I have been contemplating a post on this very topic... sort of.  The fact that the conservative message is often boring, long, detailed, etc... while the liberal message tends to fit onto bumperstickers and facebook memes.  We can't translate our message into their length because part of our message is that the world is too complicated for simple solutions.  So what do we do? 

I've had both.  Having written short posts that garner lots of comments, and long posts that garner none, I've still determined that more satisfaction comes from writing something you like.  If anyone reads it, that is a bonus.  Now, I've also had about a 3/200 rate of promotion and/or lengthy posts that become very popular.  That is gratifying, too.

Of course, sometimes you just take 1500 words to say something that could fit into a paragraph simply because you are annoyed, you have some downtime at work, and it is a good way to maintain a level head!

I suppose it helps to be clear what you're going for.  A piece of news should be pretty short - even shorter for an assertion followed by a question that you hope will spark a long discussion.  A simple assertion will leave enough out that people will reply to fill in the gaps.  Personally, I have often felt that the posts that end up generating 200+ comments weren't all that interesting...  It is more of a challenge to write something long and see how many people you can keep interested for more than a few paragraphs.

haha - it sounded like the music track was in a different key...  yikes.  I can't imagine she practiced it that way.  maybe?

of course, I've found that if your posts are much longer than 200 words, you may not get much of a response anyway.  :)

On a more serious note - I always write lengthy posts, and I imagine that very few people read them.  That is because it is surprisingly easy to take your little mouse and point it at the side bar, whereupon you scroll down past the 4 inches that my lengthy post takes up when it is not expanded.  If, however, you read the first paragraph and find it interesting, it is amazingly convenient to press the handy "show more" button, which will expand it, like an enormous snake coming from what you thought was a can of tuna.

Personally, I write long posts because that is the sort of writing I like to do.  I would probably write them anyway, and have been compiling all of them into a book - interestingly, in the editing phase, I have to expand the essays to make them longer, adding substance, eliminating ambiguity.  I post them to ricochet so that anyone who wants to read them can do so, knowing full well that they will probably never read them otherwise.  If one happens to start a conversation - or get promoted - I am overjoyed.

Besides, short posts are boring.

Excellent point.  I say we make unlimited comments!  ;)

I love classical music so much that I've been taking violin lessons again for the past year or so (I had lessons from about 3 to 16).  My teacher is moving back to maryland and I nearly cried when she told me.  I get 2 more weeks.

Some time ago, I bought a record of Vivaldi Bassoon Concertos.  I rocked my infant to sleep with it on; he is 18 months now and listening to the Suzuki violin tape for book 1.  I am one of those who subscribes to the idea that, even if he doesn't become a musician, it will do him a world of good.

Nah, if you tried spraying meth heads with chemicals, their natural inclination would be to start huffing.

What I really didn't like about not only the podcasts, but Prager's take from a few weeks back, is the idea that this is somehow a "love story."  He fell out of love with his wife and into love with someone else.  I'm sorry, but more is expected of husbands and of fathers.  Our idea of "love" is screwed up beyond belief if we can make statements like that.  No, he wasn't out getting hookers; yes, it was one woman that he went to visit... that doesn't make it even the tiniest bit better.  And Prager's commentary made me sick - people cannot expect to get married and stay together for such a long period of time?  Are you kidding me?  The level of selfishness, the lack of commitment, of humility ... nah, we just blow it off because we're all sinners, right?

I'll end my rant, too, but not because this stuff doesn't make me irate enough to extend the rant.  Only because I can barely articulate how insane it all sounds.

... I'm not sure that amounts to state propagation.  Also, you are asking one question while implying something different.  No, no religion (obviously) is "entitled" to the state "propagation" of its religion.  However, does that make this particular activity illegal?  If the state chooses to do so, that isn't exactly a reflection of some "right."  That would be if said group could sue the state to force it to do so...

You might ask the more interesting question of what exactly our constitution meant - and what exactly it was trying to combat - when it created the establishment clause.  A clause that, today, bears about as much resemblance to its original formulation as does the commerce clause.

As usual, that John Podhoretz speaks directly to my heart...  awww...

MJ, if you replace the man in the fedora with a picture of your smiling face, I doubt there is anyone around who would dare to bash you!

I have been known to enjoy wine in both manners.  Also not adverse to the gallon jug of Carlo Rossi - I am pretty headache-averse, so the jug lasts quite a while at my house, but as far as I'm concerned, it tastes just fine.

Agree that the action itself is hardly objectionable, if it is a private activity paid for with private funds.  But then, I am all in favor of completely privatizing education, anyway.  This is just another example of why that is a good idea.

exactly.  this seems like a no-brainer.  Funny how we hear so much talk about "tradition" determining sex roles...  yet, if teacher's see boys playing with dolls, they start pushing the idea that they are gay... or transgendered, or whatever else.  ... and teaching kids these things at a ridiculously young age.  All while they complain that we dress boys like boys and give them baseball gloves and GI Joe dolls.