As for the takedown of Strunk & White, that author’s in good company. Most of the professional editors I know don’t think S & W has a whole lot going for it. It’s okay for some things and outright wrong for others.

I hate to see writers lose all sense of themselves because they’re too concerned with rule-breaking. Being ignorant of the rules and style is entirely different, but being a stickler for rules (or zombie “rules”) is actually worse, in my opinion.