You may recall that, during the last election, we talked about the two major candidates and which might be more inclined to be supportive of museums. You may also recall that there was a discussion about Twitter some time back. You may not know that you convinced me. I've been Tweeting since the inauguration because I felt it would give me a sense of being there live and wanted to know what was happening on that monumentally historic day.
So I've developed quite a retinue of folks I follow and only recently took the training wheels off my own Tweets so that others might follow me if inclined, though I don't feel compelled to have a retinue that follows me. I'm more interested in getting info and glimpses into thought processes. There are some fascinating organizations and people I've found.
John McCain is now Tweeting. McCain, who was severely technologically challenged over the course of the campaign, has found his way to the 140-character medium. I'm afraid, via the article I just read and the Tweets I'm seeing on his blog, that he's not a big fan of the arts and could use a little convincing, if one believes it's important to convince the politicians. His negative comments could have an effect on future funding for the arts institutions.
Today, he's going on about pork in the stimulus. On the one hand, you could argue that pork is a bad thing, but, if you understand the ways of Washington, there are pig lovers galore, and there are always earmarks because that's the way the game gets played. In order to get an important measure passed, to come to concensus, earmarks (like excrement) happen.
Today John is talking about the top 10 porkiest projects in the Stimulus (he reports over multiple days). Here are several he has chosen to rant on about:
#2. $143,000 for the Dayton Society of Natural History in Dayton, OH
#3. $143,000 for the Historic Jazz Foundation in Kansas City, MO
#4. $95,000 for Hawaii Public Radio
#9. $190,000 for the Guam Public Library in Hagatna, Guam
#5. 150,000 for lobster research - similar to lobster managment?
#7. $7,100,000 for the conservation and recovery of endangered Hawaiian sea turtle populations#8. $118,750 for a building to house an aircraft display in Rantoul, IL10. $190,000 to build a Living Science Museum in New Orleans, LA
#2. $900,000 for fish management - how does one manage a fish...
#4. $380,000 for lighthouses in Maine
4. $380,000 for lighthouses in Maine#6. $190,000 for the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, WY
#10. $285,000 for the Discovery Center of Idaho in Boise, ID
#2. $250,000 to enhance research on Ice Seal populations
#3. $150,000 for a rodeo museum in South Dakota#8. $167,000 for the Autry National Center for the American West in Los Angeles, CA#9. $143,000 to teach art energy - Art can produce energy? If so, then investing in the arts may lead to energy independence.
#2. $2 million “for the promotion of astronomy” in Hawaii - because nothing says new jobs for average Americans like investing in astronomyI'd say that, if you're concerned about his disregard for the arts, you might want to follow him on Twitter and Tweet your thoughts on why his berating of art institutions, especially given the HUGE bailouts we gave the banks that got flushed down the toilet, is more than unfair. It seems he needs a little education.