Suppressing Dissent? Or Something Else?

This looks suspicious, but I doubt if it's a matter of suppressing dissent (contrary to opinions of other reactionaries). After all, if an ID film isn't shown at the Smithsonian, it will just be shown somewhere else.

I suspect it's a consequence of Robert Conquest's Second Law of Politics:

Any organization not explicitly and constitutionally right-wing will sooner or later become left-wing.

The self-congratulation-based community has to ensure that some organizations have a reputation for infallibility. If this ID film is shown, the Smithsonian will be shown to be as fallible as any other human organization. As a result, any future pile of leftist propaganda that might wind up at the Smithsonian cannot be defended by people saying, “It must be true; it's at the Smithsonian.”