All I want to know is what took Brent Bozell so long?
Sure, the right-wing warrior sounded the alarm about a gay-themed art exhibit at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. And yes, Bozell, with the help of top House Republican leaders, Fox News and the rest of the GOP Noise Machine, was able to get one piece of the exhibit pulled; a four-minute video that featured, for symbolic reasons, 11 seconds worth of footage showing ants crawling across a crucifix.
But c'mon, that crucial Smithsonian concession came on December 2, days after rabble rousers at the Media Research Center started airing concerns about the suddenly objectionable, privately funded exhibit, "Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture."
When did "Hide/Seek" and its more than 100 piece of art actually open to the public? October 30. That's right, the gallery was able to showcase the exhibit unfettered for nearly an entire month. (Doesn't anyone at the MRC read the Washington Post?)
How come Bozell didn't protect unsuspecting art patrons from traveling to a gallery that was hosting an mature-themed exhibit about gay artists and stop them from being exposed to....gay art? (And "displays of Male genitals"!) If Bozell and teammates at Fox News are truly going to defend traditional values and protect us from "blasphemous" art, they can't sit on their hands for nearly 30 days while these types of crimes against the taxpayers play out in broad daylight. Nay, while they're flaunted in broad daylight.
Bozell is calling for Congressional hearings to find out who okayed "Hide/Seek" and who led the "direct assault on Christianity." (Heads must roll!) But I think that misses the real stumble here, which is why I'm calling for Congressional hearings to find out why Bozell and his arts patrol team missed the Smithsonian blockbuster for nearly an entire month.
Because honestly, if Bozell and his buddies aren't going to be vigilant about this kind of "hate speech," who is? Did you know that on November 21, the Smithsonian sponsored Family and Friends Day? Who knows how many innocent friends and family were subjected to objectionable art while Bozell's team was asleep at the cultural war switch?
And during the Christmas season!!
The the entire column at Media Matters.