You’ll now have to register on the site to leave a comment. The level of spam this site is getting is causing more and more problems, and dealing with it is become more and more of a pain, even with a very effective anti-spam system.

You will have to use a valid email address to register, or you won’t be able to comment. Your email address will not be shared with third parties, and you won’t get any unsolicited emails from me.

I realize that this makes it more difficult to comment, but given that I’ve seen the comment threads here continue to degenerate into silly name-calling, I’m not so sure that’s a bad idea. The alternative is to shut down commenting permanently, which I’ve considered. However, there have been valuable additions made through comments, and I want to keep those going.

To be clear on the rules, I will be much less tolerant of personal attacks than I have been in the past. The general rule of thumb will be that if you wouldn’t say it to someone’s face at a dinner party, don’t say it here.

The level of decorum here has not been what I’d like it to be, and I’m not going to let this site swirl the drain with the rest of society. I don’t mind arguments contrary to mine—in fact, that’s what I’d like to see. However, what I’m looking for are arguments that are better than the stuff I see in other blog comments. I’m quite frankly sick and tired of discussion that boils down to one side calling the other names.

If you want to engage in partisan mudslinging and cheap debate, there are other places better suited for it. This site is about intellectual discussions of politics and policy, and the comments should reflect that. I would rather get a handful of really insightful, really probing, and smartly critical comments a year than a boatload of the same old trash. I don’t run this site for the traffic or the money, I run it for the intellectual edification. The comments haven’t been what I want them to be, and I’ll continue to re-evaulate them as time goes by.