Painting Condi’s Portrait

The Bush administration may currently be one of the least popular in history, but at least it can look forward to immortality in art. Outgoing Cabinet secretaries and other elite appointees are, according to Washington tradition, sitting for portraits—a tradition that can cost taxpayers up to $50,000 for a single portrait. "I think most people like the tradition of presidents having their portraits painted," said one critic. "But where does the line get drawn?…[S]omewhere along the way, I'm pretty sure that you'd lose wide public support." How's this for a place to draw the line? A $46,790 portrait of Donald Rumsfeld is currently in production.