Politicians are often touted as 'hawks' or 'doves'. Thunderf00t's recent arrival at FtB can be better described as a cat amongst the pigeons.
On only his second post, he threw his oar into the TAMGate farce that has been enthralling (yawn) its readers for weeks (it seems like months?), by suggesting that it isn't really a big problem.
Today, he responds to PZ Myers' attacks on him, calling him out on his straw man arguments. In his third offering, he cites no less than five examples of what he perceives to be Myers "going off half cocked on some argument that was never made"
I'll not list them all here, Thunderf00t is more than capable of expressing himself, but I would like to see his presence at FtB rattle a few cages. Those that have followed me on Google+ recently will be aware of my growing frustration at a number (but by no means all) of the more established bloggers there cowering to the almighty Myers, rather than having the spine to stand up to him and have an opinion of their own.
Some might say I am not being very fair on those that do actually support Myers' position on TAMGate, and that would be a fair appraisal. If they are genuine in their sycophancy, then I am not talking about them, then.
No. It is those that sit on the fence that I am directing this towards. The self-serving obeisance that I have witnessed recently is excruciating, and in total contradiction to the name of free-thought.
I, for one, welcome Thunderf00t to FtB. His timely presence has been a breath of fresh air at a time when the discussions there were becoming awfully stifled and - dare I say - boring.
It has crossed my mind, that Thunderf00t is trolling for effect. If he is, Ed Brayton should be loving it, and by extension, Myers also. Their revenues must be going through the roof.
I had lost a lot of respect for PZ before today, but as of tonight, it has completely evaporated.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. He seems to have become not a little megalomaniacal of late. But it is Tf00t that I have always been a little indifferent towards before now. It is not beneath him to use the same techniques he accuses others of.
DeleteI suspect that is what he is doing on FtB now, and consciously at that. He is rather good at it though.
The point of the post is more to do with my appraisal of the levels of sycophancy, bullying and sucking-upness that FtB has descended into of late (there are notable exceptions that I will not be drawn on), and how TF00t is rightly rattling their cage (yes, singular).
It is not a piece that favours one character over another, but one that favours an opposing opinion (for once) on a forum that purports to free-thought.