawling on a crucifix."

The Commentariat -- December 11

Adam Nagourney of the New York Times: "Richard M. Nixon made disparaging remarks about Jews, blacks, Italian-Americans and Irish-Americans in a series of extended conversations with top aides and his personal secretary, recorded in the Oval Office 16 months before he resigned as president."

The Irish have certain — for example, the Irish can’t drink. What you always have to remember with the Irish is they get mean. Virtually every Irish I’ve known gets mean when he drinks. Particularly the real Irish. -- President Richard Nixon, in an Oval Office conversation with Charles Colson, February 13, 1973, from newly-released tapes ...

      ... If you click on the link at the word "conversation" in this Times article, you can listen to the tape. ...

... Nixon's crude racial remarks remind Digby of Carl Paladino.

Ryan Grim: "The tax deal reached between President Obama and congressional Republicans could mean a higher tax bill for roughly one in three workers as a result of the Social Security tax cut Republicans pushed as a replacement for the current Making Work Pay tax credit. Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said many House liberals were opposed to the payroll tax cut because of its effect on the poorest workers. Progressives are also concerned that the tax cut will become permanent and undermine Social Security's funding stream and political support over time." ...

Ninety-nine point seven percent of American families will not pay one nickel in an estate tax. This is not a tax on the rich. This is a tax on the very, very, very rich. -- Sen. Bernie Sanders, during his eight-&-a-half-hour floor speech ...

... David Herszenhorn & Carl Hulse of the New York Times on the estate tax provision of the Obama tax-cut deal: "House Democrats ... have refused to vote on the bill without further changes.... The House Democrats would most likely substitute the estate tax parameters that were in place in 2009, with an exemption of $3.5 million per person and a maximum rate of 45 percent." ...

... Paul Kane & Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: the Congressional Black Caucus has joined Sen. Bernie Sanders in opposing the Obama-McConnell tax-cut deal. "... members of the Congressional Black Caucus -- considered President Obama's most loyal backers -- ... announced that the 'vast majority' of caucus members would oppose the plan as it is currently drafted." ...

The vast majority of CBC members are opposed to the estate tax provision, and to extending the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest two percent of Americans. We are extremely concerned that the cuts that could be made should this package pass would disproportionately hurt the poor, and low income communities and further erode the safety net. We don’t want to create a situation today that will exacerbate the conditions for Americans who are already hurting. That would be unfair and that would be unwise. -- Rep. Barbara Lee, D-California, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus

I do think that a major part of our objection is that we feel that it’s going to be bad for African Americans. -- Donna Christensen, U.S. Virgin Islands Delegate

... Politifact fact-checked Bernie Sanders' assertion in a November 30 Senate floor speech that "In 2007, 'the top 1 percent of all income earners in the United States made 23.5 percent of all income,' which is 'more than the entire bottom 50 percent.'" Bad news, America -- it's true. Includes video.

'First of all I feel awkward being here,' Clinton said, when he first took the microphone. Nothing could be further from the truth.
-- Michael Scherer of Time ...

 ... President Clinton takes over the podium in the Brady Briefing Room:

Dan Balz of the Washington Post on the Bill Clinton Show. Balz concludes, "If Obama succeeds in winning the support he needs from his rebellious Democrats in Congress, he will owe that victory at least in part to Clinton."

Christian Science Monitor: "Senior Pentagon officials expressed frustration this week with the Senate’s failure to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, for his part, said the development “disappointed” him.... But in the near future, a series of directives recently put into place by Mr. Gates and other senior administration officials make it far more difficult for gay troops to be discharged from the military, even while the ban is still in place."

Lyndsey Layton of the Washington Post: Two Iowa egg farms drew most of the blame" for last summer's salmonella outbreak, but federal inspectors "have largely ignored eggs.... It was not until July, well after the recent outbreak was underway, that the government's first rules on safe egg production took effect."

The Commentariat -- December 10

New York Times: "Former President Bill Clinton held a remarkable, spur-of-the-moment news conference at a White House podium on Friday to announce his backing for the tax compromise President Obama reached with Republicans this week. Mr. Clinton and Mr. Obama turned up in the White House briefing room after meeting privately together in the Oval Office. Mr. Obama introduced the 42nd president and then stood by as the one-time occupant of the White House offered his thoughts." ...

     ... New York Times: and everyone's a-Twitter about it.

I Love Bernie!

     ... USA Today story here. New York Times story here. ...

AND Al!

Your (& My) Economics Lesson for the Weekend -- an excerpt from Thom Hartmann's book Roll Back the Reagan Tax Cuts. Hartmann explains why tax cuts actually lower income for the middle class while tax increases for the rich raise middle class wages. CW: by Hartmann's reckoning, & history is on his side, nothing could be worse for the American economy than the Obama tax deal. Here's a sample:

Consider all the 'tax cuts' working people have gotten over the past 30 years, from Reagan, Clinton, and Bush Jr. In each case, within a year or two working people’s wages were the same or lower. On the other hand, when working-class people’s taxes went up, during the Truman, Eisenhower, Johnson, and Nixon administrations, their wages went up in the following years, too. ...

... Robert Reich: "On Monday, the same day the White House was finalizing its $900 billion tax deal with Republicans, the President gave an important address at a vocational technical school in North Carolina. It was his clearest statement yet about the challenges America faces in the global economy.... 'We can win the competition,' the President said, Monday.... But his deed that day, approving a tax deal that continues George W. Bush’s fiscal policies, makes that goal harder to achieve." ...

