In my 05 Jan 07 - 07:48 AM post to this thread I wrote

"I'm sharing these opinions not to cause trouble but to try to help this community address what I consider to be real & potential areas of weakness.

Also, for the record, I continue to be an active member of this online community because my experiences here have largely been positive and because I enjoy learning, sharing, and just coolin out with many folks here.

I've started this "meta" thread and at least one other meta Mudcat thread, because I believe that such threads are helpful.

If as a result of this thread, Mudcat moves closer to being a community that treats each member and guest more civilly and whose governing administration recognizes & provides consistent consequences to those persons who do not treat members and guests civilly, than-to paraphrase a religious song-my starting this thread was not in vain."

On 05 Jan 07 - 06:36 PM I also wrote "In my opinion, whether I and others here are liked or disliked shouldn't be the issue.

What I'm concerned about is the potential and/or real acts of incivility and the real & potential misuse of power without consistent consequences."

Since I wrote these comments, for the most part I have limited my comments to above the line threads and to Permathreads. In one Permathread I've had a post containing a comment & a question ignored by the Permathread editor. And in another Permathread I've had my comments selectively deleted in a manner that I consider results in an accurate conclusion. In both instances, I shrugged my shoulders and decided not to post to that particular Permathread again.

Because I don't want to leave this forum, it's not an option for me to totally ignore what on the public forum appears to me to be acts of incivility and/or inappropriate selective deletions, including any post deletions that are made in error.

Let's say that a member of guest calls to the attention of moderators that he or she feels that his or her post was selectively deleted in error-that the moderator made a mistake in deleting a post that is not inflammatory, racist, targeting a specific member, or otherwise offensive. Let's also say that, in hind sight, that moderator or other moderators, or the head moderator, Joe Offer, agrees that this post was deleting in error. Wouldn't it be an easy act of civility for a moderator to put the comment back and say "sorry"?

Wouldn't doing so demonstrate to folks here that this forum is truly striving to be a place where civility is a goal that moderators and other posters believe is important to this forum?

I believe so.