How to get banned from my blog
<p>It is quite difficult to get banned from commenting on my blog, but some &#8211; I think a grand total of about four out of a number of commenters well into the thousands over the last seven years &#8211; have managed it. With sufficient hard work and dedication, you too can join this select group.</p>
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<p>I blog in part because I have a belief, justified by my comment volume and estimate of visitor numbers, that many people are interested in what I have to say.  But I mainly do it because I enjoy writing and enjoy the stimulation and challenge of regular comment on it, including critical comment.  That&#8217;s what makes blogging a good use of my time.  You will not be banned for disagreeing with me, but <b>you will be banned if you waste my time</b>.</p>
<p>I repeat: <b>You will be banned if you waste my time</b>.  You will not necessarily be wasting my time if you are critical, obnoxious, or insulting &#8211; I have plenty of regulars who are all three.  You will be wasting my time if you bring no content to the discussion other than insults and advance only arguments I have heard and discounted before.  Arguments I have heard before have value only if they are accompanied by new evidence, and I am strict about what constitutes new evidence.</p>
<p>While you will not be banned for insulting me, you may be banned for rudeness to other commenters.  This blog attracts an exceptionally articulate and intelligent crowd of regulars; I prize the fact that someone once described it as the only place he&#8217;d ever seen a civilized  debate over abortion, and I will not tolerate behavior that I view as damaging to that quality.</p>
<p>I have banned people for attempting to masquerade as other commenters.  I will ban for sock-puppeting if I discover it.  But I will not be more specific about the sorts of things I will or will not ban for, because I have discovered this: when I try to be open, fair, judicious, and balanced, there is a category of troll that will constantly push my limits and attempt to use my own scruples, sense of fair play, and respect for the norms of civilized debate as a weapon against me and against the health of the community around this blog.  Coping with this sort of thing <b>is a waste of my time</b>.</p>
<p>Therefore, remember that this blog exists for my purposes and not anyone else&#8217;s. I reserve the right to be unfair, obnoxious, arbitrary, tyrannical, and ban people at my whim.  Protesting this will get you banned, because I will interpret it as yet another attempt to jerk me around by my sense of fair play. </p>
<p>If you have been warned that you are trolling or that you are in danger of being banned, you can move back towards good standing in one of two ways: (a) By making me think, or (b) by making me laugh.  Don&#8217;t repeat yourself, that won&#8217;t help. Flattery won&#8217;t help either, as I find fanboys nearly as annoying as haters.</p>
<p>Finally, I note that if you ever succeed in changing my mind about something, I will cut you large amounts of slack for a long time afterwards even for behavior that would otherwise get you banned. Not many people ever manage this, and I value the few that have accomplished it quite highly.  </p>