... Wall Street Journal: "The Obama-McConnell tax compromise will cost $858 billion over the next 10 years, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office. In other words, the Republican-backed tax plan will cost more than the stimulus bill, which priced out at $787 billion." ...

... Ezra Klein on "why liberals don't like the tax cut deal -- in graphs.... An individual billionaire is getting a far better deal than an individual unemployed American. And that's galling." Here's Klein new "snowman chart." The first column represents the original Obama plan:

Chart by Ezra Klein, Washington Post.

President Obama talks to Steve Inskeep of NPR about his tax deal:

     ... The full, unedited interview & transcript are here.

Paul Krugman expands on a theme he addressed on his blog yesterday: "... Mr. Obama is, as I said, paying for the release of some hostages — getting an extension of unemployment benefits and some more stimulus — by giving Republicans new hostages, which they may well use to make new, destructive demands a year from now." ...

... More from Krugman: Obama makes up his own nonfactual version of history to suit his narrative. ...

... Here are the facts on the original Social Security & Medicare laws from Paul Rosenberg of Open Left. Rosenberg writes, "Obama sounds just like Hannity or Beck! ... So how come Obama's knowledge of these two key welfare state programs is roughly the equivalent of a Fox News host? Beats me! We report. You decide."

Matea Gold in the Los Angeles Times: traditional Democratic donors, upset by Obama's tax-cut deal, are withholding contributions, and "the current backlash on the left may intensify the immediate challenge Democrats face in building a new campaign finance apparatus to challenge Republican-allied outside groups that flexed their muscles in this year's midterm election." ...

... Keith Olbermann gives an overview of the state & effects of Obama's tax deal & talks to Rep. Barney Frank about it:

... Olbermann & Howard Fineman discuss the House's reactions to President Obama's deal with Republicans. Congressmembers often invoked the F-word:

You might not think it was possible to portray President Obama's week in a light any more glowing than this one:

But leave it to Our Mister Brooks, who opines that Obama had "a very good week." ...

... Driftglass tears David Fucking Brooks into tiny little shards.

New York Times: "Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said on Friday that he was disappointed 'but not surprised' by the Senate vote late Thursday that dimmed chances for repeal this year of the 'don’t ask, don’t tell' law." He hopes the Lieberman-Collins bill, which addresses DADT independent of the military spending bill, will pass. "If that doesn’t happen, Mr. Gates repeated warnings that the Pentagon would face what he has described as judicial chaos." ...

... Politico: "Repeal proponents are now pinning their hopes on a free-standing bill to undo the ban on openly gay service members, anticipating that it can be quickly shuttled from the House to the Senate before Congress leaves town for the holidays." ...

     ... Washington Post Update: "Trying to revive one of the year's most tumultuous legislative endeavors, senators on Friday introduced a new bill -- with significant support -- that would end the 'don't ask, don't tell' ban on gays serving openly in the military. The measure introduced by Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) uses the same language authorizing an end to the ban that was included in an annual defense bill that failed a procedural vote on Thursday."

New York Times: "The Obama administration is retreating on long-delayed environmental regulations — new rules governing smog and toxic emissions from industrial boilers — as it adjusts to a changed political dynamic in Washington with a more muscular Republican opposition. The move to delay the rules, announced this week by the Environmental Protection Agency>, will leave in place policies set by President George W. Bush. President Obama ran for office promising tougher standards, and the new rules were set to take effect over the next several weeks." CW: it's almost impossible to be shocked anymore by the right-wing policies of this President, but this retreat when the enemy hasn't even assembled an army is still stunning.

Not Sure This Is Good News. Jackie Calmes of the New York Times: "President Obama is considering whether to push early next year for an overhaul of the income tax code to lower rates and raise revenues in what would be his first major effort to begin addressing the long-term growth of the national debt. While administration officials cautioned on Thursday that no decisions have been made and that any debate in Congress could take years, Mr. Obama has directed his economic team and Treasury Department analysts to review options for closing loopholes and simplifying income taxes for corporations and individuals, though the study of the corporate tax system is farther along, officials said.

Shailagh Murray of the Washington Post: Now that President Obama is getting on so well with Conressional Republicans, he has a new adversary: Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York "the newly appointed Senate Democratic 'message' guru, has emerged as the White House's chief antagonist over the tax cut deal Obama worked out with GOP leaders." ...

... Glenn Thrush of Politico on the Schumer-Obama differences.

AP: "The Federal Aviation Administration is missing key information on who owns one-third of the 357,000 private and commercial aircraft in the U.S. — a gap the agency fears could be exploited by terrorists and drug traffickers. The records are in such disarray that the FAA says it is worried that criminals could buy planes without the government's knowledge, or use the registration numbers of other aircraft to evade new computer systems designed to track suspicious flights. It has ordered all aircraft owners to re-register their planes in an effort to clean up its files."

This Should Go Well. Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul is poised to chair the House Domestic Monetary Policy Subcommittee, putting the gavel of the panel overseeing the Federal Reserve into the hands of one of the central bank's most outspoken critics." ...

... Adam Sorensen of Time: Populist (especially conservative populist) backlash against the Fed is ascendant and Paul now has a platform from which to challenge Bernanke et al. on the transparency, autonomy and, yes, existence of the institution.