O’s Culture Nominees: Too Safe?
The Wall Street Journal comments on Obama’s recent appointments of Jim Leach to head the humanities endowment and Rocco Landesman to head the National Endowment for the Arts: “Leach and Landesman are probably not the choices initially expected from a president who was being lobbied just a couple of months ago to do something as bold as create a cabinet-level department of arts and culture. These are the choices, rather, of a president who doesn’t want this to be a political fight.” Well, Obama certainly didn’t need to waste time fighting for his arts appointee while Rome burns. As much as I’d like increased government funding for the arts, Obama has done more in a few months for theater and music by actually attending plays and concerts than his predecessor did during 8 years.
