One of the things I did not expect when we set up this blog was, I have to approve all comments. This presents a dilemma because it means a) reading said comments and b) approving them. This is normally the point at which a blogger encourages civility; reminds you that it is his, her or its own blog, after all; and expresses hope that a meaningful dialogue can occur.<\/p>\n
But here\u2019s the thing: I am not overly fond of Internet comments. There\u2019s a place for them, sure, but they are often obnoxious, ill-informed, poorly written, and\/or libelous. This was driven home to me by a bunch of tedious comments on the altar boys post. I haven\u2019t approved them and probably won\u2019t because I just don\u2019t feel like it.<\/p>\n
So feel free to try to comment here but here are the ground rules for approval:<\/p>\n
1. The only time you have something approaching an absolute right to be heard here is when I criticize you by name.<\/p>\n
2. Related to the first point, if I criticize a group then I will allow one or two or more of the aggrieved parties to be heard.<\/p>\n
3. If you are going to insult me here, it had better be a good insult.<\/p>\n
4. If you want to get the green light, say something smart and say it well. I really am a sucker for good writing.<\/p>\n
5. If you become a regular commenter to Jeremy Lott\u2019s Diary, over time I will give you more deference and I might even respond.<\/p>\n
Those are the rules, folks. If they\u2019re acceptable to you, great. Have at it. And if not, then go troll under somebody else\u2019s bridge.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of the things I did not expect when we set up this blog was, I have to approve all comments. This presents a dilemma because it means a) reading said comments and b) approving them. This is normally the point at which a blogger encourages civility; reminds you that it is his, her or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1078,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,1],"tags":[27,37,38],"class_list":["post-45","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-psa","category-uncategorized","tag-altar-boys","tag-knife-fight","tag-trolls"],"yoast_head":"\n