The Washington Post Style section mounted its latest favorite hobby horse again this morning with yet another article devoted to the controversial "Hide/Seek" Smithsonian exhibit, which is closing this Sunday.
NewsBusters sister organization CNSNews.com broke the story in late November that sparked the controversy. You can read that story here.
Shortly after Penny Starr's story, the Gallery removed an offensive video entitled "Fire In My Belly," which featured among other things a depiction of ants crawling on a crucifix. The decision to remove the video was decried as censorship by liberal critics, a criticism magnified by the Post's Style section coverage of the row.
A Nexis search of the term "Hide/Seek" from November to now shows today's is the 16th article in the paper's weekday Style section related to the controversial exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery.
In her page C8 article, Post staffer Jacqueline Trescott focused on comments left in the visitors' log at the National Portrait Gallery.
"The majority of entries in the museum comment books deal sharply with the controversy," Trescott noted. Perhaps not surprisingly, most of the comments were left-leaning, including one from a self-described "conservative" who noted he or she was "happy to be here and to experience the true freedom of expression that our country stands for."
Of course, no one disputes the right of artists to free expression. The issue at hand is taxpayer sponsorship of offensive art, particularly art that is offensive to millions of religious Americans.
