Beginning two weeks ago and going on for 12 days, the White House was adamant that the horrific Sept. 11 attacks on our embassies in Egypt and Libya, which resulted in four dead Americans (one an ambassador) and included burnings of Barack Obama in effigy, were caused by outrage at a 14-minute “film” that had been made by an obscure private citizen and seen only by a handful of people on YouTube.

The film, about as offensive to Muslims as “Piss Christ” is to most Christian (and many non-Christian) Americans, was seen by the administration as a perfectly plausible reason for these riots (and murders) to have happened. “Piss Christ,” meanwhile, which received an award and a $15,000 National Endowment for the Arts grant when it was first exhibited, is on display in a gallery in Manhattan this week.