If we are going to use “it’s just comedy” or “they aren’t a scientist/engineer/expert” as a justification, then let us be consistent. If it is used to justify the glaring errors in Watson’s talk, then the same bye should apply to:

Creationists
Anti-Vaxxers like Jenny McCarthy & Bill Maher
Climate Change Deniers
People we do NOT agree with just as much as people we DO agree with.

Or, we can admit that comedy is not a bye for actual factual errors, regardless of who makes them. We can expect people talking about a technical topic or referencing a field of science to have done the minimal research required to verify the validity of their talking points.

If lack of “official” qualifications is a bye for *some* people, then basic consistency would require us to allow the same bye for *all* people.

Obviously “just a comedian” is a perfectly fine excuse to have, but let’s have a bit of consistency here.

Or shall I pat you on the head as one would an angry toddler, and respond in the kindly, yet condescending way that only a genteel southern lady of advanced years can perfect?

Bless your heart.

I don’t consider our decision to be bullying in any way. My husband and I are not prominent spokespeople for skepticism. The only way that we can have our voice be heard is to withdraw our financial support. We refuse to help pay for a platform for loudmouths who fairly consistently fail to behave as one should expect from skeptics. Particularly, when some of these loudmouths are obviously clueless about what skepticism is. If someone doesn’t know what it is, they can’t do a good job of promoting it.

If we don’t police ourselves and our own, promoters of hypocrisy, and not skepticism, are what we become. We neglected our duty in this regard, and we have allowed fire-breathing dragons to attain far more prominence then they ever deserved. Their hyperbolic rhetoric and dismissive snark were amusing when it was directed at pseudoscientists. It’s not quite so amusing now that it’s being directed at scientists and skeptics. My husband and I have never been keen on this type of engagement with others. (People like you, Joe Nickell, Daniel Loxton, Brian Dunning, Sharon Hill, Ray Hyman, Jeff Wagg, and Ben Radford have always been our style.)

Barbara, you are to be commended for your promotion of skepticism through the years, your willingness to speak out about the ideals which the claim of being a skeptic entail, and your efforts to keep the fire-breathing dragons at bay.