A Farewell, a Thank You, and an Invitation

This is my last post here. This blog is one of the things I'm the most proud of when I look back on my time at UW. We've had good, civil (most of the time) discussions, and in my mind, raised the level and diversity of the discourse at our school overall.

The Federalist Society is unique (and frankly, superior) among most advocacy groups, I believe, because mere presentation of ideas that may be underrepresented and unfairly maligned at such a liberal institution is not enough. Instead, the Society insists that the ideas be actively debated at every opportunity. If our principles are to thrive and ascend in the American legal culture, as most of us hope they will, they must be subject to rigorous, continuous, and public scrutiny - and they must withstand the assault. Cloistered clubs of like minds only numb our ability to critically think about things, and only ensure snarky factionalism instead of shared solutions.

Everyone who participated in that process - by attending our events and questioning our speakers, reading and commenting on the blog, and even arguing with us at the bar - has done a tremendous service to my own academic growth at the very least, and I think to the quality of our shared education in general. For that, I thank you all most sincerely. And I look forward to being a frequent reader of this blog in the future.

But as a wannabe pundit, it's time to move on post-graduation (UPDATE - and post bar passage, too - woo hoo!). I've started a new blog project called First Principles at www.orrinjohnson.com, where I seek to continue refining my ideas and political and legal philosophies in the forge of public scrutiny. I hope the people who have made this blog such a joy will join me there to further the conversation.

Thanks again, and good luck to you all.