Mary Elizabeth Williams at Salon says harsh things about Bill Maher and Richard Dawkins on Ahmed Mohamed…harsh, but not obviously false.

Then, full time crap-stirrer Dawkins took time out from retweeting fawning accolades from his fans on Sunday to just, know, ask some questions, posting a link to a YouTube clip from Thomas Talbot claiming Mohamed’s “a fraud” who didn’t invent or build the clock in question.

Ouch. That’s harsh. But you can’t say it’s false, can you – he does spend a lot of time stirring crap (but not full time, so you could say that claim is an exaggeration) and he does retweet fawning accolades from his fans.

But for the great kicker, Dawkins then humble bragged, “Sorry if I go a bit over the top in my passion for truth.” Well, when you put it like that, it’s not vague character assassination of a 14 year-old, it’s downright noble. Just like Gamergate is really about “ethics in gaming journalism.” You tell it like it is, Dawkins!

Yes, that one got up my nose too. “Passion for truth” ffs – via a random video by a random guy, always a reliable source for truth.

Skepticism and curiosity are vital and sadly lacking nutrients in our daily public discourse. But it’s unfortunate that an intellectual who once had the power to provoke insightful, challenging debate has in recent years turned into a sour crank, eager to leverage his brand as a prominent atheist as an excuse to go big on Islamphobia and congratulate himself on his horrendous views on sexual assault. And it’s pathetic that Maher and Dawkins are wrapping themselves up not in the rigorous quest for knowledge they claim to stand behind but their own petty prejudices and fears — and they’re basically the same baseless, dumb crap you could get from a doofus like Sarah Palin. The difference is that their schtick has its following not among the “Duck Dynasty” watchers but the C-Span ones. And even as they peddle ignorance, they have the arrogance to believe themselves incapable of it.

Harsh, definitely harsh. But true. (And we all have a passion for the truth, don’t we.) The fact that Dawkins has been citing Breitbart as a source is indeed one of the bigger carbuncles on this latest drama.