What am I talking about? Let me tell you...
Would you believe the the DOD wants to spend $600,000 on a sculpture of a 10-foot tall fairy riding a giant toad? This sculpture will be displayed in a new DOD building, and seen daily by pretty much the same collection of 2,500 Federal employees.
Here's a picture of the scale model...
I know that $600,000 isn't, in the context of annual Federal expenditures, a huge sum, but if we can't stop spending this kind of money for this kind of stupidity, then what hope do we have?
Honestly, I don't see how ANYONE can defend this kind of thing and still retain a SHRED of credibility.
I have long argued against government funding of "the arts," and this kind of project is a perfect example of what's wrong with it. A fairy riding a toad???
Please...
UPDATE: It seems that I neglected to include links to some of the stories on this... including, heaven help us, one from the Huffington Post DEFENDING this kind of spending. So, here you are.
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2011/03/31/pentagon-art-600000-gurgling-toad-sculpture?s_cid=rss:washington-whispers:pentagon-art-600000-gurgling-toad-sculpture
http://www.alexandrianews.org/2011/04/moran-responds-to-proposed-public-art-at-brac-facility/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/02/measuring-enrichment-why-_n_844054.html
The curious thing about this particular building where they want to put the statue....is that there is no on-and-off ramp from the interstate which leads to the building. The building was built for 6,500 folks and barely 2,500 cars can fit into the parking facility. The nearest subway/METRO station? Two miles away, with no current bus service slated to the building (the Pentagon has refused to fund the $500k amount that the public trans folks asked for).
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