covers the Smithsonian/Showtime controversy blogged today on ThinkProgress. Among the signatories to our letter opposing the deal: “filmmakers Michael Moore (‘Fahrenheit 9/11′), R. J. Cutler (‘The War Room’) and Alex Gibney (‘Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room’); the actress and writer Anna Deavere Smith (‘Twilight: Los Angeles’); the law professor Lawrence Lessig; and Jacoba Atlas, a senior PBS executive.”

UPDATE: The Washington Post has more.

suggests he was “a major beneficiary of the Hurricane Katrina tax relief act” aimed at spurring increased charitable donations, despite the fact that “it looks like none of the charitable contributions actually went to Katrina-related charities.”

Today at the White House Easter Egg Roll, dozens of children “from the stricken Gulf Coast region serenaded First Lady Laura Bush with a song praising the beleaguered Federal Emergency Management Agency.” To the tune of “Hey Look Me Over,” the kids from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama sang:

Our country’s stood beside us
People have sent us aid.
Katrina could not stop us, our hopes will never fade.
Congress, Bush and FEMA
People across our land
Together have come to rebuild us and we join them hand-in-hand!

Neither Congress, FEMA, nor President Bush should be proud of their response in the Gulf Coast. FEMA’s post-Katrina housing program has produced “vast sums of waste and misspent funds,” now likely to “top $1 billion and perhaps much more.” Despite President Bush’s pledge to build the levees “higher and better,” federal officials now say “there may not be enough money to fully protect the entire region.” And as even Newt Gingrich acknowledged this weekend, “it’s going to be really bad by September when we go back and have a one-year review and we realize how much of New Orleans is not fixed as of this coming September.”

It’s not yet clear who actually produced the song, but the mystery writer is definitely in the running for a Grammy.

The Smithsonian Institution is an American treasure, attracting some 25 million visitors every year. It keeps an incredible archive of collections and has some of the most talented curatorial staff on the planet.

But last month, the Institution announced a joint venture with Showtime Networks to create a new television network. While at first blush the deal sounds like a creative way to raise much-needed funds, this deal is bad news. Two main problems:

1) The Institution refuses to disclose the deal they signed with Showtime, claiming it is a “business contract that does not involve federal funds.” Actually, the Institution is publicly chartered and receives 75 percent of its funding from federal appropriations or government grants and contracts.

2) Though details are murky, we do know that the arrangement gives the new joint venture a “right of first refusal” on key parts of the Smithsonian archives. In other words, filmmakers, historians, or others who might want to use certain Smithsonian materials could be blocked if Showtime executives say so. PBS documentarian Ken Burns called the policy “terrifying,” and said it “would have prohibited him from making some of his recent works.”

Over 200 concerned filmmakers, law professors, historians, archivists, Internet pioneers, and others have signed a letter asking the Smithsonian to annul the contract and hold public hearings. Also, the Center for American Progress has filed a Freedom of Information Act request asking that the contract be brought into the public eye. (We’re pleased that Electronic Frontier Foundation is representing us on this request.)

Tomorrow morning, Ken Burns will be joining me at the Center to give a public briefing on this issue. More details HERE.

– Carl Malamud

The right has wasted no time impugning the character and motivations of the seven generals who have spoken out against Secretary Rumsfeld. Right-wing bloggers, columnists, and television hosts have accused the generals of hurting troop morale, harboring personal grievances, chasing book deals and generally having partisan motivations.

Most generals, however, are not political appointees of any sort. While Defense secretaries have had the prerogative to nominate four-star generals and admirals (only one of the generals who have spoken out — Zinni — is four-star), the selection of one-, two- and three-star officers has been left to each service’s normal selection and promotion procedures.

Some lowlights —

The American Thinker:

Like so many CanCan dancers strutting their shapely legs before a lustful audience, the Clinton generals seem to be auditioning for the next Democrat administration…But seeing retired general officers pick up the pompoms and cheerleading for the Democrats is really over the top: it shows nothing but contempt for military honor and tradition.

RedState:

A number of retired Generals have recently criticized SecDef Rumsfeld and demanded his departure. Big Lizards has a very interesting take on these ex-military types, including their Clintonoid backgrounds, plodding lack of originality in military matters, inefficiency, and outright dishonesty when comparing their statements before the Iraq War began and more recent statements on the situation in the Middle East.

Read more

The New York Sun twists logic to “prove” that Valerie Plame wasn’t covert.

Earlier this year, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced new guidelines for organizations applying for grants for abstinence-only education programs.

In addition to being costly, inaccurate, and ineffective, the programs must now operate under a strict new definition of abstinence:

Abstinence curricula must have a clear definition of sexual abstinence which must be consistent with the following: “Abstinence means voluntarily choosing not to engage in sexual activity until marriage. Sexual activity refers to any type of genital contact or sexual stimulation between two persons including, but not limited to, sexual intercourse.”

Later, the guidelines explicitly define marriage:

Throughout the entire curriculum, the term “marriage” must be defined as “only a legal union between one man and one woman as a husband and wife, and the word ‘spouse’ refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.” (Consistent with Federal law)

In other words, if you’re gay, the Bush administration has decided that you should be taught to never, ever engage in “any type” of “sexual stimulation” — ever.

Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell defends discrepancies between a Post editorial (“A Good Leak”) and the paper’s own reporting as a difference in “views.” Media Matters demonstrates “the editorial did not merely advocate a position; it did so with numerous false statements.”

After lauding Rumsfeld on Friday, President Bush’s appearance today with Treasury Secretary John Snow “may be intended to send a message to Snow’s critics in Washington and on Wall Street that Bush isn’t letting this top Cabinet secretary go anytime soon, either,” NBC reports.

expects six congressmen and one senator to go to jail in the Abramoff case: “[I]f you’ve been keeping up with things, you’ve got a pretty good idea of who the seven lawmakers are.”