Nah, this take would be as bad in 2009 as it is today. I mean, it's evidently clear they can't wrap their head around functional programming, which is absolutely fine, until you jump to generalizing conclusions like this.
What is the reason it's not popular again? My reasoning is not "a bad take", as much as it's my take from over 30 years programming. I would say it's my own twist on common understandings across the west coast of the US.
You probably have your own, equally wrong reasoning. Would be great to hear them.