Re. Free Speech controversy (no Patti content)

["Alison Armstrong" <alikat>]

I don't think anyone's opinions should be silenced, but why can't people 
just try to disagree without being unpleasant about it?  Why resort to 
name-calling and assumptions about people we don't even know and might 
actually like if we met them in real life under different circumstances?  
And even if we don't like someone and/or that person's opinions, the 
individual should be treated decently.   Arguments can be more 
convincing, I think, if people can consider and respond to the points 
presented instead of being incited into defensiveness by rude remarks.  
Sometimes I believe people on this list (myself included) look at a post 
from someone, and if it's a person we have had rather negative 
interactions with previously, we may tend to reject what is being said 
just because of who is saying it.  If one doesn't like a comment on the 
list, why not just address the issue instead of insinuating that the 
person making the remark is an idiot or a jerk?  As I've tried to say 
before, why not focus on the subjects being raised instead of trying to 
analyze or demean the people discussing them?  
     Alison