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Momma said wonk you out

« More UN | Main | No Stir-Fry For You! »

Just Wondering

Not to offend or anything, but does anyone else find the fact that one of Powerline's contributors calls himself "rocket man" more than a little, well, gay?

By the way, if one of those fools really does decide to debate PZ Myers on evolution, it's going to be a rending. I'm not even sure I could watch. No, wait, yes I could:

• As Ogged has noted, they don't say the sensible, intelligent thing ("Of course we accept the best scientific explanation of our origins!"), but instead babble about "orthodoxies." The whole bunch over there must be wanking creationists. And yes, that certainly does discredit them—it means that they are not interested in the honest, critical evaluation of the evidence, but instead leap to conclusions based on ideology.
• They complain that my short comment did not present the evidence for evolution. Silly people. I've got articles all over this weblog discussing the evidence for evolution. Check out the Panda's Thumb or many of the sites in the science and evolution categories of my blogroll. Or heck, go to a library. This isn't secret stuff. These guys aren't aware of any of it—so where do they get off criticizing legitimate biology?

Posted by Ezra Klein on February 23, 2005 4:21 PM | Permalink

COMMENTS (19)

A little odd, yes. A little gay, God, I hope not. I'd like to think the Faggots' Union would have high enough standards to keep riffraff like Hinderaker out.

Posted by: Musing Michael | February 23, 2005 4:32 PM

Michael,

they let Jeff Guckert into the Union?

Posted by: Chris R | February 23, 2005 4:48 PM

Send them a copy of Richard Dawkins "The Ancestor's Tale," a book that bowled me over with what IS known about the evolutionary relationships among living things (and the palentological and molecular data that support these relationships)--though I am unhappy that primates and rodents are closer relatives than primates and mammals we like more (dogs and cats). The whale/hippo connection is also both mindbending and obvious once it it put out there.

I'm only sorry that I had to return it to the library when I had only made my way back to the mammal-like reptiles.

Finally, I would bet that these Powerline guys never had any pets.

Posted by: Art Nevksy | February 23, 2005 5:00 PM

"Hindrocket"? Nah, not gay at all.

Not that there's anything wrong with that (the being gay and all)...

Posted by: skybluewater | February 23, 2005 5:05 PM

Hee. Yeah, it's kind of like Buck Turgidson, isn't it?

Posted by: Linnet | February 23, 2005 5:52 PM

What is next? The heliocentric solar system?

It's as if the Scopes Monkey Trial never happened.

Posted by: stickler | February 23, 2005 6:50 PM

Arguing with a creationist is like arguing with a flat-earther or an AIDS-is-a-government-invention type -- there's just no point. You cannot convince them with logic, because their thinking is inherently illogical. Laugh and point -- yes, yes, let's laugh at the retarded boy -- but don't try to persuade. They're beyond help.

Posted by: Waldo Jaquith | February 23, 2005 7:24 PM

Gay? Is there something wrong with that?

Posted by: Terrance Heath | February 23, 2005 7:48 PM

This is what I wrote to powerline concerning their discussion of Myers' comments (I think it gets to the heart of their lack of understanding of the scientific method):

"I think the way you phrase the argument pharyngula (PZ Myers) makes about Hindrocket is incorrect. It seems as if the argument is not "Hindrocket knows nothing about biology, therefore he knows nothing about politics." It is rather "Hindrocket is prone to state right-wing talking points about topics he knows nothing about. Biology is definitely one such topic. One would hypothesize that all topics could be considered similarly mastered by Hindrocket." This would not a priori be a false hypothesis, but one could argue that it is not true based on Hindrocket's actual expertise in other areas (this would be considered falsifying predictions of incompetence based on Hindrocket's demonstrated incompetence about biology with demonstrations of his competence in other areas). This is known as the scientific method, and is also logical. PZ Myers, while harsh is also logical. Your comment in response seems less logical."

Posted by: Craig Kaplan | February 23, 2005 8:15 PM

You might want to read my smackdown on creationists.

That is, if the mood strikes you.

Posted by: pbg | February 23, 2005 9:19 PM

Aren't those people lawyers?

Posted by: merlallen | February 23, 2005 11:27 PM

"they let Jeff Guckert into the Union?"

I'd have voted to let him join, Chris. Nothing wrong (in my estimation, anyway) in selling it to people who want to pay for it. I don't like that he then turned to virtual prostitution as a shill for the Bushoviki on top of being an actual whore for money. But we all make mistakes.

Posted by: Musing Michael | February 24, 2005 10:05 AM

"Big Trunk" ain't exactly devoid of double entendre, either.

Posted by: praktike | February 24, 2005 10:46 AM

I followed your link over to "Power Line" and find it interesting that there is no way to comment, agree or disagree, with their comments. I wonder why ? ? ?

Posted by: Chief | February 24, 2005 10:57 AM

Nick Coleman made a similar point in his much-maligned StarTribune column a few months back. I believe he suggested that people calling themselves "Hindrocket" and "Big Trunk" might be overcompensating just a wee bit.

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