We are not apes any more than we are dogs.
No, that's wrong. We are apes because genetically, we and chimpanzees are more closely related to each other than either species is related to any other apes. And we know this works, because we can test it with organisms of known descent.
Your classification (taxonomic ranking) is not a simple as you have stated it to be.
It is precisely as I stated. Would you like to see how I know?
When studied in depth, the "evidence" of cladistics is lacking.
You've studied cladistics in depth? I'm pretty sure you haven't, if you think what I showed you, is controversial. It's not.
This is seen quite clearly in instances where "lower animals" share common traits with "higher animals"
In biology, no one refers to "lower animals" or "higher animals."
(but those situations are ignored when the biology textbooks are written).
No, that's wrong. For example, we share HOX genes with primitive chordates like Amphioxus. It's a prediction of evolutionary theory. And most college texts in genetics point this out.
And evidence is actually quite lacking when molecular genetics is considered.
No, that's wrong, too. For example, primates need to take in vitamin C. Unlike most other animals, we can't make it ourselves. This is because the gene for vitamin c is broken in primates. Because they are essentially fruit-eating organisms, there was no need for it, and so when it mutated and became non-functional, it didn't matter. There are some other organisms that have a non-functional gene for vitamin C, but only primates have it broken a particular way.
There are holes big enough to drive trucks through.
Show us some of them.
Here is an article written by a molecular geneticist---https://creation.com/professor-of-genetics-says-no-to-evolution
He's not even a geneticist, much less a molecular geneticist. He has bachelors and master's degrees in forestry, and a PhD in tree physiology. No wonder his article couldn't cite even one thing in molecular biology that contradicts evolution. Perhaps you linked me to the wrong site?
In addition, there have been actual frauds perpetrated by those who are desperate to "prove" evolutionary theory:
(Reference to Piltdown man)
We don't know who did the hoax, but we do know that evolutionists debunked it. You see, the hoax showed exactly the opposite of what evolutionary theory predicted. Instead of a apelike body with a large brain, evolutionists expected a human-like postcranial skeleton,with an apelike skull. So Piltdown didn't fit. Eventually, proof of a hoax was found, and the problem for evolution turned out to be no problem at all.
Later on, when actual transitional forms between humans and other apes were found, they fit the prediction; human-like body, ape-like skull. And now you know what the creationists were hiding from you.