If you haven't been following the controversy involving Smithsonian head Lawrence Small, Eric Gibson has a good overview in today's Wall Street Journal. He points out that the immediate cause of Small's resignation was "the fallout on Capitol Hill from an inspector general's report that showed him billing the Smithsonian for such lavish expenses as first-class air travel and home maintenance costs--albeit with the approval of the Board of Regents, the Smithsonian's governing body." But he also notes that, prior to this, Small was no stranger to legal controversy: "In 2004 he was convicted of buying art containing feathers from birds on the Endangered Species list, and then got into a tussle with the judge on what form his community-service sentence should take."
Gibson also looks at possible replacements, but thinks the real problems are more structural.
Worth reading in its entirety.
