Why would anyone ever care enough to edit/censor a routine discussion thread

Don't kid yourself there. In any place where posts are made, an opinion can be given that an "editor" does not like, eg. if you posted telling me what a nice honest chap Tony Blair is, a temptation within me if I had the power might say "delete that crap". Could happen to clones here if things got personal at them, etc.

The thing is if you are doing that sort of work which you have been entrusted to do, you leave any personal feeling out of it, Whether you care or not is irrelevant, Whether you are woking in line with site policy is relevant.

It's not about whether a person might care enough or not but whether they can distance feelings enough to do thier duty, a duty which could mean letting something stand you want to delete or deleting something you want to let stand. One trusts that people they appoint to carry out such tasks are up to that.