Raganwald's entire post begs the question:

Begging the question (Latin petitio principii, "assuming the initial point") is a type of informal fallacy in which an implicit premise would directly entail the conclusion

Moreover, in the poisoned atmosphere that surrounds this question, it seems "dangerous" to even raise the notion that the premise deserves a good challenge.

It seems all too often that pointing out the assumptions, the bad measurements, the poisoned atmosphere, or heavens, a disagreement over the validity of the premise or the reasonableness or fairness of the conclusion leads to name calling and bullying.