"Anything in the public arena is fair game as far as I'm concerned."

But in Mudcat World, it often seems that only the output of people with the temerity to gain a media profile or acceptance within the folk mainstream is regarded as fair game, whereas anything produced within the little circle of regular Mudcat contributors, largely amateur and attracting small-scale audiences, becomes a rather embarrassing exercise in mutual masturbation, regardless of quality.

IMHO, of course.