Speaking of the government's silly wall art, the Washington Post has a rather hilarious feature on the massive sums federal agencies pay to get their chiefs' portraits painted.

The Coast Guard in August awarded a $12,000 contract for a portrait of Adm. Thad W.

Allen, a sharp drop from the $23,500 it spent in 2005 for a likeness of

Allen's predecessor as commandant...

At the upper end of the scale, the Defense Department awaits the expected February completion of a $46,790 portrait of controversial former secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

It will grace a Pentagon hallway lined with portraits of his predecessors, as well as one from Rumsfeld's first stint as defense secretary from 1975 to 1977.