As we noted earlier this month, Ben Stein—of Richard Nixon and “Ferris Bueller” fame—is starring in an anti-evolution documentary called “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.” While the movie isn’t set to be released until February, scientists are already accusing its producers of dishonesty—and not for claiming that “Intelligent Design” creationism is a valid scientific theory. As various outlets are reporting, several scientists well known for refuting anti-evolution activists say the producers for the film hid their agenda, portraying the project innocently as “Crossroads: The Intersection of Science and Religion” (still listed on the web site of the supposed production company).

From the New York Times:

If he had known the film’s premise, Dr. Dawkins said in an e-mail message, he would never have appeared in it. “At no time was I given the slightest clue that these people were a creationist front,” he said.

Eugenie C. Scott, a physical anthropologist who heads the National Center for Science Education, said she agreed to be filmed after receiving what she described as a deceptive invitation.

“I have certainly been taped by people and appeared in productions where people’s views are different than mine, and that’s fine,” Dr. Scott said, adding that she would have appeared in the film anyway. “I just expect people to be honest with me, and they weren’t.” …

Walt Ruloff, a producer and partner in Premise Media [producer of “Expelled”], also denied that there was any deception. Mr. Ruloff said in a telephone interview that Rampant Films [which approached the scientists as producers of “Crossroads”] was a Premise subsidiary, and that the movie’s title was changed on the advice of marketing experts, something he said was routine in filmmaking. …

Another scientist who was, P. Z. Myers, a biologist at the University of Minnesota, Morris, said the film’s producers had misrepresented its purpose, but said he would have agreed to an interview anyway. But, he said in a posting on The Panda’s Thumb Web site, he would have made a “more aggressive” attack on the claims of the movie.

As for Stein, who rails in the movie against the scientific establishment’s supposed unsavory suppression of creationism, he claims innocence, adding that if he had his druthers, the movie would be called “From Darwin to Hitler”—an homage, perhaps, to the late televangelist D. James Kennedy.

The Right passed a milestone this month, although nobody appeared to notice. Last September, anti-immigrant groups called for a boycott of Miller beer products after the company co-sponsored a pro-immigrant rally in Chicago. “The last thing we need is more illegal aliens driving drunk and killing American citizens,” said Jason Mrocheck of WeHireAliens.com. Since then, we haven’t heard anything about it; a short (if ominous) news item on Miller importing South American beer brands is the only update on MillerBoycott.com since they announced “Phase II”  of the boycott on September 26, 2006.

But it seems that enemies of “the High Life” never sleep. The Catholic League is calling for a brand new—and, apparently, completely unrelated—boycott of Miller beer for its sponsorship of the Folsom Street Fair, a leather-themed parade in San Francisco. Yesterday we tracked how a press release from Concerned Women for America—claiming a festival flyer, a blue homage to Da Vinci’s “Last Supper,” was an “unprovoked attack against Christ and His followers”—was picked up by other religious-right groups and then Fox News. The Catholic League’s Bill Donohue was quick to join in, warning that Miller “knows the stakes,” but even when the company pulled its name from the poster, it wasn’t enough:

“Miller’s response (some might find mocking the Last Supper offensive?), while limp, would normally have been enough to get us off their back. But we have subsequently learned that some of the monies being raised at this event are being funneled to a notoriously anti-Catholic and misogynist group, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (click here). After this development was brought to the attention of Miller, spokesman Julian Green responded that Miller was standing by the event. That’s fine with us. We just hope he knows that it really is ‘Miller Time.’”

This morning on Fox News, Donohue announced his boycott over the participation in the fair of a group of drag queens who perform comedy skits dressed like nuns. From another press release:

“Accordingly, Miller leaves us with no options: we are calling on more than 200 Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu organizations to join with us in a nationwide boycott of Miller beer. We feel confident that once our religious allies kick in, and once the public sees the photos of an event Miller is proudly supporting, the Milwaukee brewery will come to its senses and pull its sponsorship altogether. If it doesn’t, the only winners will be Anheuser Busch and Coors.”

This isn’t the first Catholic League boycott—Donohue has lifted his battle cry in the past against corporations including Wal-Mart, Disney, Target, Showtime, Fox, Calvin Klein, and NordicTrack, as well as the Jewish Museum, Madonna, and the entire city of San Francisco. Certainly Donohue is quick to make his “beef” known via press release, but whether his army of “over 200 religious groups” is any more than a Potemkin backlash has yet to be proven.