It sometimes seems as if human minds are about as capable of changing as rocks; only high explosives and slow erosion over vast quantities of time are capable of effecting it. But, as this email from a longtime regular demonstrates, it does, on occasion, happen:
At risk of sounding all fawning and shit, I want to thank you, and the Ilk, for aiding in my political transformation. When I went to law school, then started frequenting your blog, I began to appreciate the ramifications of political ideology, particularly the dangers of expanded and intrusive federal government. The fact that you and yours have ALWAYS afforded me a deal of respect, even when I was toting the Democratic party line, speaks volumes about the character of not only yourself but the cabal at Vox Popoli. Even Nate and the dearly departed Bane treated me with respect, a rarity indeed. So, just let me extend my thanks for always being honorable in a time when the concept of honor has seemingly been forgotten.
He is welcome, of course. The reason I chose to share this email is that a common and completely false accusation is that this blog is some sort of echo chamber where disagreement and criticism are not permitted. The reality is that the readers, and to a lesser extent, regular commenters, here represent a wide variety of ideologies and very few of them entirely share my idiosyncratic political and religious beliefs. While the dominant intellectual strain is unsurprisingly libertarian and protestant Christian, there are no shortage of those who do not share either perspective and their opinions are no less regarded for being different. And as the emailer testifies, so long as one abides by the rules of the blog, even the most vehement critic will be treated exactly same as the most fawning sycophant. In fact, I probably pay far more attention to the critics than I do to those who have no criticism to offer; after all, the truly arrogant require no praise.