"Intelligent design" out of vogue

The Times has an article today about the future of intelligent design, and it looks bleak.

Found the link over at Mark Kleiman's blog who says this about it:

It turns out there's a downside to disguising your theological/political hokum as science: people start to evaluate it by scientific criteria. As a result, the "Intelligent Design" scam lacks staying power. The Templeton Foundation, for example, is backing away, because ID folks weren't willing or able to do any actual science.

Pretty soon, the only ID believers outside the Discovery Institute and the televangelists will be Pope Bingo and George W. Bush.

"Intelligent Design" was a clever marketing ploy, but it turns out once again that nothing kills a bad product faster than great marketing.

It probably didn't help that Pat Robertson threatened residents of Dover, Pennsylvania with the wrath of God when they voted ID supporters off the school board recently. The idea was exposed for what skeptics thought it was: creationsim wrapped in a pretty package.

Reliable conservative pundit Charles Krauthammer has written columns denouncing "intelligent design" and even Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) has flip-flopped and said it shouldn't be taught in public schools. Looks like it's back to the drawing board for those who want to resurrect the ghosts of the Scopes monkey trial.