Just in case being beaten to death isn't enough of an indignity, some yahoo can always come along and compare you to Australopithecus. One wonders where it would leave the creationists if they stopped seizing the moral high ground in such an effective manner.
I think you are right. Caught with his pants down he resorts to trying to hide behind flatulence.
Throughout history some men have stood up even when they knew to do so was suicide. In spite of their politics which may not be to my liking, one has to admire them. Stephen Biko is one - Jose Rizal another. The list is not long and many of them were vilified on racial grounds of inferiority.