The Anti-Sam Brownback Blog

University of Kansas Professor Paul Mirecki who recently became famous due to disparaging remarks he made about intelligent design was hospitalized this evening after being beaten by two men who apparently referenced the controversy. The LJ World Reports:

Kansas University religious studies professor Paul Mirecki reported he was beaten by two men about 6:40 a.m. today on a roadside in rural Douglas County. In a series of interviews late this afternoon, Mirecki said the men who beat him were making references to the controversy that has propelled him into the headlines in recent weeks.

“I didn’t know them, but I’m sure they knew me,” he said.

Mirecki said he was driving to breakfast when he noticed the men tailgating him in a pickup truck.

“I just pulled over hoping they would pass, and then they pulled up real close behind,” he said. “They got out, and I made the mistake of getting out.”

He said the men beat him about the upper body with their fists, and he said he thinks they struck him with a metal object. He was treated and released at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

If true, and we have no reason to assume otherwise at this point, this incident is a turn for the worst for Kansas political debate. We may be the laughing stock of the nation from time to time (and certainly deserve to be) but I didn’t think that conservatives would resort to violence.

This chills me to the bone. Beyond concern for Professor Mirecki, I now have to wonder about my safety as a blogger. Should I look pursue methods of self defense? When I started this political blog I was warned by a few people that I might face repercussions in my future professional life. I never thought I would be considering the possibility of facing violent repercussions.

[note: While this is not directly Brownback related, I felt it important as a pregressive KU student to spread the word]

[Update]

I think a poster on Dailykos put it well:

I think I must have missed the part in the Bible where Jesus said “Yay, blessed are those who kicketh ass and taketh names. Be ye so-called intellectuals or faggots, my grace will not be shed for thee, but a bludgeoning in thine eye in it’s place”.

Whoever committed this crime may call themselves Christians, but obviously are not upholding the teachings of Jesus Christ. As progressives, we need to remember that not all Christian Fundamentalists would stoop to this level of brazen violence in order to enforce their ideas. Hopefully, many will condemn this attack.