"So we write something which we wouldn't have written if we were sober (for example), someone takes us up on it, and then we come back and modify what we have written so that the person who took us up on it appears to be an eejit who didn't bother to read what we had written... "

Actually, most forums have a "reply to" button that automatically puts the statement to which you wish to reply into a quote box. If they come back later to edit their previous post, the original, as they wrote it, will still appear in the quote box in your reply post.

I can't see how editing causes more problems for owner/moderators. More problems than having to go through the labor of reading every single goddamn post just to SEE if someone has requested that a clone come in and make a correction that the post writer could have corrected for themselves? That just doesn't make any sense.

And as I said, the clones are not neutral in many of the worst "debates". I don't like knowing that they are on the other side when I enter without the ability to edit.