Bethany Mandel Discovers Science In Science Museums, History In History Museums, Is Outraged
Oh, she's on one!
Once upon a time, many internet years ago, a woman named Megan Fox (not that Megan Fox) took a video of her trip to Chicago’s Field Museum, whereupon she whined about the fact that the museum acknowledged the reality of evolution, instead of coddling her belief in creationism. Tragically, the full video appears to have been lost to time, but there are still a few clips available, for those of you who never got to witness its majesty.
She writes for PJMedia these days, by the way. Tragically, I missed her article last year about how Trump was making dating great again for MAGA women — after some liberal women said they would give up sex or divorce their husbands after he won, in the model of the 4B movement in Korea — because now they wouldn’t have to compete with liberal women with “high body counts and low morals” for men. It’s a fun one!
Following in her footsteps now is one Bethany Mandel, whom you may remember from the time she wrote an entire book about “woke” and then found herself unable to define the term “woke.”
Or from the time she ran for Montgomery County, Maryland, school board despite homeschooling her kids, and lost.
This week, Mandel published an editorial on Fox asking “Why are major museums pushing climate change instead of celebrating the spirit of America?” and describing her horror when she went to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History only to discover that instead of celebrating America, they kept going on about science.
The easy answer to this is “Because it’s a science museum, you strange little woman,” but Mandel was not looking for easy answers.
One exhibit states, “Since the last ice age, Earth’s climate has warmed. But now that warming is getting faster because of us.”
The message is clear: “Hope you liked the dinosaur bones, kids — because we might be next.”
Well … yes?
I understand that people like Mandel (and Fox before her) like to have their weird beliefs coddled and would love to go to a science museum that doesn’t even mention climate change. Or that tells them “Sure! We’re having crazy weather these days, like those floods in Texas that just killed a whole bunch of people, but that’s only because Democrats are manipulating the weather with chemtrails because they want you to feel bad about your SUV!” or, you know “Sure! We’re having crazy weather these days, like those floods in Texas that just killed a whole bunch of people, but that’s because God is mad about gay people and feminists!” depending on what flavor of right-wing lunacy one subscribes to.
Mandel was also disappointed to see that the National Museum of American History acknowledged civil rights movements.
At the National Museum of American History, visitors get a heavy dose of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Despite the fast-approaching 250th anniversary of America’s founding, there were no visible exhibits or events celebrating the milestone. In the week leading up to the Fourth of July, the museum’s homepage highlighted four features: a lunch counter sit-in, women’s suffrage, a 19th-century Black firefighter and a community center for pregnant Latina immigrants. The Smithsonian did not respond to questions on deadline.
It’s true. The museum did highlight those particular artifacts, and is still highlighting them. The Greensboro lunch counter is a pretty darned important artifact of American history, as is the Declaration of Sentiments from the first Seneca Falls Woman’s Rights convention. The other two are from their “Always Ready: Firefighting in the 19th Century” and “Giving in America” exhibits that have both been there since 2016. Is she mad that sometimes firefighters are Black?
There is also, however, an entire page dedicated to events planned so far for 2026, the actual 250th anniversary of America’s founding, including a special exhibition called “American Aspirations.” Whoops! Guess she just missed that one when she was busy fuming about Black people eating lunch or women voting.
But that wasn’t all!
As one historian told me, “The second-floor popular culture exhibit — probably the most popular in the museum — is a Marxist struggle session. Every single exhibit is interpreted through a race-class-gender lens.”
Well that’s just true. Why else would they make Dorothy’s slippers red instead of silver, like they were in the books? Obviously because she was a baby-eating liberal like Tom Hanks! Or because communism!
Mandel was also very upset that, two years ago, she went to the Hirshhorn Museum, where her child found a book acknowledging the existence of trans people.
Two years ago, at the Hirshhorn Museum, my kids picked up a children’s book titled, “My Own Way: Celebrating Gender Freedom For Kids.” One page reads, “You may be both… you may be none!” Another shows a naked child looking at a clothesline with the caption, “Your truth isn’t hidden underneath your clothes.”
It’s an art museum, ma’am. Who expects to go to an art museum celebrating closed-mindedness?
But it’s not only in Washington DC! Mandel also visited the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia, and was distraught to discover that they had an art exhibit that acknowledged the existence of climate change
According to the exhibit description: “In the photographic series Jamestown is Sinking and the video installation The Interpreters, Greta Pratt explores the relationship between climate change and colonialism in Virginia’s Tidewater region… compelling viewers to examine how colonialization, spurred on by capitalist interests, has dramatically altered the natural environment.”
In other words: climate change, colonialism, capitalism — buzzword bingo in a single art exhibit.
Mandel was outraged to discover that although the museum isn’t entirely funded by taxes, it had received “$1.2 million in federal grants over the years from agencies like the Institute of Museum and Library Services.” Apparently, she believes that this means it should not be allowed to feature art which acknowledges the existence of climate change.
Worst of all, when she contacted the museum, they refused to even apologize to her for it!
Instead, they told her:
We’re honored to exhibit the work of Greta Pratt, a celebrated local artist and recent recipient of a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship. The Chrysler Museum of Art is dedicated to fostering creativity, encouraging thoughtful dialogue, and exploring our shared humanity through art. We believe Pratt’s work contributes meaningfully to civic discourse, and we remain committed to presenting a wide spectrum of viewpoints without limiting artistic expression.
Oh, the humanity of it all! Why can’t they feature some nice conservative art, like Ben Garrison, Jon McNaughton, or Adolf Wissel? Or, even better, liberals could just stop making art altogether so that conservatives don’t have to feel badly about their artistic failings?
But all is not lost for Bethany Mandel and her desire to only go to museums that reflect her personal worldview!
There is a glimmer of hope. At the Kennedy Center, Richard Grenell has started cleaning house — aiming to ensure that publicly funded art is about art, not indoctrination. It’s a long-overdue shift that could mark a turning point.
And it appears the issue is already on the administration’s radar. Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Smithsonian is undergoing a sweeping review of all content across its 21 museums and zoo to eliminate political bias. According to internal documents, the decision came during a closed-door Board of Regents meeting on June 9. The review follows President Donald Trump’s March executive order calling for the removal of “improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology” and the restoration of exhibits that reflect “American and Western values.”
Quite frankly, if that is what they want, they’re probably going to have to close the museums entirely. Mandel said she wanted to take her daughter to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History to see dinosaurs, but that is something people like Megan Fox find very, very divisive and upsetting. They would have a difficult time filling even one museum with scientific, historic, and artistic things that conservatives do not find offensive, nevermind 21. They’d pretty much be stuck with “Nice Things About The Founding Fathers and The American Revolution,” “Confederate Statues,” “Science At An Elementary School Level,” “Kindergarten Cop to The Brady Bunch: All The Science You Need To Know, As Illustrated By Memes From Decades-Old Movies And TV Shows,” and “Precious Moments Figurines: Now That’s Some Real Art Right There.”
But if they don’t get to it, the consequences could be dire. And by dire, we mean that people might feel bad about things for a second!
With more than 30 million visitors expected to descend on Washington, D.C. for the nation’s Semiquincentennial next year, the clock is ticking. If nothing changes, they’ll walk into the Museum of American History and leave not with a celebration of our founding — but with a guilt trip.
Time is of the essence.
Yes, hopefully by then they will be able to create the National Museum For People Who Don’t Think Good and Bethany Mandel will be at peace.
I find solace in knowing that even in the Trump Era, I'm not as miserable as this stupid fucking bigot lady.
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Every Federal agency is infected with the MAGA disease.
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