Crush any dissent?
No, to try and help you realize that science is science, not what you wish science would be.
As far as Gould etc, he was wrong, is wrong, and continues to be wrong.
Irreducible complexity has been disproven in so many ways, and so many times, that continued use of such nonsense just shows that ignoring the evidence is easier then dealing with it.
Dissent is fine, as long as it is scientific dissent, so far I have yet to see any.
I see religious dissent, which has nothing to do with science, or the scientific method.
Sorry, that should have been the Gould quotes are wrong, and continue to be wrong. That isn't actually what he meant, but creationists are infamous for taking quotes out of context to fit their needs.
That, in fact, sometimes things happened too rapidly to produce good fosil records anyway.
No doubt all of his details in support of his general thesis have been supplanted by more advanced findings by now of course, but that general thesis would still be true.