Cheat-Seeking Missles

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Merecki Update: Chance Of Fraud?

Paul Mirecki, the U of Kansas prof who was forced to resign as religion dep't dean after unintelligently designing a course on intelligent design so it would be a "slap in the big fat faces" of "fundies," may be honestly reporting that he was attacked by two rednecks in a pickup truck. Or he may be lying.

The evidence for the lying scenario, which C-SM hypothesized since the beginning:
  • Mirecki has hired an attorney and intends to go after the police for "treating him more like a suspect than a victim."
  • No arrests yet, even though this was allegedly a straightforward daylight attack, so Mirecki should have been able to provide excellent descriptions, including at least a partial on the license plate
  • Most damning, this statement from KU, in response to Mirecki's charge that the university was not standing by him, "Professor Mirecki still has a job at the University of Kansas. That would appear to be support for his rights to his tenured position and his rights to free speech. ... The university deplores the fact that he was apparently attacked.” (emphasis added)

I think there's a good chance Mirecki made up or mischaracterized his "alleged" beating. In universities that have shunned morality, such an occurence may be shocking, but it shouldn't be unexpected.