They aren't just petty and mean, they're stupid
I don't mean to harp on this stuff, but I think that blogs need to publicize the fact that some of these alleged "mainstream" bloggers on the right are quite far out on the fringe. They will respond furiously that Atrios and Kos and others are America haters or "barking moonbats" but their own words speak for themselves. It's important that people see them, especially the mainstream media who are just beginnning to pay attention. They need to understand that Powerline is not just some nice lawyers and bankers who write about politics. They represent what Richard Hofsteder calls the paranoid strain in American politics. It's important that people begin to make distinctions.
I'll add to that…not only are they paranoid crazy, they're stupid crazy. Rising Hegemon dug up this tiny jewel of idiocy from Hindrocket from a few years ago:
Professor Volokh seemed to assume that someone who doesn't believe in evolution is a harmless crank, who should not on that account be barred from pursuing a career in, say, medicine. My own view is different. I think that Darwin's theory of macroevolution is plainly wrong, on strictly scientific grounds. So to bar a student from progressing in his career because he refuses to sign on to what is, in my view, a rather obvious fraud, which cannot withstand the mildest scrutiny, is really an outrage. It is no different from the practice in Soviet Russia of promoting only biologists who believed (or pretended to believe) in the theories of Lamarck, who argued that acquired traits could be inherited. But Darwinism is the official religion of the biological (and more generally, the scientific) establishment, and as such is rigorously enforced.
"On strictly scientific grounds"? Hindrocket doesn't know any science. The "macroevolution" canard is stock mindless creationism. The real outrage here is that a clueless nitwit like Hindrocket can claim that the entire field of biology is a fraud that cannot stand up to scrutiny; I'd be happy to mop the floor with him in a debate, if he wants to try.
Karl Popper argued long ago that Darwin's theory of evolution was never a matter of science; it was always about faith. As the empirical foundations of Darwinism have crumbled under attack by a new generation of biologists, especially microbiologists, its advocates have become increasingly shrill and sectarian.
I am one of the current generation of biologists, and I can assure you that his claim that evolution ("Darwinism?" Give me a break. Calling it "Darwinism" is clue #1 that you're dealing with an ignorant creationist) is under attack from us is a stinking pile of baloney. He's simply accepting the dishonest claims of the skulking creationists at the Discovery Institute at face value. The overwhelming majority of scientists support evolution…as they should, since it is the theory best supported by the evidence.
As for that remark about "especially microbiologists"…hilarious. It's obvious that Hindrocket doesn't even know what microbiologists are, or what they do, or what evidence his imaginary "microbiologists" are pulling out of their ass.
Time magazine really screwed the pooch when they named PowerLine "blog of the year"—they picked a site run by a few paranoid, extremist doofuses. People, please don't judge the good progressive state of Minnesota by these extremist clowns and Lileks.
Hey, all you charming and adorable powerline fans who are sending me e-mail and making phone calls: consider this fair warning. I will consider your messages fair game to post publicly. They will provide us all much merriment.
Oh, and here is my reply to Power Line.


P.S. There should be an "at least" between the "is" and the "better". Even mentioning Kent Hovind made me dumber....