National Privatized Radio

The Smithsonian Institute's Secretary Lawrence Small resigned yesterday. He'd recently come under congressional inquiry for some creative use of the museums' expense accounts.

After an Inspector General's report, the Smithsonian said their found no criminal intent but instead behavior that "might be considered lavish and extravagant." Yeah, like $1.15 million over six months in exchange for using his house for Smithsonian functions. Itemized allowances included chandlier cleaning, pool upkeep, utility bills, and polishing services for his wrinkly, viagra-stuffed nob.

You've probably heard about his extravagance already. Well this morning I was listening to NPR's Morning Edition talk about his resignation. They gave a little background, voiced some of his critics and supporters, typical npr stuff. Then they made an interesting normalizing statement. Apparently, the controversy really boils down to an issue of cultural mismatch. Coming from the private sector, where he was used to gold-plated toilets, company jets, corporate-sponsored servants to wipe his butt, Small wasn't culturally oriented to the penny pinching non-profit world. WTF!?

Whatever. Now that he's gone, my question is who gets to keep his $48,000 office chairs?