Recall that it was the acrimony early in the situation that I insisted be confined to Flame. I've watched as the criticism has gradually crept back in to CE, but still my concern is the tone, not the content. At the same time, I've seen the Republican message machine get itself organized, and now the echo chamber is resounding with two memetic phrases: "blame game" and "local officials". You've generally kept the tone mild, but you're injecting the official message here nonetheless. Fairness dictates that the other side be encouraged to speak up, as long as the tone can be kept civil.

It's been a week since my "ENOUGH" post, and so I think it would be behoove me to make another statement relaxing the strictures. I want to coordinate it with the CE moderators, since it's not a crisis situation as it was a week ago. Stay tuned.

I understand that tempers are still high, so I'm not inclined to jump on you for "falling off the wagon", especially when you have the good grace to apologize. Just please keep doing your best to keep it civil, OK? Let's pace ourselves--we know this debate will go on for a long time.