Flares sent up from Capitol Hill

The NYT and WP have the rundown on yesterday's Smithsonian-related hearing on Capitol Hill. The hearing was Exhibit A for senatorial cluelessness as Sen. Dianne Feinstein urged the Smithsonian regents to forgo a thorough search for the next secretary and to hire someone. Anyone. Fast. This is part of why the Smithsonian's governance is a mess: Clueless senators urging dimwitted solutions on delinquent regents.

Of special note is this DiFi quote from the NYT story:

Ms. Feinstein said the Smithsonian should not count on public support to cover $2.5 billion in revitalization and maintenance costs.

"What I'm trying to do is push you into the mode of coming up with a program that solves the problem instead of coming up with a piecemeal solution year by year," she said.

Mr. Sant replied, "We accept the challenge."

First, excuse me for not feeling terribly confident when I hear an asleep-at-the-switch-for-years regent accept a challenge. But more importantly: This is the big question about the future of the Smithsonian. Will it be eventually be 'privatized' into an independent non-profit? Or will it continue to be the national museumplex? As I asked in a 2005 LAT op-ed, the biggest question is this: Should America have a national museum that tells the nation's story?