I've been posting at Daily Kos since 2004 or thereabouts, often on the subject of the intelligent design movement and its larger implications. And the implications are indeed significant; intelligent design serves as a telling symptom of something that bloggers here and elsewhere have repeatedly identified as a symptom of the problems that plague our country in general and its information infrastructure in particular. Start with the theory of evolution; throw out some new pseudo-theory based on nonsense and outright lies; and then watch as the mainstream media paints a picture of a scientific battle that doesn't actually exist. The GOP uses this method every day.
Anyway, I've just started writing for The Huffington Post. My first piece covers the general wackiness to be found at Uncommon Descent, a blog founded by intelligent design proponent William Dembski back in 2005. The purpose of the article is to illustrate what would happen to our nation's scientific infrastructure if it were ever to be taken over by the ID crowd (and if you're familiar with the Wedge Document, you're already aware that this is exactly what they're after). An example of the illogical mentality that rules the ID movement:
One of Dembski's hand-picked blog co-moderators, Dave Springer, once received an e-mail to the effect that the ACLU was about to sue the Marine Corps in order to stop Marines from praying; outraged, Springer posted it on his blog in order that his readers could join him in being affronted. After all, the e-mail had told him to. "Please send this to people you know so everyone will know how stupid the ACLU is Getting [sic] in trying to remove GOD from everything and every place in America," the bright-red text exhorted, above pictures of praying Marines. "Right on!" Dembski added in the comments. It was then pointed out by other readers that the e-mail was a three-year-old hoax; the ACLU spokesperson named therein did not actually exist, and neither did the ACLU's complaint. Springer was unfazed by the revelation. "To everyone who's pointed out that the ACLU story is a fabrication according to snopes.com -- that's hardly the point," he explained. "The pictures of Marines praying are real." Dembski himself had no further comment.
The intelligent design movement suffered a real blow at the 2005 Dover Trial, but their "natural constituency," in the words of the Wedge Document, is still waiting in the wings for someone like Sarah Palin to rise to a position of power. The movement has stalled, but movements often do; success is always just an election away.
Don't underestimate the forces of superstition. History tells us of its murderous results.