UH, IF HE'S A MODERATE, PRAYTELL, WHAT AM I?

I'm not going to engage my self-described "moderate Democrat" PS 121 professor on his wholly ignorant screed against the late Edward Said right now, as I don't have a full bottle of Tylenol in my immediate vicinity, nor anything to break of moderate value. (though my question is, what kind of "moderat Democrat" links approvingly to the National Review, FrontPage Magazine and the California frickin' Patriot, all in the same paragraph???)

But I will dispense with one little morsel of BS for the time being.

Halfway through his long post, Dr Gordon writes:

Increasingly, Said's grudges and resentments --- not least aimed at the US --- began to unhinge his mind. Last April, he wrote that

"In the US, the hardening of attitudes, the tightening of the grip of demeaning generalization and triumphalist cliché, the dominance of crude power allied with simplistic contempt for dissenters and 'others,' has found a fitting correlative in the looting, pillaging and destruction of Iraq's libraries and museums." See Christopher Hitchens [yes, he even links to Hitch! -tfm]

When you see such wild stuff, you can only rub your eyes and wonder about the sanity of the man saying it. After all, it was Iraqis who looted the libraries and museums of their country last April, not Americans; and for that matter, after all the hullabaloo, it turned out the looting itself was restricted in scope, with about 40 artifacts not found or returned. [emphasis tfm's]

Oh really?

Because right now, I'm looking at a David Filipov article from last wednesday's Boston Globe, about the returning of the "Sumerian Mona Lisa" to the National Museum in Baghdad, and it says this (found through Lexis Nexis, otherwise you're paying $2.95 for the article at the Globe website):

The hauntingly expressive alabaster mask, largely unscathed despite months of being passed around by shady art thieves and smugglers, came home thanks to a joint Iraqi-American operation that led two investigators from New York to its hiding place in a shallow grave at a farm outside Baghdad.

But as Iraqi culture officials expressed relief at the discovery of this important piece of the world's artistic legacy, they acknowledged the daunting task they faced in finding the thousands of precious items still missing. A thriving smuggling market threatens to ensure that many of the pieces will end up in the hands of international traders, a devastating loss as the world-renowned museum struggles to reopen.

In the final days of the war, looters broke into the museum and stole or vandalized thousands of artifacts from the ancient Mesopotamian kingdoms of Sumer, Akkad, and Babylon, the first civilizations to develop a written language, codify laws, and study the stars.

The day the US-led forces occupied Baghdad, the museum saw an orgy of art theft reminiscent of a medieval sacking, prompting worldwide criticism of the American military for not stopping the looters. US investigators believe at least some of the thieves had inside information about where the most important pieces were being stored. One Iraqi art smuggler said American soldiers were among his many customers trying to cash in on the sale of the relics.

Five months later, much of the museum is still a battered wreck of deserted galleries, smashed and empty exhibit cases, and cracked marble staircases.

Museum officials and American investigators estimate that more than 10,000 artifacts remain missing, though a worldwide recovery effort has turned up 3,500 pieces. [emphases all mine!]

Whoops! He's a professor, he could have Lexis Nexis'd that baby in a heartbeat. I'm sitting in the library of his own damn school right now, and I did it! He bought the line from the right-wing echo chamber, hook line sinker etc.

With this in mind, I'm quite happy that the TA's are reading the papers and exams.