Comments

...I've turned them off — the feature that allows readers to post responses to my postings, and to the remarks of others about what I post here. I did so because several people who disagreed with my essay Leaving the Left decided to register their contempt in vile and obscene terms rather than meeting me on the ground of ideas. I'm pretty close to an absolutist when it comes to freedom of expression, but I feel no obligation to provide a forum for people whose political vocabulary consists of profane epithets. I can still be reached by email, of course. Know that I plan to feature regular comments from folks whose opinions may differ from mine but whose capacity for expression isn't limited to the verbal equivalent of Robert Mapplethorpe "art."