Is this really an argument or just fact? From what I understand, the modern accepted view of evolution is that it happens in a sudden step wise manner... there will be an equilibrium, where the ecosystem is fairly stable and species don't change much, and then some shock or change will happen and evolution will be rapid, over a relatively short period.

This makes sense if you think deeply about it; evolution will only happen when the 'normal' genetic expression stops surviving, otherwise the random variations will even out.

I knew someone who started a farm of Spirulina (a microscopic, edible algae [cyanobacteria]) in a very different climate from where the seed culture originated. They did really poorly for the first few days, they were the wrong color and the culture wasn't growing. But eventually they adapted to the new climate and bounced back, and he was able to scale the culture up to multiple greenhouses and harvest it on an ongoing basis.

Evolution where genetic drift results in distinct species would take generations and necessarily some time

The one that gets me is the Soviet experiment in domesticating foxes that worked after a few dozen generations. How many generations have humans been around with tools and technology? We've been domesticating ourselves.

It really depends on whether you can select from variation within the existing population, where the genetic variants already exist, in which case it can happen very fast, or if you are evolving net-new functionality (opposable thumbs), which can take anywhere between millions of years and eternity.