I must be dense or something. Did not get that E' was leaving on my first reading of his post.

*That* pisses me off! I guess it's good I'm here on the flame board.

I did not get to know Mary Anne very well, so for me her departure is unfortunate and should never have been provoked, but it remains somewhat abstract.

With E', though, it's different. We have had great exchanges and conversations all along. I have found his thinking - not on political matters, where I have rarely commented in the past - to be insightful, thought-provoking, even downright brilliant. I really like and respect this guy. He has always shown a helluva lot of class. There are only a couple of others whom I've met on the Space board who are even in his league.

I write 'not on political matters' because until the events of 9/11 I almost never visited any board other than Space. Now I find he was one of the few non-conservatives here, a small group in which I include myself.

That just makes it worse.

I hope some others, such as Raoul, do not leave, or get banned like Lindy. What is wrong with discourse between people who disagree, so long as it's kept civilized and all involved remember people are more important than politics? Different points of view need to be welcomed; otherwise, how will we ever know when we're wrong? And all of us are wrong from time to time, even conservatives, even liberals.

I manage a board myself. Only extremely rude and crude people with nothing to contribute ever get banned. And, almost always, those bans are temporary. There is a pretty even mix of conservatives and liberals, with many people in between. We like it that way, and people try to be decent to each other. Even those who completely disagree.

I could yell and swear, stamp my feet and make some ugly comments. But I won't. Why make things worse?

Civilization, freedom, democracy. These words are being bandied about a lot these days. But I wonder if we all understand what they really mean?

E', 'sorry to see you go' doesn't even come close. Please come back. As someone more succinct than I once put it: Don't let the bastards win.

E', give this board another chance. Emotions are running high in America these days, and also on this site. You contribute not just ideas, but also wisdom, intelligence and soul. In times like these, a voice like yours is needed more than ever. Don't become part of the silence.