The Comments Section is on a Break

Dear Readers:

I don't always get a chance to keep current on the comments section but looking it over today it is clear, as many have noted, that it has ceased to be a space of debate. Instead it has been taken over by a set of readers who, hiding behind anonymity, think it is just a place to hurl juvenile insults at one another. These come from all sides of the philosophical spectrum. The issue is not ideology, it’s whether people have the ability to act a notch or two above diaper age.

This is too bad, because in the past the comments section of the Blog has been a place of intelligent debate and most of those who used to engage in it seemed to have been pushed away. Even our long-term commenters from the right, whose challenges and criticism I appreciated, have abandoned ship.

So the comments section is now officially shut down for an indefinite time. At minimum this will send the insult brigade off brooding and looking for a new place on the Web to act foolish. And we’ll look at some alternative ways to reopen, uncensored and unmoderated as we have always been, but perhaps requiring registration or something similar.

Thank you for your continued interest.

Jim Shultz