CBC News gave Maria Cantwell credit, too. She tried hard and came close.
Canada isn’t pleased with the vote, either.
The Banerjee exhibit looks fascinating. I’d love to see the photographs up close. The ‘About” page is quite interesting— gives a real clear sense of how tragic oil exploration and drilling will be for the Refuge. Banerjee invested a lot of himself in these photographs. Sounds as if it was a real labor of love. He must be so sad.
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Well, geez. In this Seattlepi.com article it says that certain Republican members of Congress denounced Banerjee as a liar (how exactly do photographs lie??) and the Smithsonian removed his photo exhibit to a basement room without any labels and people were told the show had been cancelled. The Smithsonian???
I’m stunned.
Yes, the Smithsonian incident was horrendous—the wingnuts have politicized still another (formerly) great American institution. This sort of thing even pre-dates “9/11 changed everything ... the controversy over the Enola Gay exhibit took place in the mid-1990s.
The differences between the incidents are significant, however:
1) The Enola Gay exhibit was altered due to pressure from the outside, whereas the ANWR exhibit was quashed by pressure from above.
2) The earlier controversy drew a not-insignificant amount of publicity and public discourse on large issues, while the latter was simply done without drawing more than a futile whimper.
I can understand the Enola Gay incident, though I don’t agree with it, At least that’s understandable.
The Smithsonian stunt with the Banerjee exhibit was a pure abuse of power. I don’t know why that surprises me, but it does. I would love to know exactly who was responsible for the ‘pressure’ that made them do it.
This administration cannot think fifteen minutes beyond the present. This is disgraceful. Is it 2008 yet?
Two more years to slog through before all the fun starts again. There might not be anything left by then. And I haven’t gotten over the last campaign season yet.
Next entry: Coffee shopping
Previous entry: CNN SUCKS
Washington state connections:
Maria Cantwell led the battle against ANWR drilling in the Senate; her amendment lost by 48-51.
Banerjee’s photos are on exhibit through the end of the year at UW’s Burke Museum. I haven’t gone to see it yet, but certainly intend to.