Lack of Defining Features of Intelligent Design

The investigation is not prohibited. The ID movement has millions of dollars and has been offered grants for further funding. The leading lights of ID get paid tens of thousands of dollars for short appearances (in court, the public speaking circuit etc). If they had any way of investigating it, money isn't a hindrance.The problem isn't that there are 'tactics' being employed by 'materialists' to prohibit investigation. The problem is that nobody knows how to investigate it. For example: Design an experiment to test the hypothesis you put forward.

Scientists make their living by finding things for which they think there is no satisfying explanation, convincing people why we should find an explanation and getting those people to help fund them, and then using money those interested parties donate to fund a research program and conclude this with a paper of their findings.IDists make their living by finding things for which they think there is no satisfying explanation, convincing people that this proves their own theory and that they should fund them to find more things which they think have no satisfying explanation.The first position is one of proposing problems and trying to solve them using a disciplined methodology. The second is one of proposing problems and proposing the solution is 'an otherwise unevidenced entity'. The latter is fairly easy money, the former is not.