What the Hell is Wrong with the Smithsonian?

Sometimes I wonder if conservatives aren't right about government being completely hopeless. I've been trying to order some old exhibit catalogs from the National Portrait Gallery for a couple months now to no avail. What seems to be the problem? This gives a clue:

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What Happened?
An outside company that operated both our call center and distribution center shut down unexpectedly on Friday, March 14th, leaving hundreds of their loyal employees out of work. This is a most unfortunate and complicated situation involving bankers, lawyers, a dozen clients including the Smithsonian Catalogue, and several other catalog companies.

2. Why wasn’t the Smithsonian Catalogue better prepared for this situation?
Our service provider has been in business for 35 years. Up until the moment they shut their doors, they continued to provide us and our customers with excellent service. We had no reason to suspect that a suspension of services was imminent.

Well, the Smithsonian has been "in business" for over 100 years and I had "no reason to suspect" they would be so incompetent and helpless just because of a glitch in their service outsourcing. Lesson learned!