I alienate my readers again

I have suspended the comments, indefinitely. I know that's why most of you come here, and that this will mean a sharp decline in readership. But as the numbers have grown, the quality has declined. The comments have frankly gone to seed, overrun with western separatists, Bilderberg conspiracy theorists and various other cranks. Last night I spent several hours weeding out a quite disgusting thread speculating on the sexual preferences of various politicians, and the secret gay network that had supposedly infiltrated the Canadian government, and I have no wish to ever soil my hands that way again. I don't like to be in the censorship business, or picking and choosing which comments to allow and which to reject, and I don't have the time to monitor hundreds of comments every day. I hesitated to do this, particularly during the momentous events of the last few weeks, not least because the best of the comments are far superior to anything I might post. But they have been drowned out by all the other crap -- low-brow, insult-filled, intolerant of opposing views, and unspeakably tedious. I have no desire for this site to serve as a clubhouse for hard-right wackos, usually anonymous, with way too much time on their hands. Nor can I allow them to obscure the site's vital mission and cause: personal vanity and self-promotion. I spend enough money underwriting my own incoherent ramblings without subsidizing others'. I may bring the comments back, or I may not, but if so it will be on a completely different basis. I'll let you know.