A Brief Note to Readers

In light of a few back-and-forths with a drop-in True Believer, I want to share a policy about conducting "debates" in the comments portion of this blog.

We believe healthy debates are exchanges of views where each side brings facts and arguments exhibiting reasoning to the table. Non-debate means going back-and-forth with an antagonist who is not using reasoning at all, but simply cherry-picked talking points that have come from an alternate reality. We won't waste precious brain cells "debating" people who insist, for example, Obama's a socialist, man-made global climate change is a hoax, restraining public spending in an economic downturn is good policy, or that the earth is really flat -- or that Canada and the United States are comparable economic and political systems with parallel recent histories.

So that, readers, is that.