[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

Sorry, I don't agree. Suggesting Patterson believes there is no hard evidence is a misuse of the quote, contradicted by both Patterson's general scholarly work as well as his specific response to the quote given in the talk.origins file.

That's not what I said.

I'm saying that the Talk Origins Article is suggesting that Patterson believes in Darwin's gradualism and it's attendant micro transitional changes in life form. Transitional life forms that fill the infamous "gaps". But he knows of no hard evidence from the fossil record that can support his belief.

Hard evidence in this context is not referring to isolated quasi factoids and speculations (i.e. Zebra to Tapir to Rhinoceros) but to real comprehensive evidence. A plethora of evidence from the fossil record indicating Darwin's gradualism is fact.

Darwin postulated a continuous system of gradual micro changes over long time spans. But the fossil record doesn't support this approach.

It's a discrete system (i.e. discontinuous).

[PatrickHenry]

Darwin postulated a continuous system of gradual micro changes over long time spans. But the fossil record doesn't support this approach.

Not quite. Darwin said that the continuum of micro changes existed, over time, for each species, but he understood clearly why the fossil record would be spotty.

The Origin of Species, by Darwin: Chapter 9 - On the Imperfection of the Geological Record.
Taxonomy, Transitional Forms, and the Fossil Record. What the fossil record is all about.