Look Good in Tux, Ready to Run the NEA

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="02c285a1erlcgo.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>Martin Kimel</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Martin Kimel"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="02ad2c00dkelyh.png"> <bR> <div> <B>ARTICLES</B><B> <A NAME="articles_1"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>(</B></FONT><B>lighter</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B> </B></FONT><B>pieces </B><A HREF="#lighter_pieces_1" TITLE=" Look Good in Tux, Ready to Run the NEA"><U><B>below</B></U></A><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>)</B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I> New!  "</I><A HREF="id95.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Stand Up to Cancer? Stand Up to Congres"><U><I>Stand Up to Cancer?" Stand Up to Congress and the White House</I></U></A><I> </I>(Aug. 2008)</div> <div> <I>New!  </I><A HREF="id94.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pancreatic Cancer: My Mothers Death"><U>Pancreatic Cancer: My Mother's Death</U></A> (Aug. 2008)  Read the piece a Washington Post editor called "smart and moving."</div> <div> <I> </I><A HREF="id90.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dont Waste Your Money on Rich Colleges"><U>Don't waste your charity on rich colleges</U></A>, <I>LA Times</I> (Nov. 25, 2006)</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="id89.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Teaching of Holocaust must focus on ugly"><U>Oprah and Auschwitz</U></A>, <I>Baltimore Sun</I> (Feb. 26, 2006)</div> <div> Why cameras don't belong in the <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Justice Filmed Is Justice Distorted"><U>jury room</U></A>.  <I>Washington Post </I>(Dec. 22, 2002)</div> <div> Remember the D.C. Snipers? The Case for Ballistic Fingerprinting (2002)</div> <div> <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Regulating the Ferrari Set on a Ford Sa"><U>Regulating the Ferrari Set - on a Ford Salary</U></A>, <I>Washington Post </I>(Jan. 4, 2000)</div> <div> Read the article on pro-Palestinian media bias that <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="ProPalestinian Media Bias: An Examinati"><U>infuriated a Washington Post editor</U></A> (2002) (note: it's long)</div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&&id=325&&cn=0&&clnt=clnt00001&&" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.p"><U>Slackers, Stigma and Depression</U></A>, Mental Health Net (1997)</div> <div> Boyz 'N the Neck -about the <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Boyz N the Hood"><U>racial crisis</U></A> in my home town, <I>American Lawyer </I>(March 1996)</div> <div> I review <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Rebutting the MacDworkinites"><U><I>Defending Pornography</I></U></A><A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Rebutting the MacDworkinites"><U> </U></A>by the ACLU's Nadine Strossen, <I>Legal Times </I>(Aug. 1995)</div> <div> <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="PC or Not PC, That is the Question"><U>Does Free Speech Exist?</U></A> - I review Stanley Fish, <I>Legal Times </I>(Apr. 1994)</div> <div> <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Does the Jury System Need Repair?"><U>Does the Jury System Need Repair?</U></A> <I>Legal Times </I>(Jan. 1995)</div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.kimel.net/jewpol.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.kimel.net/jewpol.html"><U>Polish-Jewish Reconciliation: A Long Way to Go</U></A>, originally published in <I>The Forward </I>(Dec. 1996) (scroll halfway down linked page)</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="lighter_pieces_1"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Eras Light ITC" ><B>LIGHTER PIECES</B></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Well Blow Them Out of the Water!"><U>We'll Blow Them Out of the Water! The 2012 Olympics</U></A>, <I>Washington Post</I>, (Jan. 2002)</div> <div> <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Being Dave Eggers"><U>Being Dave Eggers</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tanless"><U>Tanless </U></A>(Fall 2002)</div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="HouseHunting Hell"><U>House-hunting Hell</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="TV Hits Youll Soon Be Talking About"><U>TV hits you'll soon be talking about</U></A> (with Gregory Baruch, 2002) </div> <div> <A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Look Good in Tux, Ready to Run the NEA"><U>Look Good in Tux, Ready to Run the NEA</U></A>, <I>Wall Street Journal </I>(April 1989)</div> <div> <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Europe Beware! The Yanks Are Coming"><U>Superlawyers storm the Continent!</U></A> <I>Baltimore Sun (Apr. 1992)</I></div> <div> Regulating Wall Street Billionaires - Hear me on Public Radio's <A HREF="http://marketplace.org/shows/2000/02/07_mpp.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://marketplace.org/shows/2000/02/07_"><U>"Marketplace"</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Lullaby of Washington"><U>The Lullaby of Washington - Hail to the Redskins? </U></A><I>Washington Post</I> (Jan. 1991<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >)</FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="#articles_1" TITLE=" Look Good in Tux, Ready to Run the NEA"><U><B>BACK TO TOP</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Me"><U><B>E-Mail Me!