Jim Dixon sez: "You seem to want absolute anarchy, and clearly there is absolutely nothing stopping you from practicing it, yet you whine because Joe, the 'authority figure,' won't give you his official blessing for practicing it!"

Jim, in my 18-Jul-01 post here, I quoted passages that Joe wrote long ago in the FAQ concerning anarchy. Let me quote again:

"I think the general principle here at Mudcat is "civil anarchy." Max, Dick, and Susan have shown no desire to set rules for operation of the Mudcat. They are very gracious hosts, and it would be nice if we'd all follow their example. That should be the only rule we need."
"Mudcat is governed by a principle of civil anarchy, and that principle gives Mudcat much of its spontaneity, intelligence, and friendly spirit."

So, Joe has long since "given his blessing" for practicing anarchy, with whatever authority he wields at Mudcat. But as of this week, he has not only contradicted those statements by suggesting that certain subjects not be posted to the Forum, but also (and more importantly) he has indeed done something that I and others think IS audacious: he has posted to the FAQ expressing his personal opinion and has expressed the intention (and has followed through with that intention) of deleting any opposing views that appear there. In essence, he is abusing the FAQ by turning it into his own private platform.

That abuse is what I am objecting to. I also object to some of the terminology he uses in that post, which some people may consider inflammatory. And as much as I sympathize with Joe about his traffic accident, "What happened to Joe's car?" is not the sort of Frequently Asked Question that should be answered on that thread!

SharonA