A commenter on the Lileks/Vonnegut thread writes, "Let's see. On the one hand you have Vonnegut, author of Slaughterhouse Five, Player Piano, etc. On the other hand, Lileks, author of, what, oh yeah ... cookbooks... Whose opinion should we value more Dr. Volokh?"

Uh, how about that opinion which is most persuasive? (Yes, I realize that appeals to authority are sometimes called for, for instance when one is figuring out whom to rely on for specialized factual knowledge, but this hardly applies here.)

On the other hand, if the commenter is right, then whose opinion should we value more -- an anonymous poster who doesn't even know what titles I have (not a doctorate), or the esteemed author of Lawsuit, Shmawsuit and Hum a Few Bar Exam?