"Zinn: Don't forget the Black Gate. The Black Gate, which, as Tolkien points out, was built by Gondor. And now we jump to the Orcs chopping down the trees in Isengard.

Chomsky: A terrible thing the Orcs do here, isn't it? They destroy nature. But again, what have we seen, time and time again?

Zinn: The Orcs have no resources. They're desperate.

Chomsky: Desperate people driven to do desperate things."

That one had me cracking up.

I can't believe I read the whole thing. Not to be a humorless ass about it, but I can't see Chomsky judging Hobbits as "criminals, essentially." Not if he's talking about race. If he's talking about Hobbiton as a sort of nation or government structure, well then sure! Criminals all the way.

And what I wouldn't give to hear Chomsky utter the term "Bilbo's eleventy-first birthday."

I don't know enough about Zinn but I reckon he's got Chomsky's speech patterns down. You can almost hear him saying the stuff...