For my posts (Big Tent Democrat makes his own rules for comments on his threads): If all you have to contribute is "What about Obama?" or "What about X?" or "It's sexist" when I write about a candidate, for example, Sarah Palin, your comment adds nothing and will be deleted. Think about chastising a child for an act and having them respond, "But Georgie did it too." It's childish, besides the point and off-topic.
Respond to the topic of the post, not the topic you wish I wrote about. If you want to pick the topic, get your own blog or wait for an open thread.
Unlike Big Tent Democrat, I rarely if ever write about sexism. It's not my issue. If I write about an issue regarding Sarah Palin and you respond with a comment about sexism, particularly as it pertains to Hillary, you're off topic and your comment is a distraction. Your comment will be deleted.
Drive by insults are deleted. Name-calling and insults to other commenters, the candidates, media personalities, other bloggers, other blogs or the authors of this site are deleted. There's a vast difference between saying "I disagree with you (or X) because...." or "I think you are wrong here because...." and "You are ridiculous" or "He's an idiot." I don't care whether its Maureen Dowd, Obama, McCain or me. Such comments lower the level of discourse on the site. Words like "idiot" and "jerk" speak to an inability to communicate effectively. They reflect poorly on commenters which in turn reflects poorly on this site .
It takes a long time to delete comments one by one. It takes only a few seconds to erase a commenter's account and with it, all of their comments to date. People who sign up, comment and don't read the comment rules are likely to be vaporized in short order for violations. So will older readers who ignore this warning.
I have a day job. Blogging is a hobby and a very time consuming one. This blog exists as a place for me and the other site authors to express and share our opinions. Commenting is not a right, it is an entitlement we offer.
As during the primaries, I've reached my limit with those who disagree with my views and express it in an insulting or childish manner. Rather than spend valuable hours of my time deleting off-topic, insulting, childish comments or comments with false information, or comments by Republicans posing as feminists or former Hillary supporters,or those by real Hillary supporters or Obama haters who still can't get over her losing and think everything is about sexism or race, I'm going to be much more inclined to just delete the commenter's account and all of their comments to date.
I am convinced fewer commenters will improve the quality of discourse, which is what I want people to come here for.
Thoughtfully expressed disagreement is fine. Opposition for the sake of opposing, particularly when expressed repetitively or insultingly, is mindless chatter and not worth anyone's time.
I'm leaving this thread open to comments. If the comments of the past month are any indication, it's a sure-fire way to get the faux commenters to out themselves and for me to get them off the site.
The internet is a wide and vast place. If you don't like what I write, read the posts by Big Tent Democrat or TChris. If there are none, visit a site where you find yourself nodding along in agreement. It's much healthier for your mind and your spirit.
Again, the comment rules set out here apply site wide on posts by all authors. What I've added above applies to comments on my threads. But keep in mind, once banned, you can't comment anywhere on the site.
