Why I allow Comments

I allow comments on this blog. This is because for me it is a conversation, not a monologue (despite the fact that I only have a couple hundred readers on a good day and it is rare that a comment is left). I am thrilled when someone thinks that I have treated them unfairly and tells me so. I even like it when someone calls me nasty names (although i more often get those in emails). It lets me know that someone took the time to read what i wrote and contra many, i do not write for myself. I have never quite understood blogging as a non-interactive activity. I know that Andrew Sullivan does it very successfully at the Atlantic and he is one of my daily reads. Perhaps i would be of another mind if I had 50K daily visitors and had to be constantly dealing with the silliness in the comments that would entail. Fortunately that will never be much of a problem.