This is my 2000th post at Simple Justice.  It seems like only yesterday I quickly pecked out post 1999. 

When I realized I had hit a milepost, I thought it a good time to reflect on the experience.  It's been a pleasure for me to write.  It's been an honor for me to have people read what I write.  I never expected that so many people would do so. Up to this post, I have written 1,345,727 words.  That seems like an awful lot, and I feel badly for the ones I harmed and mangled, as I like words a lot.  My posts have been read a total of 1,490,481. 

The most popular post is The Lawyer Look, mostly because it's searched relative to tattoos and piercings.  It's also the post that gets the wildest comments, usually angry and frequently profane.  Just yesterday, someone informed me to return to the "Hitler Hole, moron."  It would have been deleted had it not been so ludicrous that it was funny.  The second most popular post, An Early Morning Knock on the Door, is a more serious, and instructive, post.  It doesn't get any crazy comments.  People who read it likely aren't in the mood to assert themselves.

The only post I struggled with was Blawg Review #170.  Writing it was painful.  Others, like Turk and Colin Samuels, are unbelievably good at doing Blawg Review.  I was not.  I did it because I made a promise to Ed. that I would, but I was miserable the whole time.  it was the only time writing a post that I felt that way, and I didn't care for it.  Still, I appreciate that others do it so I can enjoy their effort.

I've met some great people along the way.  Three of my favorite people on the internet, Mark Bennett, Gideon and Norm Pattis, have taught me more in the past year and a half than I had learned in the prior decade of practice.  If you haven't kept up with Mark and Gid (Norm having taken a sabbatical), you've missed a lot.  A newer addition to the group, Joel Rosenberg (or J-dog for short) is not a lawyer, but a renaissance man with remarkable insight.  And David Giacalone is like my conscience, alway there to keep me honest. 

Joel was the one who coined the term, "he's prickly," referring to my limited tolerance for things that annoy me.  It was kind of Joel to add the "ly".  As the number of readers who found their way to Simple Justice increased, the number who understood what this blawg was about, followed regularly and were aware of my views decreased.  A consequence was day-trippers, a name I've given people who read an individual post and feel compelled to comment.  I believe that readers of blawgs has increased significantly, primarily as a result of people searching topics and finding them in blawg posts.  I wish they wouldn't comment.  They don't add anything (because they don't know anything) and I respond poorly.

A few fights have broken out on Simple Justice during the last 1999 posts.  The most recent one on marketing ended with one of the participants sending me a demand letter.  I wasn't troubled by it, for obvious reasons, but I felt bad for the writer.  To the bitter end, he had no clue why it had happened.  In general, the fights have been healthy, airing disagreements and clarifying positions.  I'm rarely afraid to take a position on something.  Sometimes I feel strongly, and others I just do so to test my own thoughts.  Readers sometimes fail to realize that I may not be advocating a position, as much as testing it.  Some view every post as a life or death proposition. 

Many people who have come here over time have demonstrated a misunderstanding of what the blawgosphere is.  It is a place of words and ideas, but it falls far short of reality.  We're people typing on keyboards, not deciding the fate of mankind.  If our ideas have merit, we may persuade people, perhaps even influence decision-making.  But some see a post as a threat to their way of life.  These people need to get a life.  There's nothing to win and lose here, just words and ideas.  There's no prize.

Blawgs posts are, generally, a way to quickly jot down thoughts on a particular subject, whether generic, humorous or topical.  They aren't law review articles, or features in the New York Times.  I try to put in a good ten minutes on each post, whether I want to or not, but I won't go back and edit.  When you find typos or dangling participles or mistaken tenses, give me a break.  Of course, the people who post the antagonistic comments neither understand what I'm doing here nor could be bothered to find out.  I've had a few inform me that it was my responsibility to enlighten them as to my ways, as they were entitled to do as they pleased.  I banned them.

I've banned about a dozen people over time.  Most for using profane language, but some for just being obnoxious or antagonistic.  I'm not the only one who has this problem with commenters, as Orin Kerr and Walter Olson have both recently taken strong positions about ridding themselves of the nuisance.  Walter said it best:

Let’s make it clear right now, though, that this is a moderated comments section. It may resemble a very broadminded letters-to-the-editor column; it is not going to resemble a public-access cable channel, graffiti wall, or Hyde Park Speakers’ Corner if I or DH can help it.

What’s more, it’s moderated for the benefit of this site’s intended audience, bearing in mind that some lines of discussion more quickly become tedious and irrelevant to that audience than others. Up to a point, I have no objection to efforts to save our immortal souls or turn us into leftier-than-thou Kossacks so long as they have decent entertainment value (short, witty, and nonrepetitive all help).

One group we’d be better off without are those who feel that commenting on this site is somehow a matter of right, no matter what the tedium factor, and radiate wounded entitlement when they learn that’s not how it’s going to work. They really would be happier elsewhere.

I make note of this in my 2000th post because it's the one aspect of this Blawg that makes me think I should hang it up.  It gets unbearably tedious after a while, and sometimes painful to watch a topic veer off onto a tangent because the one commenter didn't get it (while insisting, always, that he did).  Orin made the point that discretion means the blawger's discretion, not the readers.  You don't get a vote. 

The comments are often as much fun than the post itself.  It pains me to acknowledge this, but it's true.  I enjoy the comments most of the time, and that's why I engage commenters regularly.  But I don't enjoy the emails I receive after I ban someone, or delete or edit a comment, accusing me of intellectual rape.  I don't need this from people who have never contributed to the discussion here and whose thoughts are, in my view, less than worthy of much discussion.  I will tolerate a lot more from people who I like and have been regular contributors, even when they get testy with me.  I won't tolerate much from people I don't know or don't like.  That's how things work in real life, and they are no different here.  I will defend my friends.  That's what friends do.

As I write this post, someone has posted a comment openly advertising a discussion on their blawg on the topic of the post, timely leading into my mention that popularity has brought with it monumental efforts at using Simple Justice as a launching pad for others, ranging from commercial products and services to blogs.  I made a decision long ago not to allow my blawg to be used to promote whatever it is that you're selling.  If I think people ought to know about something, I'll promote it.  But you can't.  That's my rule, and you don't have to agree with it. 

Readers aren't aware that I receive a dozen email requests a day, often more, to link to blawgs, promote products, write about news releases, publish "guest posts," review books, promote protests, highlight injustice and defend the poor and the oppressed.  Many people try to use the popularity of Simple Justice to promote themselves through the backdoor.  I am offended by this.  My reaction is to be harsh about these efforts.  Some don't understand why and criticize me for not being more easy-going about  people trying to glom some free publicity.  These people don't realize that it's not just them, or a couple of tries, but hundreds in the course of a week.  It's more effort than I'm willing to give.  I do this to post, not play kindly school marm to unwanted pests. 

The blawgosphere is a wonderful place, full of many competing ideas and ideologies presented by some very thoughtful folks.  I enjoy thinking, and they make me think.  On the whole, it's been a blast.  The friends I've made (yes, I've made friends) have been people I admire and appreciate.  We haven't always agreed, and that's made for some interesting discussions, but I think we have always shown respect and appreciation for each other's efforts.

All in all, it's been a good ride so far, and I have no plans to slow down or stop.  I'll keep trying to negotiate the speed bumps as best I can, and it's likely that I'll keep being prickly.  For those who have read Simple Justice and found some value here, thanks.  For those who have don't like it, stop reading and find someplace else where you feel more at home.  I won't mind.  And to the good friends I've made over 1999 posts, I look forward to the next 2000.