Lo these many years blog years ago, back in the era of cans and strings before blogs were well known, I chanced to run across a now defunct chat room on MSN called Evolution Vs Creationism. It was a great place to swap stories and sharpen debating skills. Not long after finding the room, a quiet, polite newcomer popped in. He was quiet and polite at first. But at some point, a creationist proponent drove through spewing Hovind’s infamous challenge, “If there was any proof for evolution, you guys could win $250,000, so put up or shut up!!1!one!1!.”
The new guy piped up without missing a beat “I’ll make you a deal &#$##, I’ll wager my entire %#@ networth against whatever you want that if I get to use the same criteria Hovind uses, you can’t prove decapitation is fatal. Well???”
The poor fundie chatter then tried one tired old argument or another out of the Big Creationist Cookbook of Ignorance and Lies. Time and time again the new guy cut him off at the knees with blistering, referenced facts and critique. And when the poor slob finally gave up arguing science and switched to insults, the new fella left him spinning in the wind, and the rest of literally laughing out loud, with a string of devastating, merciless one liners.
As it turned out, the razor sharp wit and bottomless knowledge on display in that first appearance wasn’t a fluke, because that guy was none other that Ed Brayton.
Not long after that, Ed came into the chatroom and mentioned offhand that he had started something called a blog. Well, to make a long story short, because of that fateful day, I was eventually awarded the opportunity to join a brilliant and growing list of new media polymaths and tens of thousands of dedicated activists and writers collectively referred to as Daily Kos.I’ve met so many fantastic people and had so much fun since those early days, that sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure it’s real. And while I now read dozens of blogs and hundreds of comments everyday, my first virtual stop everyday remains Dispatches From the Culture Wars. Many thanks to Ed Brayton, a man I’m now lucky enough to call my friend, counting his winnings from Vegas and reeling from jet lag, and who I’m glad to say apparently learned the lessons The Gambler on his well deserved vacation!
