I.D. ENTERING ITS 'LAROUCHE' PHASE

An article in today's NY Times suggests that the upcoming decision in the Dover, PA intelligent design case will have serious implications for the future of the ID movement, and the signs aren't good. This caught my eye:

John G. West, a political scientist and senior fellow at the Discovery Institute, the main organization supporting intelligent design, said the skepticism and outright antagonism are evidence that the scientific "fundamentalists" are threatened by its arguments.

"This is natural anytime you have a new controversial idea," Mr. West said. "The first stage is people ignore you. Then, when they can't ignore you, comes the hysteria. Then the idea that was so radical becomes accepted. I'd say we're in the hysteria phase."

Yes, that's what Lyndon LaRouche and his followers have been saying for years now. I'm sure, however, that IDers won't have any problem finding impressionable young fools to man their campus merch tables, either.

There's an excellent article on the Dover case in the current issue of the New Yorker, unavailable on line. Here's an interview with the article's author, Margaret Talbot.