Mark Souder and Bribery
I know Mark Souder and have two distinct memories of the former congressman. In the late eighties, when Senator Dan Coats was the only other senator to stand up with Jesse Helms the day he launched the culture wars with his denunciation of the National Endowment for the Arts, Souder was Coat’s chief of staff. As President of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, I was visiting D.C. and stopped by Coats’ office for a social visit. As we were chatting, a sweaty Souder in shirtsleeves came in and handed Coats a newspaper clipping. The look on Souder’s face was glum and vindictive.The clipping, with several yellow outlinings, was an op-ed piece I’d written months before in defense of the NEA and somewhat critical of Coats and others. Coats (again this fall a candidate for the senate) began to jab his finger at the clipping. “I’m trying to save the NEA,” he yelled, “and this kind of thing doesn’t help in the least!” Souder, having arranged this ambush, was delighted. (To his credit, Coats calmed down and we ended up having a reasoned argument on the issue and eventually agreed to disagree and parted cordially.)
The second memory is more telling and still, to this day, takes my breath away. Mark Souder accused me of trying to bribe him.
Not long after Souder was elected to the 3rd congressional district in Indiana, he began to repeat Coat’s criticism of the NEA. Now, one of his staunchest financial supporters was on my board of directors. I asked him to arrange a meeting with Souder and several of my friends in the arts, which the board member did. He also attended.
We solicited Souder’s support and Souder, in the presence of his biggest donor, said everything we wanted to hear, including, “I believe there is a Federal role for support of the arts.” At the end of this quite cordial meeting, Souder ask if I would send him a Philharmonic poster, so that he could have it up in his D.C. office. “I like people to see I’m connected to home,” he explained.
Not longer after, Souder led the now infamous midnight raid of freshman congressmen on Newt Gingrich’s office demanding the NEA be de-funded and put out of business. In response, I sent Souder a brief letter suggesting that having a Philharmonic poster on his office walls might mislead people into thinking that the Philharmonic supported his position on the NEA, and to please send it back.
He called me three weeks later, splutteringly angry.
“I campaigned on getting rid of the NEA,” he said.
“Then why didn’t you say that at our meeting?” I replied.
I don’t recall everything else he said, of course — he is not a man of few words — but these words have stuck. “So,” he said, “The poster was a bribe.”
“Excuse me,” I said, “What did you say?”
“A bribe.”
Then, a moment later, he said, “You know, it’s a federal crime, trying to bribe a U.S. Congressman.”
Though I suggested to him that what he was saying was ridiculous on its face, and reminded him that he had asked me for the poster, he continued the bullying.
Of course, it was all meant to intimidate me. He was afraid that I had embarrassed him in front of his biggest donor.
Why, when hypocrisy is the thing we detest most in our politicians, is it the thing they practice most often?
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The hell with the NEA. After the Robert Mapplethorpe incident, I quit supporting it, and will continue to do so.
I suppose now I’ll have to find somewhere else to buy my music supplies. Since you’re at Sweetwater, I won’t walk in there again until I know you’re gone.
The interesting thing, for me at least, from your encounters was the pervasive “nastiness” and “poisonousness nature” of the encounters.
Aren’t those two of the things I heard the former Congressman decry Tuesday morning when I was in his office?
Yet another glimpse at that rube’s true nature that might have been useful for NE Indiana voters to have known, oh, years ago. Not that it would have made a difference, but it’s good to know that when it comes to crossing the board of directors, mainstream arts organizations are no braver than any other corporation.
I take it the staunch supporter remained on the board? And the poster was never returned?
The question is, why was Souder sweaty that day?
Maybe if you viewed the poster as a ADVERTISEMENT for the Philharmonic for local constituents that might visit congressman Souder office and not some political piece of art than you might still be working for the Philharmonic. But you bailed after you and your cronies ran it into near bankruptcy.
I am a big supporter of the National Endowment for the Arts.
I believe that certain politicians have used the NEA as scapegoat to shift the blame for their own failure to address the real causes of reckless Federal spending.
True, the NEA has had its problems like the Maplethorpe incident (which occurred 21 years ago!). But I believe, like is the case with ACORN, the public is whipped up into a frenzy by an coordinated effort of talk radio and conservative news sources to distract people from our real problems.
Let’s put things in perspective:
The NEA budget for FY 2010 is $168 million (source: http://www.arts.gov/about/Budget/AppropriationsHistory.htm).
We are spending about $7.3 billion per month in Iraq (source: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/Centers/Saban/Iraq%20Index/index20100330.pdf).
So if we withdraw one month early from Iraq, we can fully fund the NEA at current levels for the next 43 years!
Nice, AWB. In the absence of reasoned argument, threats.
This is the second time, I believe, that Mr. Frick has leveled this particular accusation at me. He should look at the record, which is public. When I resigned in 2005, I left the Philharmonic with more than $8 million in net assets.
The NEA is pretty much a settled issue, and is no longer the political red meat that it once was. The few questionable grants involved were a fraction of a fraction of the NEA’s budget back in the nineties. I do not believe, however, that individual artists have a given right to federal funding, and never did. It doesn’t meet the civic impact test for me. So, I hope they tread carefully in trying to reinstate individual artist grants.
Nancy, the staunch donor left the board, no longer our donor. The poster never came home and probably remained in his office until last Friday.
If the poster was a bribe, fine.
He accepted it, therefore accepting a bribe.
That guy was a wierdo first class.
Excellent point! I wish I’d thought of it when he made the accusation!