Museum of Jewish Heritage’s Political Posturing over Ron DeSantis

For the first time in three years, I’m in Venice, so why am I writing about la ciarlatana arrivista, which I think means “self-serving charlatan,” who directs the Museum of Jewish Heritage (MJH) in New York? Because Jack Kliger’s in the news, and even in Italy I follow the American museum scene. I’ve written many times about museums getting involved in politics. In 2020, directors, most at the insistence of wacky young staff, plastered their websites with love letters to the outrage pimps of Black Lives Matter. This was the first frolic down the slippery slope to a divisive, distracting soak in a swamp.

Lots of museum directors and staff want more. They’re bloated with woke righteousness and bored with art. It’s up to trustees, especially where directors have run amok, to say “basta,” or “genug iz genug.” I like to try some Yiddish, but remember, I’m a Methodist and from Vermont.

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Brian T. Allen

Brian T. Allen is National Review’s art critic.

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Ron DeSantis

For the first time in three years, I’m in Venice, so why am I writing about la ciarlatana arrivista, which I think means “self-serving charlatan,” who directs the Museum of Jewish Heritage (MJH) in New York? Because Jack Kliger’s in the news, and even in Italy I follow the American museum scene. I’ve written many times about museums getting involved in politics. In 2020, directors, most at the insistence of wacky young staff, plastered their websites with love letters to the outrage pimps of Black Lives Matter. This was the first frolic down the slippery slope to a divisive, distracting soak in a swamp.

Lots of museum directors and staff want more. They’re bloated with woke righteousness and bored with art. It’s up to trustees, especially where directors have run amok, to say “basta,” or “genug iz genug.” I like to try some Yiddish, but remember, I’m a Methodist and from Vermont.