We visited the International Spy Museum the other day. Quick review: Lots of flash, little substance. The best features of the museum are the old gadgets—tiny cameras, tiny bugging devices, codebreaking machines, etc. Not surprisingly, the place seems geared for the spectacle tourist, rather than for a historian or someone with a genuine interest in spying. It's also not really "international"; it focuses primarily on the 20th century and the spying efforts of the U.S. and Western Europe, and, of course, the old Soviet Union. The museum devotes a special room to the horrors of the Red Terror and the fact that the Soviet Union spied extensively on its own people, but said nothing about Cointelpro. (Not to say that the two are equivalent, simply that the U.S. also has a rich history of spying on its own citizens, and the museum completely ignores that.) Most shocking: There wasn't a single mention of the proposed TIPS Program (which probably isn't dead) or the domestic spying operations authorized by the so-called "Patriot Act." In other words, the "International Spy Museum" is largely a really snazzy and extravagant bit of pro-U.S. propaganda. Still, it's fun propaganda, and certainly worth a visit if you're in D.C.