isabelle,
first, let me say that i don't think,in your hands, the proposed
'moderation' would be anything other than what you say it would be. i also
don't think that any of the debate i had with lloyd would have been censored
in any way. the problem i see with censorship, is the 'flinch' factor.
a lot of the things i wrote in the 'opera vs. pop' debate surprised me
as i was writing them. i had a lot of conflicting thoughts (and still do)
on the subject and being able to write freely, enabled me to see more clearly
just exactly what i thought on the subject. had the spectre of censorship
been over my head, i might have been distracted just enough by it not to
write what i felt.
there are people who will never have to worry about sticking their foot
in their mouths and there are some people who are just plain hostile who know
they will offend. as someone who rides the fence between saying something
poignant and saying something outrageously stupid, i can clearly say that if
i had to worry about which way i might fall, i would not so brazenly ride
that fence into parts unknown again.
imagine standing behind a batter's cage. even though we know we're not
going to get hit, we still flinch when a ball hits the fence.
mike
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