The Irony Never Stops

The usual hasty post by the Constructive Curmudgeon produces yet another ironic twist in the Curmudgeon's failed crusade against "Darwinists," as he likes to call them. Here is the post, preserved for posterity with Snipping Tool, before it gets canned by the Curmudgeon, when he realizes his blunder:


For once, I agree with the Curmudgeon: No, it is not fair. But, apparently, neither is the Curmudgeon's accusation that the interview was taken down "because of the bullying from those who did not want to hear [Behe's] intelligent design arguments." Who wanted the video removed? Behe explains it himself on his blog (emphasis added):

After I found out the video was removed I emailed John McWhorter and the editor to ask for an explanation, and John emailed back that he himself requested the video to be pulled because people thought he was too easy on me, which was supposedly contrary to that old Bloggingheads spirit. I find that quite implausible (other shows on the site feature discussions between people who agree on many things). Rather, I suspect the folks at the website weren’t expecting the vitriolic reaction, began to worry about their good names and future employment prospects, pictured themselves banished to a virtual leper colony, panicked, and folded.*

So, let's recap: Behe writes to John McWorther for an explanation, McWorther gives him one, and Behe disbelieves him. Then, somewhere along the way, the Curmudgeon makes up his explanation that it's all the fault of those nasty, debate-hating Darwinists, and voilà, another plate of hot air is served hot from the Curmudgeon's inexhaustible kitchen.

Incidentally, McWorther's bread "is buttered by The Manhattan Institute, which is a conservative think thank," as Razib Khan writes on his blog at Scienceblogs. So, apparently, it is not always liberals who turn out to be the bad truth- and debate-suppressing Darwinists, there are a few truth- and debate-suppressing Darwinists conservatives, too, apparently.

For added irony, a couple of times in the past the Curmudgeon himself has removed posts and banned people from his blog that he deemed, in his indisputable opinion, too controversial or unpleasant, so to accuse others of censoring debate takes quite some moxie, which of course the Grootmudgeon does not lack.

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*For those who are interested, here is the text of Blogginhheads' representation of McWorther's request: "John McWhorter feels, with regret, that this interview represents neither himself, Professor Behe, nor Bloggingheads usefully, takes full responsibility for same, and has asked that it be taken down from the site. He apologizes to all who found its airing objectionable."