Neal asks:

Why delete James Shott’s comment?

I’ll tell you why.

This is my blog. I make no claim to objectivity. It exists entirely — without equivocation or apology — for my own
selfish pleasure. When I deem that controversy, arguments, even
personal insults in comments serve my ultimate interest, such comments
remain (99%, so far; at least). If not: delete button.

I always (at least I know of no time when I haven’t) give commenters
one free shot at me. I shoot back, and unless the repartee is a
tone-down, getting down to the argument, I dump it. Unless the
conversatation is intersting, I don’t want a 50+ comment flame war that
wastes a lot of my time.

Shott’s follow-on comment was 80% insult, some of it of a clearly
dishonest and manipulative nature. It was long. To answer it was
simply: not worth my time. So I deleted it. No apology whatsoever. My
blog. My rules.

I’ll tell you what. If you were to look at the record of comments,
there’s lots of insults, even in the 2nd and 3rd round and beyond.
That’s because the person was at least making some argument worthy of
being addressed. Shott is a Republican conservative puppet; a regurgitator. He has no
arguments worth more than a few minutes of time, and I already did that.

If he (or anyone else) doesn’t like it, I invite them to read elsewhere.