Commenting Policy

We love having people comment on the site. The authors who write here generally and genuinely believe that debate and argumentation are indispensible when it comes to discovering truth.

Disagreement doesn’t have to be unpleasant and it doesn’t have to be personal. The closer comments adhere to the idea that arguments are best focused on principles than people, the better off we’ll all be.

We reserve the right to delete or edit comments that are offensive, rude, attacking, personal, or just plain inappropriate. I’m also quite willing to delete comments that are off-topic, self-promoting, or just annoying. Lately, my tolerance for non-sequitur seems to be diminishing. Must be my age showing.

It’s quite likely that any moderation will seem arbitrary and inconsistent, especially if it’s your comment being moderated. We’ll do our best to be consistent and fair, but there are no guarantees.

We’re also not responsible for comments left by others. It’s quite possible that none of us will even see an offensive comment. If something some has written offends you, please use the “report” function or e-mail Don directly. Most weekdays between 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. though, you’ll just have to wait. All comments are moderated by Intense Debate initially and it may decide your comment is spam. If it does, there’s little I can do until I review the spam queue after school.

Please try to stay on topic. You can question the premise of a post, argue its merits, or contend that it’s false. A post, however, is not a platform from which you can write anything. Have something interesting to say that’s not related to the post/topic? Get your own blog. They’re free.

In the end, you may find our comment moderation inadequate or oppressive. That’s what’s wonderful about the Internet. There are literally dozens of other sites out there and we urge you to explore them.

Thanks for reading.