This is not a democracy and it is not subject to anyone’s rules other than those who run it. Free Speech, in this case, belongs to the guy who owns the site. Obviously I enjoy political discussions as much or more than anyone but in reality we are guests in someone else’s establishment and thus are subject to the rules he, or his agents, set. That said, I will miss the spirited, and usually friendly and respectful, discourse we’ve had here. Being a politically active Iowan I can get all the politics I want. (I had lunch sitting next to Senator Brownback of Kansas today at a small political meeting.)

We all like to think of ourselves as rugged individualists. But when push comes to shove most of us are sheep who do what we are told. Worst of all, a lot of us become unpaid agents of whoever is controlling the agenda by enforcing the current dogma on the few rugged individualists who actually exist.