“Every once in a while I feel that it might be helpful to readers if I explained what it is I am trying to do in these columns,” wrote Stanley Fish in the New York Times.

Kudos to Fish.

As both a reader and a some-time column writer, I have often thought both readers and writers would be better off if columnists explained, at least occasionally for the record, what they’re attempting to do and where they’re coming from. Transparency is imperfect, but the attempt is worthwhile.