</B></U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>  Look Good in Tux, Ready to Run the NEA</I></div> <div> By Martin Kimel</div> <bR> <div> <I>The Wall Street Journal </I>(Apr. 18, 1989)</div> <bR> <div> A fierce contest is being waged for the chairmanship of the National Endowment for the Arts.  Heads of various prestigious organizations and foundations, championed by heavy-hitting senators and White House insiders are vying for the president's nod.</div> <bR> <div> I herewith announce my availability for the post.</div> <bR> <div> No doubt some will consider this announcement a form of shameless self-promotion, one that does not befit a future chairman of the NEA.  It is, however, an unfortunate necessity.  Unlike front-runners Barnabas McHenry, Milton Rhodes and Lois Burke Shepard, I lack powerful Washington contacts who will make my case for my candidacy while I sit modestly on the sidelines.  I did not go to Princeton with Secretary of State James Baker (as did Mr. McHenry).  I do not have Gerald Ford's endorsement (as does Mr. Rhodes).  And I did not raise any money for George Bush (as did Ms. Shepard).</div> <bR> <div> I <I>did </I>contribute $70 to a former law school professor who ran a successful race for Congress as a Republican from California.  While that's a beginning, I doubt my ex-professor, a freshman representative, wields the kind of clout I'll need.  Because I live in the District of Columbia, I do not even have voting representatives to whom I can turn.  I therefore must make my appeal directly to the American people.</div> <bR> <div> One might ask why a 28-year-old Washington attorney would be willing to leave his high-powered law practice for what is largely an administrative position.  I imagine  the other candidates would explain they want the job because the role of national spokesperson for the arts -- I prefer the term "culture czar" -- takes on particular importance in these times of fiscal retrenchment.</div> <bR> <div> That is a worthy response.  I have additional reasons, though.  The NEA head probably gets invited to all the openings as well as to the best parties, which beats spending weekends reviewing stacks of legal documents.  I do not own a tuxedo, but I have been told I look good in formal wear, and I would purchase my own tuxedo if appointed.  This should not be too difficult on the position's salary of $82,500, which, while representing a significant cut for most of the better-known candidates, would impose no hardships on me.</div> <bR> <div> In addition, as culture czar, I would be able to make up for all the artistic events I have missed because of the long hours required by my law career.  No more would I miss Matisse exhibits at the National Gallery or have to fight weariness at a Friday night performance of "Les Miserables" at the Kennedy Center.  Ah, 'tis a consummation devoutly to be wish'd.</div> <bR> <div> Now that the American people know why I want the job, they are entitled to know my qualifications:  This is more difficult.  Notwithstanding my brief stint as Philadelphia theater critic for my college newspaper, it is possible that there are others who know the art world better than I.  Unlike Schuyler Chapin, for instance, I have never managed the Metropolitan Opera, and my participation in cultural fund-raising has been limited to renewing my annual membership in public television.  (This year I hope to receive a coffee mug as my gift premium.)  I also was active in my law-school film society, though the hard truth is that the competing undergraduate film series eventually drove us out of business.</div> <bR> <div> Experience isn't everything, however.  For one thing, my status as an outsider means that I would be free from the potential conflicts of interest that might plague my more-credentialed rivals.  Potential for growth should also count.  Although I do not currently run in artistic circles -- do any exist in Washington? -- I am a fairly likeable fellow and am certain that I would get on with members of the creative community (with the probable exception of "performance artists").  After all, there are few people more generally beloved than lawyers.</div> <bR> <div> The word in Washington is that President Bush is looking for bold initiatives.  The appointment of a 28-year-old lawyer with no relevant experience would certainly qualify as one.  I have openly made my case to the American public.  I challenge my fellow candidates to step out from behind the skirts of their champions and to do the same.  Friends, I need your support.  Movers and shakers, I await your inquiries.</div> <div> --------------------------------------------------------------------------</div> <div> Mr. Kimel would also like to be ambassador to France.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>   <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript">var site="sm4sitemeter"</script> <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript1.2" src="http://sm4.sitemeter.com/js/counter.js?site=sm4sitemeter"> </script> <noscript> <a href="http://sm4.sitemeter.com/stats.asp?site=sm4sitemeter" target="_top"> <img src="http://sm4.sitemeter.com/meter.asp?site=sm4sitemeter" alt="Site Meter" border=0></a> </noscript>    </div> </td> </tr></table></body>