[Vision2020] I think that's just about enough.

[Melynda Huskey]

I'd like to propose an immediate moratorium on the topic of anybody's divorce, ex-spouse, mental or physical disability, or family sorrows and tragedies.  All of us lose when public discourse, particularly in this electronic form which makes intemperance and hostility so easy and inconsequential, goes down this road.  There are suffering people attached to the names and stories being bandied about here.

Of course, I don't have any power to enforce such a proposal, but I'm making an earnest plea.  I believe that the recent rash of anonymous postings contributes to a sense that we can say whatever we like about people--taunt them, vilify them, excoriate them--without any personal consequence.  It's a kind of poison pen letter, but with the extra thrill of many spectators.    

We *can* have conversation here that is both civil and heated, intense and respectful.  But we've got to work at it.  And a reasonable first step, it seems to me, is to sign our names to our posts and to limit our conversation to matters of public interest.

Melynda HuskeyGet more from the Web.  FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com
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