Bill and family,
 
Just a note from one of those great "liberal education" classes I had to
take at college:
 
The founding fathers of the US felt that it was very important that freedom
of speech was one of the primary principles, not because they wanted
everyone to have their say, but because they felt the truth would come out
on top.  The philosophy on which they based this says that if two (or more)
people have an, open, honest, and considered discussion, each person will
believe they are right - if they do not disagree, then one must be wrong (or
confused, or missing some information - since they each believe they are
right).  If they listen and consider all of the viewpoints, they will
discover where they might be wrong, and be able to revise their own
opinions.  If they are completely right (which is the rare case), they will
be able to logically, politely, correct the opposing viewpoint, through
logic, not insult.
 
Too bad this isn't the way "freedom of speech" is usually worked out,
particularly on this forum, since we all start from the same basis - love
of ferrets.
 
Debbie & Jim
Pixie (The one in charge)
[Posted in FML issue 2223]