If your problem is work load, get some help. Find a trusted friend to screen comments for you and let you know when things need your attention. Or, are you a “control” person who cannot really, really hands-off delegate? Hmm.

If your problem is possibly some dissonance over contrarians, I think you need to take the high road and learn to ignore critics. You put yourself in the public square, and you’re going to take some hits once in a while. Just stay in the game. Don’t cave. You can always just delete them, can’t you?

If it helps, I have been reading blogs and comments for quite a while. Yours is the only one I felt motivated to comment on, and that was just a few days ago.

I know my comment does not respond directly to the topic. I know it will be read by you, though, and want to tell you how much your beautiful smile inspires me each day. I hope a similar picture will be included on your new blog.

Thank you for all you do, Diane

Wow! An already excellent blogsite owned by a very classy lady will soon be redesigned and become even better next year. In time, I hope, for next year’s Wizbang best blog awards, when you can become a serious contender in at least 2 categories.
Please retain the comments feature, as most other posters have advocated; just don’t bother to react to the crazies. It’s easier for your loyal readers to skip past them and get to the majority of them which have real substance. You need to take the time to smell the roses–and at this great time of the year, the wonderful scents of the Christmas season.
Merry Christmas to you and yours and prayers to all our brave military forces wherever they are serving a great cause.

Comments are grossly de-legitimizing in my eyes. I cannot count the number of times I have followed a trackback to a new blog and dismissed it out of hand because of the comment thread. Why? Because if they are not painfully vitriolic they are frighteningly groupthink. Flame wars and flattery fairs. They are rarely a forum for actual discussion because they are rarely a -forum- at all. Can you quote? Can you edit or delete your posts? Is there the accountability – and flame-retarant – of a login? No, none of these things.

If you value the intelligent comments of your regular readers and wish to have discussion on your site, co-host a genuine discussion forum. These programs are designed to facilitate communication in a way that blog-commenting simply cannot. Link to the forum in your posts if you like, and maybe edit the post to include notable quotes, but do not dilute your own message with the endless addendums of strangers.

As a reader, I like the comment function, even though I rarely check out the comments of any particular post, because it’s an easy way to give the writer instant feedback if I feel so inclined; much easier than opening an email.

I’m for keeping the comment function–you can always delete any comment you don’t like just as you delete any trackback you don’t like. It’s your blog, and you can delete what you want to. ;^)

The engine behind it all is called “slash”, and it is open source and free to use. You have to come up with a server though. O’Reilly even has a book about it!

Would I be discouraged to visit if I was unable to read comments & post on your blog: No, but the visit would be different (not as entertaining, for one) for a neophyte conservative christian such as myself. I enjoy debates.

Basically, the bloggers blog in peace, the commenters can slug it out within the discussion forum.

The discussion forum could be either supported/linked by the individual blogger or not. Official (with bessings) vs Unofficial.

I’m surprised you were able to keep up with all the work to this point!