I don't see PZ being confronted on anything he says because I don't see PZ interacting with people who are likely to challenge him on this stuff.
I would love for someone to tape a one on one with him, where he can't hide behind the banhammer pulpit (in person, he sounds like a very soft-spoken and tame man), but I can't imagine him daring to step outside of the 'safe zone' he's made for himself.
As I see it, for the last few years PZ has made a name for himself as someone who doesn't skip on the insults when it comes to people he disagrees with. This indifference to people's hurt feeling made him popular amongst online atheists (where being harsh with people for the lulz is always an attribute), and its also the mode of discourse that he promoted on his blog (Watson was the same way). None of this I could care less about (PZ and anyone else is welcome to talk to people however the hell they see fit, and I can respond in kind if I so choose), the problem is that after creating an environment where 'shit talking' is the norm, he's suddenly demanding sensitivity from these same atheists on issues that he is emotionally invested in (like his political leanings).
I agree with you on most points except the "safe zone" I've spoken to him numerous times, had him guest on my podcast. I even sat and drank a beer with him. There has never been a problem engaging him. I never had any problem with him during those interactions but I do have a problem with him now as do numerous others. It will be interesting to hear what he says when he is asked to clarify some of his statements. I know for a fact there are some people who aim to do exactly that . It will be even more interesting when a group of people he has been running off at the mouth about show him the same respect he has shown them while he is speaking. I'm not saying that is what should happen I am saying that is going to happen because atheists are not like creationists who can be put down just by yelling "stupid" at them over and over. When I get yelled at I yell back louder. He does seem to have taken his popularity and drove it into the ground. It's a shame because I think his blog was interesting and fun to read at one time, now it's a waste of time mostly....oh the tangled web an ego can weave, and then light on fire, crash, and burn in a raging inferno leaving no survivors.